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| Sunday: Our journey homeFrom Andrew:
Greetings from the sky...This is Andrew doing the last and final post, as the team is on the journey home.
The morning started out with us eating our last breakfast at Fe Viva. On the menu were omelets and toast; nothing out of the ordinary, but good as always. After breakfast people finished packing their bags and started to say their goodbyes. It was very sad to know you won't see the faces of the Fe Viva staff for a whole year, or maybe even never again for some of the people on this trip.
 
 
 
 
After we said our goodbyes and took the final pictures we loaded the bus, prayed, and left. We waved out the window until their faces faded into the distance, but not from our memories. We thank the Lord for Melissa, Charity, Allison, Matt, Karey, Abby, Hayley, Liam, Bruce, Steve, Patricia, Janea, Jalissa, Jesse, Pastor Rafael, Luis, Lidia, Christiansen, Jonathan, Fernandito, Steve, Karla, Hernan and the many more we spent time with these last two weeks.
 
 
 
 
When we were on the bus we can see the tiredness of the team as theyfell asleep one by one. I think it is well deserved rest since weworked in turbo mode in the last two weeks.
 
 
When we arrived at the airport we unpacked the bus, and said one final goodbye in Spanish. Check-in was very smooth; everything went well with the security. We even got some food to eat unlike when we arrived. Tian was honored with the privilege of taking some pictures while we were taking off. We are right now on the plane and watching the in flight movie, Shrek 3. I could not get much sleep because there is a three year old boy sitting directly one seat in front making lots of noise.
 
 
Since I couldn't sleep, I brought the computer around to the other team members so they could write something to me to add to this post. Here they go...
From Lindy: Poor Andrew. I’m sorry that you aren't able to sleep. I am so glad that I was blessed with the opportunity to get to know you better over the last two weeks. I am awed by the strength and loyalty of friendships that are borne out of a love of Christ. It seems that I fall short of the qualities of a good friend time and time again. However, despite my shortcomings I have hope that God will help me along on this journey of self-transformation.
From Ruth: Aww…Hsiung Ge Ge!!! I’m sorry you couldn’t get any sleep. Oh well, I’m very happy that I have learned a lot on this trip and received many blessings. It was very enjoyable getting to know my older brothers and sisters better. I hope that I will be able to pass on some of the blessings I received.
From Shida: Hey big guy. These past two weeks have been fun, but now that our time in Guatemala has drawn to an end, it feels as if we barely began to know each other. I hope the bond we built in Guatemala is only the beginning of a stronger friendship. Thank you for bringing a sense of humor to our group and allowing us to tease you. God Bless! I hope this trip was as memorable to you as it was to me. Peace.
 
[At this point, Andrew stopped typing on the plane, and later resumed his update a few days after we returned.] We are now all safely home. When we arrived in Philadelphia and left the terminal, it felt wonderful to see our family members greet us as we walked out of the security gates. There were no problems with the flight although my luggage was lost in North Carolina. Fortunately, it was delivered to me the next day with nothing missing.
 
 
 
I just want to remind everyone to not stop growing in God now that you're back in the States. Keep up the good work so next year when some of us go back, the Guatemamlans can see a good change in us and learn to grow and trust in the Lord more and more. I have to say these past 2 weeks have been the most God filled weeks in my life. I have learned so much from all of my teammates and the people down at Guatemala. It has been such a pleasure that through all of my teammates I have grown so much in my spiritual life. I hope all of us can return next year and see how some of the seeds we planted this year sprout into new flowers in the year to come.
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| Some videos for you...From Pastor Dan:
Before posting our final Sunday coming home post, I'm putting up two videos which have special meaning to us. Gotta love the advances in technology! The first is a video of our dear friend, Sarita, who we captured in an impromptu singing session, singing, "Open the Eyes of My Heart, Lord" in Spanish. Sarita suffers from brittle bone disease which caused her bones to become fragile and heal improperly ever since she was an adolescent. At almost 21 years old, she is no taller than a 10 year old and can no longer walk on her own. But despite her fragile body, her spirit soars in the joy of Christ.
Sarita singing, "Open the Eyes of My Heart, Lord"
The second video continues the tradition of making a Guatemalan commercial every time we go back to Fe Viva. This time there's no pool, but this commercial takes place after a surprising discovery one evening during dinner when Shida goes up for seconds. What he and Tian find are two slices of heaven between a fluffy bun...
The G-Mac Commercial
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| Saturday: A final day of blessingsFrom Pastor Dan:
Our last full day of our Guatemala trip has finally arrived. Fourteen days have been spent in Guatemala and from what you've read throughout these entries is that God has done a marvelous work while we've been here. This last day was full of surprises and last minute additions which made it all the more memorable for us.
The group woke up early one last time to make it out for devotions at 7am. I lead the final devotion, giving each member of the team a specific word of encouragement, and also urged everyone to take the time to remember what the Lord has taught them and put the learned lessons into practice. As James 1:22-24 states, "Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like." There have been many things these past two weeks that we don't want to forget about.
 
