A day in paradise

Hoy fue fantastico. Today was fantastic!  It was so full of experience and learning. We visited several sites sponsored by the mission including the women's center, the coffee project, the reforestation project, and a hospital. All places offered vast amounts of knowledge. Personally I made a friend, and his name was Samuel! I met him in the hospital as he was pretending to be un tigre! The day's experiences culminated, at least for me, on a rooftop sight to see as a silver lining setting sun revealed the ominous Toliman volcano looming in the distance as clouds rolled into the valley. It was a view I will never forget, and the air held an encompassing radiant glow filled with tranquility and life that encaptured the attention in Guatemala's soft clutch. A feeling not soon to be forgotten. 

As written by Josiah

You Don't Grow Unitl You Break Out Of Your Comfort Zones

Our journey started with many different emotions. However, we could be nothing but excited after gazing out at a beautiful sunrise on out 1st flight. 

After a 13 hour journey of rock planes, bumped bus rides, and most importantly bonding, we finally made it safe to San Lucas Toliman, Saturday 2/27. 

We started off this morning(2/28), with not to mention surprising hot showers, but also with a Spanish spoken Catholic mass. At mass the people of Guatemala filled the church inside and out. People were gathering on the steps to hear the Gospel after it was filled to the max inside. 

We had the opportunity to take a boat tour around the lake Atitlan. San Lucas Toliman is right on the lake. The lake is known as the most beautiful lake in the world and also the most unknown and the deepest in Central America. "Atitlan" actually means where the rainbow gets its colors. It is in a valley surrounded by 3 volcanos, 1 is still active. We were able to absorb the vibrant pink, yellow, and blue colors. It is surrounded by many towns. We stopped at 3 including: San Antonio, Santa Catarina, and Santa Cruz. Each was filled with different stands of hand crafted art and jewelry. We are now all expert barters. We stopped for lunch in Santa Cruz at a lake side restaurant. 

After the the boat tour, we wanted to explore San Lucas on foot. About half of us went on a hike. We explored many different parts of the city but one of the most intriguing things we stumbled upon was the cemetery. It wasn't like what we see at home. It was filled with vibrant colors and above ground graves due to water that way they can't wash away. 

Once we explored the cemetery, locals pointed us in the direction of small nature trail leading up a hill to get a better view of the city. 

Here is what we saw. All the bright "buildings" are the graves in the cemetery. This depicts how their graves represent the celebration of life instead of the on going grieving. 

We finished off the evening with a games of tag with local children after dinner, in front of the mission. It started with Shelby (one of the students) asking a little boy may what his name is. He is name is William. Shelby then started a game of "la lleva" or tag. Two other boys were with William and played with us. They were so happy with giant grins and bigs laughs. We made plans to meet again after dinner tomorrow to play soccer with William and his friends. 

To end this post we would like to leave you with a Guatemalan proverb:

"Everyone is the age of their heart"

With love from Guatemala,

Annmarie, BethAnn, and Shelby  

Thanks for stopping by!

Thanks for stopping by the Guatemala ABST blog! The 2016 group is still getting to know each other but we'll start sharing our journey together soon. In the mean time, please take some time to read previous trips' blogs to get an idea of what we'll be doing.

Photos...Again!

Guatemala- country of happiness

Growing up in Israel, going to school in the US, and traveling around the world have made me appreciate other cultures and countries. In Guatemala I'm impressed to see how happy the locals are without clean water, big houses, technology, and many other Western developments. People here work hard and live in difficult conditions but keep the smile on their faces and enjoy every day of creation and togetherness

Raz Yuval 

Making Stoves

Dear family and friends,

Thursday's activities have come to a close in San Lucas.  Before the specifics of the day, a couple of general comments.  When we saw the light of day on Sunday and enjoyed our boat ride, God's handiwork was on display.  A beautiful, blue lake nestled under high mountain peaks.  Quite breath-taking.  Second, the people of San Lucas are delightful, normally sharing broad smiles and polite greetings, even though my greeting in Spanish was weak.

The Gannon crew was delivered by van to a "housing development" 20 minutes from San Lucas.  We broke into two groups to go to separate homes.  We assisted the men there that were installing brick stoves for these families.  The bricks and smoke stacks were in place, we helped filter dirt to be combined with cement.  Once the cement was mixed, we each tried our hand at spreading the cement on the outside walls of the brick.  We did okay, but the men in charge wrapped up the jobs with their cementing skills.  They also sealed the cement on the stacks and added tile to the top of the stoves.  We are told that within two weeks these families will be able to use the stoves, which will make a huge difference in their lives.  You can't spend a few hours in a person's home (we are talking one to two cement blocks rooms and aluminum sheeting for a roof) without getting to spend time with the children.  They adore playing with us and talking to us.  Very enjoyable for us as well.  

To the moms and dads reading the blog entries this week, you can be very proud of your kids (not that you aren't already).  They have meshed well and enjoy spending time with each other.  They have also put up with the "parent presence" (me) this week.  Most of all, they have directed their energies to serving and learning, just what we came to do.

Coming home soon,

Jeff

Meredith's Post

Hola familia y amigos! It is extremely hard to believe that we just wrapped up our final day of work in San Lucas. Tomorrow we will be heading to Antigua and then Guatemala City to prepare for our early flight back to the states on Saturday. I feel like just as I am growing to love the city of San Lucas, it is time to leave, but who knows, maybe I'll be back some day!

Last night after dinner our group had the chance to watch a video about the life of Padre Gregorio, a priest from Minnesota who was sent to minister to San Lucas for what was only supposed to be two years. Although he originally did not want to come to Guatemala, he quickly fell in love with the people and the mission. One thing led to another and Padre Gregorio ended up staying for 48 years. While the video shared stories about his life and how the mission has been responding to the needs of the San Lucas community over the years, it also showed footage from Padre's funeral in 2012. Over 30,000 people came to pay their respects to a man who truly showed Christ to this portion of the world.

I was extremely moved by Father's impact on the people here. It is crazy to think that I would have never learned about this man's life and work if I didn't have the chance to be in Guatemala this week. The more I travel in the United States and abroad, the more I realize that people like Padre Gregorio labor and love all over the world. This simple fact gives me hope. I feel extremely honored to have been here and to have been able to touch some of the projects that Padre Gregorio and others poured their lives into. Whether I was digging a trench to increase water access in the town, repainting the walls of the mission school, learning the rich culture and history of the region, or helping to build a stove for a local family, I saw Christ. This week has renewed my spirit and has once again helped me to realize that although there are many different people in this world, we are united in Christ.

Hay muchas personas en este mundo, pero hay solo un Dios. Por eso, nosotros estamos unidos. Gracias a Dios por todo.

Meredith