2009 Real Missions Guatemala Team

Back from Guatemala Party

2009-09-01T15:43:00.000-07:00

For those of you who went on the trip we are having a post trip get together to celebrate what we accomplished, pass out the trip CD/DVDS, and enjoy some time reflecting. If you would like to dress up in something you bought there, or bring something that reminds you of Guatemala that would be fun!

This party is scheduled for Sunday September 20th at 5pm at my home in Covington. Please look to your emails for the address. I hope to see you all there.

We are back!

2009-08-21T12:28:00.001-07:00

Everyone is home safely in Seattle (and the surrounding area). We had a very tight flight schedule, but managed just fine. Our connection time in Houston was just over an hour and a half to get through customs (all three checkpoints) and get to our connecting flight. We managed to all make it on the plane, but some of our luggage did not. Half our team did not get their baggage when we arrived in Seattle. However, Continental was nice enough to offer to deliver it to our indivdual homes the next day (today).

We all enjoyed our trip greatly. God did some amazing things while we were in Guatemala. I greatly encourage you to contact anyone you know that went on this trip and ask them questions. Any of us would enjoy sharing our stories with you.

I'm looking forward to watching the way that God continues to use each individual as they return to 'normal' life.

Thanks once again for all of you who followed this blog while we were away. Your comments, prayers, and attention are all appreciated. We are all thankful to have been able to take part.

Chiminisjuan

2009-08-18T15:21:00.000-07:00

Today we visted a small village named Chiminisjuan. Those who followed our blog last year might remember that name. If not, it is one of the four locations that the Ficker family holds their clinics on a weekly basis. This location is one that is very remote, and typically the teams are not able to get there without a small hike. The people there are very shy and not used to Americans.

Once we arrived the translator gave a small sermon while we prayed in a circle out of sight. Once we were done prayer a group of us went to help in the clinic, a group went to introduce ourselves to the people, and a group stayed to continue to pray and worship. You can tell that much prayer is needed in this area. Mostly, we need the people of Chiminisjuan to open their hearts and minds to the gospel.

I talked with several people during their wait for clinic. Some had walked two hours, others an hour and a half. That is up and over mountains (not flat distance walking). I remembered a small family from last year. The husband is about 19, 21 at the most, and the wife is around 17-19. They have four small children. I think they come out to clinic once a week to get vitamins and check ups. They have such beautiful and playful children. One girl would watch while I juggled in amazement, the boy wanted to touch the juggling balls. When I let him he would throw it in the air and catch it over and over with such a big smile on his face. At the end of the day I let him take one home with him as a gift.

We had to pass through a small thunderstorm on the way back. If you know someone on the team I will let them tell you all about that trip. :)

Tonight we will worship with the Fickers, have a time of encouragement and reflection, and say our goodbyes. It is hard to believe that our trip is almost over.

Tomorrow we will travel to Panajachel to take a long shower, do a little market shopping, and get some rest before our flight on Thursday.

This will likely be my last post until after the trip. Look for the next on one on Saturday morning. Thank you to all of you who followed us during our trip. A great big huge thanks to all who prayed for us. Please pray for our safe return.

Monday

2009-08-17T16:59:00.000-07:00

Today we visited a small school way up in the hills. We drove about 45 minutes and walked about 25 minutes to get to the school. The school is located on the side of a hill in a beautiful valley. The view around that area is just gorgeous. The people we met there were equally beautiful.

We taught school just as we had with the previous three schools. We taught them that they are the most important creation in all of God's work. We taught them about how big God's creation is, and how small they are. Our emphasis was on how important God thinks they are, and how they are loved.

We had a great time sharing with them. Since the school was very small we got to have a lot of one on one time with the children. We each witnessed many smiles and a lot of laughter. We were able to leave them with some much needed school supplies. It was tough to leave them, but I believe they will remember us and the lesson we brought to them for quite a while.

In the afternoon we helped bag items for the clinic. It is a humongous help to the Fickers when we help them to bag their medicine, food, and pills. They hand out a lot of items each clinic and the bagging process never seems to end for them. It is a nice break for them not to have to bag for a while. Last year we were able to bag almost 4 months of items for them. This year we are going for more than 6 months. We'll see by the end of the trip it may very well be possible.

Sunday-San Andreas

2009-08-16T20:02:00.000-07:00

San Andreas is a larger town in Quiche Guatemala. The people there are mostly of hispanic/latino decent. It is in this town that the Fickers hold a clinic every Sunday. They pack up their equipment and head on out at 8am and don't return to the home until in the late afternoon.