After devotion and breakfast, I went to prepare for a teaching session that I would be leading later that morning with the pastors who attend the Fe Viva bible school. The team had a relatively light morning planned but they did have a few tasks to do. First was a time of journaling and quiet time with the Lord. To help from forgetting what they've learned, the journals have been a great tool for recording our experiences together. Some went to the rooftops to reflect while others continued on at the table to write. The second thing they needed to do was to prepare for the children's program that afternoon.
 
I went out of my room a little before 10am in anticipation for my time with the pastors. I received word from Luis that he had gotten a hold of our friend, Victor, of the Chinese restaurant and had confirmed that Victor was able to have our group come over to his place for lunch. What a blessing! We hadn't had a chance to see him earlier in our trip and this would have been the only opportunity we could have done this. God certainly had more planned than we could have ever planned for ourselves. With this happy news, I let the team members know and went to the little rancho to teach. A few faces were familiar from the churches we had visited throughout the last two weeks. Around a dozen people, pastors/ministers and a few of their wives were there. I led an hour and a half session on the topic of Biblical Counseling, an important skill for pastors to develop as they shepherd their flock.
 
The Guatemalan pastors and their training has a very special place in the heart of many of our church members, especially among our senior citizens, who have raised money for training material and even support for some of the pastors. They also donated a number of ties to give to the pastors as well as even something as simple as a necktie can be a extravagance for some of the rural pastors and their meager incomes. When I finished teaching, the rest of our team members came to share our church's greetings and prayers, and also to present the neckties. The pastors were moved to pray for the team and for our church. Each pastor then picked their own necktie, and we posed together as a good looking bunch.
 
 
 
With classes over for the morning, one of the pastors, Pastor Carlos, who not only pastored his own church but oversaw the churches in his particular region, asked our team to go to the next town over to pray for a piece of land he had just acquired. The vision for this land was to develop it into a local training center for local pastors and missionaries and also to provide counseling and training to the community's poor. We boarded the bus to go to the land where we prayed. It was a beautiful piece of land covered with banana trees and through the eyes of faith, we prayed for what would be to come. Afterwards, we climbed back onto the bus and headed towards our lunch destination, Victor's restaurant!
 
Back in January, Victor moved his restaurant around the corner and down the street to a larger location. The Lord had been good to he and his wife and his business. The new place kept the same restaurant name, Jesus Es Senor, "Jesus Is Lord" Chinese Restaurant. The bright yellow walls welcomed us as we arrived.
 
 
Victor's wife greeted us at the counter and we sat down in the far end of the room. Victor's large frame met us and he welcomed us with handshakes and hugs. The waitress brought out liters of Pepsi and bottles of water for our group. A short while later, out came the large pot of white rice and the food came pouring out of the kitchen to our delight: a vegetable stir fry, Chinese roast pork with onions and fried potatoes, and deep fried shrimp with salad. We all ate to our full and it was a wonderful last lunch in Guatemala together with our local friends.
 
 
 
Victor shared with us all that has been happening over the last year since we last saw each other. One very interesting thing was that Victor told us he was now holding a small church in his restaurant every Tuesday and Friday night. All the tables were cleared away and extra chairs were brought out where he and coworkers would hold service and he would preach. Andrew was very excited to hear that there really was such a thing as a preaching chef! Victor told us he would be very honored if our group would be able to come to the church this evening. Even though it wasn't there regular night to meet, he said his church would be greatly blessed if we could come minister to them. When we had confirmed lunch with him, Victor told a number of church members about us and they were very eager to have us meet with them. After such a wonderful lunch that we had, and the warmth of Victor's friendship, we didn't refuse. We had thought that our last church visit was the one we went to on Thursday evening. Little did we know that God planned one more special one for us on Saturday evening, right before we leave!
Time grew short and we had to rush back to the Fe Viva compound in order to lead the children's program. After quick goodbyes and a "see you tonight," we drove back just in time to quickly prepare for the oncoming rush of children into the Fe Viva grounds. Our team had planned out several activities. We would open up with songs, the team drama, a little Chinese language teaching and the story of Noah's ark with the origami boat and animals. For the second half, the group was divided into four, where Andrew would lead a "football camp," Lindy and Shida would lead games of kickball, Jiahe and Ruth would teach the kids origami, and Professor Wang and Tian would lead a science experiment involving vanilla, salt and food coloring to tell of spiritual truths. Following a quick prayer, the bell rang and in rushed the children for a fun-filled afternoon.
 
