My day started particularly early on Thursday, and not by choice. Unfortunately, I didn't sleep all that well, but that's not unusual when I stay in new places. I kind of expected to wake up early.
I spent the early part of the morning reading my Bible and writing about the trip. I also took some time to walk around and take pictures of Brandi and Daniel's house. Where they live is so beautiful, I doubt I can do it justice in words. Still, I'll try.
They live in a mission house that is set up kind of like a . . . well not quite compound, but sort of. They have a smallish main house, and then two other small buildings, as well as a pool, and portico/porch area near the main gate. The whole thing (buildings, portico/porch, yard, pool) is surrounded by a wall. They also have a bunch of fruit trees all over the place that never quit dropping fruit. Seriously, the ground was littered with mangoes. There were also a few coconut and cashew trees. Hugh also told me there was a lemon tree around there some where, and there were a couple of trees that grow a fruit that was a combination of a lemon and an orange (I think).
The way the house was arranged, the portico/porch was right by the big gate. The pool was in the center of the courtyard. The main house was on one side, with the sleeping quarters for us at the back and the third building (which housed bathrooms and a large storage area) along the other wall.
There was also a front yard area that had more fruit and other trees, as well as a little grass and a lot of concrete. It was originally the entrance, but they closed up the gate and now everyone just enters through the side gate.
Around 7:00 Brandi was up and started making breakfast, so I offered to help. She decided I got to make pancakes. I mixed up the batter and got started working. It had been a while since I'd made pancakes, but I think they turned out okay. I didn't even burn any of them.
While I was cooking, I got the chance to talk to Brandi. She and Daniel are from Alabama but they had lived in Guatemala for about 5 years at that point. We talked about what led up to God calling her and Daniel to be missionaries in Guatemala as well as a few other things. Basically I just spent some time getting to know her, which was nice. Both she and Daniel are pretty awesome people and I'm really glad I had the chance to meet and get to know them over the course of the week.
After breakfast, we gathered up all the things we needed to bring with us because we were going up to a mountain village that day. We pulled out the donation suitcases and all the other stuff that we needed, including food that Brandi had bought so we could put food baskets together. We also gathered everything we would need personally, like water bottles, sunscreen, bug spray, etc. Once everything was together, we loaded it all into the two vehicles we were taking and set out.
Daniel drove his giant white F350 and Hugh drove the smaller Toyota Rav4. I rode in the car with Hugh and Jillian. I think we were by ourselves that first trip, but I'm not sure. I do know that on the way up to the village Ben and Will rode in the pickup's bed, while everyone else rode in the cab.
We made a quick stop for gas not far from Daniel's house, then another a little further on to pick up Pastor Carlos. Pastor Carlos is the man that Daniel wants to take over leading a group of about eight mountain churches. He sort of wants him to be the head pastor, leading and caring for all the other pastors in the group. He accompanied us to all the villages throughout the week.
After picking up Pastor Carlos, we got back on the road to our first village. The drive took about 2 hours (maybe longer). Half of that time was spent on paved roads. The last half of the trip, we had to drive dirt roads that wound up the side of the mountain. It was slow and bumpy. In a few places, there were really big ruts carved in the road that we had to navigate. In others, there were big rocks that we had to find our way around. I asked Hugh if the roads had been this bad when he came last time (he'd been there in February of 2013) and he said he didn't think so. It made me think that there was probably a lot of washout because our current trip was in the middle of Guatemala's rainy season. That means that they get heavy rain pretty much every day. This has a rather negative effect on the dirt roads that most mountain dwellers have to walk/drive on.
Following the long, bumpy drive up the mountain, we got to the village a little after 11:00 (I think. I didn't have a watch with me, so I'm guesstimating times here). The first thing we did upon arrival (and getting out of the cars) was do introductions with Pastor Carlos and Pastor Fulgencio. They had fun with some of our names. Which is completely understandable since there are certain sounds in English that aren't really used or said the same way in Spanish. John's, Will's, and Ben's names were easy enough, but Hugh, Heather, Jillian, and I all have names that aren't easy to say for some Spanish-speakers.
After introductions, we got to work. First, we helped carry a food delivery up to the kitchen that stood just below the church building. The church was located up a hill from where we drove in. It wasn't a long walk, but it was a little steep. After we carried the food up, we all went up into the church and got chairs out so we could sit down and talk with Pastor Fulgencio for a while.
The church building was a small structure with a concrete slab foundation. The slab was surrounded by four cinder-block walls that were not quite finished. Overhead, the roof was just a couple of large pieces of tin. While there was plenty of shade inside the church, there weren't a lot of windows, so it wasn't much cooler than outside the church. Still, it wasn't bad.
When we got up to the church, we all pulled out some of the plastic chairs they had stacked in one corner and sat down. When I say plastic chairs, I don't mean the folding kind. Nope, these were those inexpensive outdoor chairs that you can get for a couple of bucks just about anywhere. Nothing about this church was like what we have here in the states. For a sound system, they had a couple of speakers, a couple of mics, and one tiny amp that controlled everything. Everything about that church was just so incredibly different than what we're used to here in the States.