We joined them this week in order to minister/teach/play with those who are waiting for their turn in the clinic. The clinic is near the heart of the town, and the market happening only a few blocks away.

Today's clinic saw about 55 people. Outside of the clinic we played with the children, used crayons with them, taught them about Jesus and the children, we made bracelets with them explaining the different colors and their symbolism. Each of these was an experience in itself.
The children there were a little slow to open up, but in the end we were having a great time sharing love with them.

In the afternoon we left the clinic to go to the orphanage. It was neat personally because several of the children remembered me from last year. We spent time playing, holding, talking to, juggling, doing dramas, and coloring. Everyone on the team enjoyed their visit.

Afterwards we headed to a river for a brief break and a meal. Soon we were heading to church. The whole team experienced a hispanic/latino/Guatemalan service. I will let each of them tell you more about what that meant to them.

Thanks again for following us. Tomorrow we head to a small school were will teach once more about God's creation.

Saturday Clinic

2009-08-16T06:16:00.001-07:00

Saturdays are clinic days for the Fickers. They have a small clinic attached to the missions dorm. People start lining up for care at about 7am and the care goes all day. I talked with one girl in particular who had walked with her family for over an hour to come to the clinic today. This particular Saturday the clinic treated about 60 people, and we had around 100 people pass through the courtyard area.

We had a pretty hot day, so everyone was keeping to the shade. Our team shared a story with the Flannelgraph, played with the children, and talked with those who were waiting to be treated. Two of our team members, Stephanie and Kathy, helped out in the clinic. Everyone really enjoyed ministering today.

Here are some of the highlights team members wanted me to share:

There were a set of twin boys that were just adorable. We gave them balloons and talked with them some. One boy's balloon popped and he was so sad. They were just so cute.

Tammy was painting faces and hands for the children. One boy was really excited about this, he had Tammy paint his face, then his hand, and then his other hand. He really liked the pictures. Tammy enjoyed praying for him while she painted.

There was a young boy that I, Philip, remember from last year. He is very shy, so I spent about 20 minutes trying to get him to open up to me. After those 20 minutes he began to play with me some. He is adorable.

After clinic was over, some played volleyball with the Fickers. Everyone enjoyed some good fellowship. We all had dinner together tonight and spent a lot of time encouraging each other.

Friday -The Big School

2009-08-14T13:42:00.000-07:00

Today we traveled to a remote town to minister in their school. This school has about 90 to 110 students in it. We were able to drive for 30 minutes and walk for about 30 minutes to get there. The route we had to walk was quite steep, but there is no other way. Thank you for all of you who are praying for the safety and strength of our group as it is evident every day that we travel.

Once we reached the school we were greeted by all the children. They all came up and greeted us 'Bueanas Dias' and shook our hands. It has been a long time since I shook hands with about 100 people at one time! What a pleasant way to feel welcomed.

At the school we divided the children up by age and activities. We played with the parachute, taught them about the solar system and the constellations, we read to them, and colored papers about God created the Earth.

We also had the opportunity to feed everyone in attendance. This is a special blessing for which our team is grateful to take a part in. It is amazing how they will form and orderly line and wait for their turn to receive their food. Each one is grateful.

We are having a great time and wish you all could join us. We look forward to returning and sharing our stories, pictures, and videos with you all. In the mean time we will continue to take every opportunity minister while we are here.

Thursday Evening

2009-08-14T13:37:00.000-07:00

We decided to have an evening of worship with the Fickers and the other missionaries here in Canilla. We wanted to treat them to something special. However, with worship, everything is in God's hands. Jarrett and Holly lead worship with Tammy backing them up on the piano (Thank you to all those of you who have helped those three become the talented musicians they are).

Our time of worship together was amazing. The spirit of the Lord fell in this place and we were all quieted and refreshed by it. We could especially tell that the Fickers were blessed by having an opportunity to worship 'American' style.

It is part of our ministry to minister to the missionaries we support, and this was a great example of one way that we can do that.

Pajopope

2009-08-13T15:07:00.000-07:00

Today we visited a very remote area called Pajopope. It is a long way away from Canilla (where we are staying), but the people there were wonderful. We visited a school there that has about 50 children schooling there in a 15 X 15 room. We asked the teacher how he manages that, and most of the time they have to hold school in the courtyard because there just isn't enough room. This means no chalk boards, pictures, or easy teaching tools.

The children there ranged in age from five year olds to 13 year olds. Many of the children are just learning Spanish. They are all very eager to read. Much like Ghana, the people want to read, but do not have anything to read.

We loved our time with these children. It is always amazing how they share crayons, and listen quietly. They laugh easily, and enjoy everything we bring. I was amazed at how eager they were to learn about the solar systems and how God has created all the earth and sky.