 
 
 
The first half of the program turned out well and then it was time to break off into the separate groups for the different ages. As I mentioned above, Andrew planned a "football camp" for the kids, bringing a full-sized ball for himself and several smaller footballs to teach the kids. In case you didn't know, Andrew plays for the football team at his high school and is quite good at it. This was his way to use his gifts and talents to bless the children he would be working with. The first group came up and that was when Andrew realized he was at a disadvantage...there was no one to translate into Spanish for him. After a few moments of handwaving and gesturing, Yessica, the eldest of the children at Casa Esperanza came to his assistance to help get things organized.
 
 
Jiahe eventually came over to help out as well and pretty soon it was
Team Andrew versus Team Jiahe in a rousing running game. The kids
enjoyed it tremendously as the game mutated into a mixture of American
football and soccer, with the kids throwing the football through a
metal frame.
 
 
 
When the really little kids came, football was out of the question, so it was "Duck, Duck, Goose" instead with them. For Lindy and Shida, they quickly realized that kickball wouldn't work with the limited space and so it was dodgeball with the older kids, and a game of "Name and Catch" with the smaller ones. Their ability to adapt and be flexible were important traits for their portion of the activities.
 
 
 
Over on the other side, paper folding and science were in the works. Jiahe came back over to help Ruth as paper frogs and cranes came into existance. Tian taught the science lesson assisted by J.C. as he taught about how Jesus Christ makes our life flavorful and useful for his purposes.
 
 
 
As the children's program ended, the paper animals were passed out to all the children who didn't receive one before, vitamins and treats were passed out, and we all waved goodbye. Andrew collapsed onto a hammock nursing a sprained ankle that resulted from a misstep on the uneven muddy ground. Bandaged and ibuprofened, the big guy was good to go again after some rest.
 
A quick dinner followed because there was going to be a youth service at El Shaddai church and our team wanted to go visit to see what their youth program was like so we had to arrive there by 5pm. Karey, Becky and Erin would be leading a special dance clinic that evening to teach the youth about worshipping through dance. At the service, our team members joined in with waving flags and dancing with the teenagers.
 
 
We left Shaddai church around 7:15pm to walk over to Victor's restaurant for the church service at 7:30. I met up with Orlando, the former handyman at Fe Viva now pastor, who stopped by and we also caught up with Carol Glesson who just arrived back to Guatemala ear lier that afternoon from New Jersey. Carol joined us to attend Victor's church service.
We walked into the transformed restaurant now lined with rows of chairs. The front counter became the front of the worship space and the coworkers welcomed us with hugs and smiles. The space quickly filled with near 40 people arriving for this special meeting called by Victor. Victor stood up and greeted everyone in attendance, "Bienvenidos a Casa de Dios!" The worship leader went up and we sang songs accompanied by a CD player. Where the smell of Chinese food once filled the room, the room now filled with songs of praise and worship. When the songs finished, Victor introduced us as his dear friends from the States, not only joined together by culture but also by faith. We were met with applause as I introduced each member of the team. We sang our Chinese song for the last time, I taught everyone how to say "Jesus loves you" in Cantonese (Victor and I are both Cantonese) and Jiahe came up to share her testimony. The testimony went straight to the sermon where I shared the benediction from 1 Thessalonians 5, and encouraged us all to "be joyful always, pray continually and give thanks in all circumstances."
 
 
As we've come to anticipate, a powerful time of prayer followed and the Spirit moved powefully in that place. At the very end, we found out that we had a young couple in attendance who gave their lives to Christ during our service! They were in Chiquimulillia for a family reunion the day before and they were walking down the street when they heard the singing come from the restaurant. Curious, they came in and stayed for the service, where they felt the Lord calling them to repentance and salvation. Hallelujah!
 
