12Stone Guatemala Blog

Day two started out with Shannon and Wayne waking up to watch the sun rise over the beautiful Guatemalan mountains. The rest of us followed shortly after, walking out on our porches to fully take in the indescribable scenery Guatemala has to offer. After taking a ton of pictures, the group headed down to the bus. We were right on time! Blessed with such a punctual team. The bus took off, taking us through paths we never thought a bus could fit through! We thankfully made it safely to breakfast. Pastor Luis led us in some beautiful old hymns, small group, and a prayer to start off our day and for breakfast we were served eggs, plantains, and tortillas with peanut butter! Once the team had finished eating we started on our first walk toward the school down a rough dirt road path and the view along the way was breathtaking. We twisted and winded down the path until we got to a main road where we walked a little ways and ended up at the high school. The background of the school is the beautiful mountains and on one, at the very top, you could see a white cross standing tall. We headed into the school which is more like a gorgeous courtyard with classrooms surrounding it. The team went classroom by classroom, introducing ourselves, getting to know the teens, and asking/receiving questions. As soon as anyone would mention a soccer ball (or "futból") in the classroom, everyone's face would light up with joy. We were impressed by the amount of English some of the teens spoke ( and may get to teach an English class tomorrow!) After introducing ourselves, we all headed outside for some quality time and to get whooped at some futból! Most of the girls struck up conversations by using the translators to get to know more about the students, while the boys bonded simply by playing futból. (after Andrew swept up all the horse poop off the court - and broke the broom doing it). We took bets on who would get knocked down first and as expected, it was Jason. Cory hurt his ankle in the intense game, so please pray for healing. They lost, of course, but everyone had a great time playing. Once the game had come to an end and the boys were worn out, the team took off on another hike to visit the "happy tummies" ground. Some of the kids in the town under the age of 8 depend on this place for food. They don't get to eat Saturdays and Sundays, and during the week they share a few eggs with their whole family for dinner. It's safe to say that by the time Monday lunch comes around, they are starving. We then stopped for lunch (hot dogs with kraut and chips and guacamole .. Deliciosa!!!!!) before splitting up. Some of us headed to the elementary school and some went back to happy tummies to meet the children. At the elementary school Terry played basketball with the kids, loving every minute of it. Faith guarded the stickers with her life while the kids swarmed her with excitement. Shirley was the loving Nana, giving love to all that kissed and hugged her. Erica M played a game of jepordy using flash cards with the kids as they aced every challenge. Shannon was the protector of the crafts and had the kids line up like little soldiers to control over indulgence of craft maniatic behavior. Wayne made the kids feel like Super Heros by swinging them around the court till he was fully exhausted. Wayne, Jeremy, Austin and Andrew teamed together providing the kids with confirmation of Gods love using the evangi cube and the Holy spirt as a guide. They prayed with the kids as two excepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. Andrews soul jumped for joy as he express the excitement of being able to bring two new souls closer to Christ. At Happy Tummies we did a skit about Noah's arc and Matthew did an awesome job playing Noah. The kids climbed all over him after the skit for playtime. E-mac floated around as a dove. Lorraine and Mischelle enjoyed blowing bubbles with the kids. Corey did a great job as a raven and teaching the kids sliding hand shakes. Sutton, Jason and Erica Kim helped with skits, played kick ball, and colored with the kids in their laps. Dawn was our great narrator and loved talking with the kids. Dawn filled us with laughter as she was trying out her new found language of Spanish...ha ha! The kids loved the Spanish music on the iPod as they did hand motions to the songs. The beauty of the kids smiles touched all of our hearts.