This afternoon we will help bag medicines for the clinics, and prepare food for tomorrow's school outreach. Tomorrow we are expecting about 160 children.

Wednesday- La Galeria

2009-08-12T20:28:00.000-07:00

Today we visited a little village called 'La Galleria' or the gallery. It has a tremendous vista of Guatemalan mountains all around. Like the area, the people there are beautiful and welcoming.

We visited a school there to help teach a new message to the children 'God created the starts, the universe, the Earth, Guatemala, and most importantly: God created you.

This was a new concept for all of the children, but they were very intelligent and quick to understand what we were teaching them. We had a chance to teach them about different star patterns in the sky, the planets in the solar system, and how the earth is related to all of that.

We played games, colored, taught, laughed, did a skit, and sang some songs. We also had an opportunity to feed the children. We fed the 60 people that were in attendance, and they were very appreciative.

Tomorrow we have more of the same planned. However, the village we are going to is much more remote. We have to drive an hour, and then walk/hike a pretty steep grade for another half hour or more. Please pray for safety and health for the team.

We covet your prayers and are very excited to share all of our little stories with you.

Day of Travel

2009-08-12T06:54:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we traveled from Guatemala City to Canilla. You just never know what to expect when traveling in Guatemala. Fortunately for us, it has not rained as much this season as it usually does. However, this is bad for the crops and people in Guatemala. Pray that we get some good thunderstorms while we are here (preferrably when we are indoors) :)

We arrived at the Ficker Ranch in a timely fashion and all is well. We shared a time of getting to know each other and prayer with everyone that is staying here currently. It is quite an interesting bunch of people that we will get to work with this year.

We practiced one of our skits and separated all of our equipment in preparation for today's trip. Today we will be walking to a local school and teaching the children there about creation and the solar system. This is something that they have never learned before and will be a very unique experience for them.

As a final note, for all of you in prayer for us, thank you! We received the three bags that customs was holding late in the evening on Monday. That was a huge relief because all three of those bags were full of really needed medicines.

My next post will be to describe our activites of the day and let you know what's going on down here in beautiful Guatemala.

We've Arrived

2009-08-10T13:55:00.000-07:00

We have arrived in Guatemala city and what an adventure we have had already. The day prior to our departure we were notified of an embargo on all Latin America countries regarding baggage. The limit is 50lbs and you cannot go over, and you are limited to two check bags. Our team is a little smaller than usual this year (10) and so we were restricted to 10 ministry crates to take. We had packed 11 planning on just paying for the extra crate. Once we arrived at the airport we found out more about the embargo and had to eliminate one ministry crate. However, Jarrett had packed such a small bag that he was able to carry on his 'check' bag and give us the extra space we needed! Everyone pat Jarrett on the back for that one.

Our flights were great, no problems and we arrived in Guatemala City on time. That is when the 'fun' began.

They have recently updated the security at the airport and changed the policies on baggage and what can and can't pass through customs. To make a very long story short, we were charged to 'import' our ministry crates and the medicines were held until we contact some private organization and get them released (ie pay more for them). Please be praying that we can take the medicine with us when we leave tomorrow morning for Quiche.

Everyone is resting right now as we had quite the time traveling. Soon we will leave to do our supply shopping and then work on our skits a little. Tomorrow we make the long trip out to Quiche.

Stay posted for updates. Thanks again for all your prayers!

We Leave Today!

2009-08-09T09:43:00.000-07:00

Today we depart for our destination. For those of you on the team, please be at the continental check in area by 11pm tonight.

For all of you who are following us, thank you! We are very excited. Please check back here for daily reports on what happens.

We covet your prayers and all that you have done to help us go.

Things to pray for:

Safety, Health, Traveling Grace, Opportunities, Unity, Peace, and Freedom.

Look for my next blog once we arrive in Guatemala!

Schedule for all meetings

2008-10-22T11:23:00.001-07:00

Spring Retreat
March 20th-22nd (Friday 5pm-Sunday 10am)
Training #2
April 25th 10am-12:30pm
Team Building Day
May 2nd 8am-6pm (lunch provided)
Training #3
May 23rd 10am-12:30pm
Training #4
June 20th 10am-12:30pm
Training #5
July 25th 10am-12:30pm
Pack Out Day
August 8th 10am-2:30pm (lunch provided)

"The Mystery" Clue #1

2008-10-21T15:56:00.000-07:00

It is 15 miles south of the City of Gloucester and 25 miles north of Bristol. Cheltenham is 23 miles to the north-east and Bath is 28 miles to the south-east.