 
Our God is so gracious! Even to the very moment, he pours out reminders of his faithfulness to us. It is amazing for our team to realize that because of this special meeting that Victor wanted to hold, a couple came to saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. Talk about divine appointments! We were all able to get a good night's sleep after we returned home. We did stay up a little while longer being that it was the last night we would spend in Guatemala, but what a time we had with our Lord! What a day of blessings!
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| Back Safely in the States!From Pastor Dan:
At a little before 12 midnight Sunday evening, our 2007 G-Team arrived safely back at the Philadelphia airport after traveling from Guatemala to Charlotte, NC, and finally back to Pennsylvania. Aside from a few stiff necks, weary eyes, and one misdirected check-in luggage of Andrew's, we encountered no other problems and were welcomed back by family members waiting to greet us and bring us back to a warm bed and comfortable home (with laundry facilities! =)
So it turned out that the internet never did return at the Fe Viva compound during the two weeks we were there, and so our posts have been rather sporadic at best, but I hope you have enjoyed our bursts of updates. We'll still be updating over the next few days with the remainder of the posts. I've been able to finish my post from last Friday which was one of the most eventful days that we've had our first week so it's worth going back to take a look at it complete with pictures. I've also added this past Thursday and Friday's posts. The remaining Saturday and Sunday posts will be updated shortly. I'll also add a video or two of some of the more memorable moments of our time abroad as well.
Thank you again and it's good to be back! We have so many things to share with you all. It'll still take some time for us to process and take in everything, but you can help us with the process with your prayers and your questions next time you see us. We're happy to talk about our experiences with you. Perhaps, Lord willing, you can join us as part of G-Team 2008! God bless!
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| Friday: A Change of SceneryFrom Lindy:
I felt so thankful to have recovered from the illness I had been experiencing over the last week in time to enjoy and appreciate our trip to Antigua today. What a blessing to have the opportunity to travel to one of the oldest settlements in the Western hemisphere! The car ride there was approximately two hours long, and many of us dozed off in hopes to rejuvenate sufficiently for the long day ahead of us. We arrived in two groups but eventually branched off into three or four groups. Armed with advice offered by the Antigua veterans from previous years, we set out for a fun day of shopping and discoveries. After exchanging our dollars for Quetzales, the entire G-Team went to the market first, and it was there that our bargaining skills were first tested. Our purchases started off with a few postcards, packages of coffee, and placemats - special treasures to bring back to our family members, friends, teachers and loved ones at home. Regrettably, for a few of us, the amount of money we had never seemed to be enough.
 
 
 
Every one of us honed our bargaining and negotiation skills while hunting for the optimal price. The G-Team became experienced bargainers, usually aiming for half the price of the one presented by the seller. In addition, we learned that by walking away from the scene, we were able to lower the price considerably; for instance, Andrew was able to purchase a painting, which was originally 600 Quetzales, for 250. I, too, learned to be shrewd when I was able to buy a chess set, initially marked 300 Quetzales, for 170. Jiahe exchanged her bag for another one when she found out that the red dye of her first bag left a tinge of pink to her skin and clothes. Her second one fared much better. We even saw one of our Christian friends from pervious years in the marketplace once again, Evy with her baby son David, who made things easy for team members who didn't want to bother with haggling.
 
 
For lunch, Jiahe, Shida, and I went to a restaurant that served traditional Guatemalan food, while the rest of the group went to a Mexican restaurant. Although the food looks scrumptious in the pictures, it was even more delicious in reality. Wish you could have been with us to enjoy it!
 
 
 
 
After lunch, it was back to the market for some of us, while others took the time to take some artistic pictures of our own against the beautiful backdrop of this ancient town. Melissa and Pastor Dan took the time to head over to a bagel shop for some tea and coffee and also where Pastor Dan could a few more updates with the free wireless internet that came with the purchase.
 
 
 
On the way home, the majority of us dozed off while Pastor Dan, Steve and Patricia talked of the vision of Casa Esperanza and of other matters. As a whole, our time in Antigua was refreshing and will be cherished for a long time to come. The place was filled with an overwhelming sense of historical significance and beauteous wonder; it was certainly a privilege to have traveled there today. With a backdrop of looming mountains and timeless buildings, Antigua adds to the wealth of memories that we've amassed during our time in Guatemala. | | |
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