Anyway, sitting in our plastic chairs, we started talking with Pastor Fulgencio about how he got started in ministry and what was going on in his life and his church. Daniel translated the conversation for us, but I don't think I remember everything that was said. I'll tell you what I can about Pastor Fulgencio and his church, though.
Pastor Fulgencio is in his 60s, so not a young man anymore. I don't remember how long he's been pastoring, but it's been a while. On top of being the pastor, which involves preaching several times per week, discipling other leaders, and caring for his church members by visiting them, Pastor Fulgencio also works in the fields so that he can support his family. He not only has to care for his family, but the family of one of his sons. This is because about 6 months ago, his son died, leaving behind a widow and four children.
Pastor Fulgencio's wife also passed away not that long ago. This put a lot of strain on him. He did eventually get remarried, though, and now has someone to help him with his family. In general, he's just got a lot going on.
Besides his own personal struggles, he mentioned that his church is struggling a bit in terms of male leadership. They have a lot of women in the church, and a number of female leaders. But Pastor Fulgencio has very few male leaders in his church.
After Pastor Fulgencio had finished telling us about himself and his church, we all prayed for him. He, in return, prayed for us.
When we were finished praying, it was time to eat lunch and get things ready to go visit villagers. Lunch was sandwiches, so nothing too spectacular there. The things we had to put together for the villagers were baskets of food and personal care items that had been purchased and donated. I say baskets, but actually all of the items were placed in some blue plastic tubs that the people who received them could use in a variety of ways. We put things like rice, beans, sugar, salt, toothpaste, toothbrushes, etc., in them. John and Heather started putting them together, but then stopped to eat lunch. After lunch, I went back over and helped Hugh and Nancy (Daniel and Brandi's Guatemalan assistant) put the rest of the baskets together. That was fun because I got to practice some of my (very) basic Spanish skills.
After getting the baskets together, we also sorted out the various other donations we were going to take with us. Those included things like shampoo, conditioner, soap, more toothpaste, and lots of toys.
While we worked on that, Hugh and Will got out a couple of frisbees and taught some of the children who'd come to see us how to play. They had a lot of fun with it. I think their favorite part though was when they got to give the frisbee to the kids for good. It was really cool to see.
Once we had all the donations and baskets sorted out, it was time to start visiting houses. We gathered everything up and headed down the hill to our first stop, Pastor Fluhencio's house. We presented his wife with one of the baskets we'd made, as well as a gift that the wives of the elder's from Summit had put together for her. I think we also gave her some new flip flops. It was hard to tell, but I think she really liked the gits.
While we were there, we also got to give a basket to Pastor Fulgencio's daughter-in-law. She was the wife of the son who had died, so we were very happy to be able to give her something. Along with the basket, we gave her some new flip flops and gave her children some new toys. They were all very appreciative.
We continued our journey throughout the village, stopping at 7 more houses. A few of them were church members, but a number of them weren't. One place we stopped, the woman wasn't a Christian so Alex spent a while talking to her and explaining the Gospel. Despite this, she still chose not to accept Christ, which was utterly dumbfounding in some ways.
Everywhere we went, we got the chance to interact with villagers and give out things. Will wound up being in charge of the toys and the Silly Bandz, a job he completed with abandon. He didn't just give things to the kids in the houses we visited, either. Any time he saw a child, no matter where, he'd go up to them and see if they wanted a bracelet.
Another thing we did with every family we stopped at was pray with them if we could. We prayed for any specific needs they had, for their kids, and for God to be present in their lives. It was really cool to watch our team praying over people, even when there was a language barrier.
I wish I could remember all the names and stories of the people we visited. Unfortunately, I can't I didn't take notes or nearly enough pictures, so I just remember faces in most cases. Still, it was an amazing and humbling experience.
We finished with the last of the baskets around 4:00 and headed back to the church to get ready for service that night.
Service started around 5:00 and was a bit different than our services back home. It started with Pastor Fulgencio welcoming us to the church and then praying for us. After that, we sang some worship songs. They were all in Spanish, so I knew none of them, although the very first one was familiar to some members of our group. There was a lot of clapping though, so I did that. After singing, John got up and gave a short sermon based on the parable Jesus told about the vineyard owner and the workers he hired throughout the day (Daniel translated for him). Then Alex stood up and called for anyone who wanted to be saved to come forward and pray. When no one came forward, he then called for people who needed prayer to come forward to be prayed for. At least, I think that's what he was doing. It was all in Spanish and Daniel didn't translate that part of it, so I'm guessing based on the few words I understood and what everyone did.
The service ended with Pastor Fulgencio introducing Daniel to the congregation (I think. Spanish and all). During the introduction, Pastor Fulgencio also mentioned Nancy. Except he clearly thought that Nancy was Daniel's wife. At first I didn't understand what was going on and why Nancy was embarrassed, but then Daniel explained that he and Nancy weren't married and that his wife was Brandi and she was home with his kids. Again, all of this was in Spanish, so I only caught part of what was said. I do know the word for wife (esposa) and a few others (hijos=kids, casa=house), though, so I got the gist of the whole thing. We all found it hilarious (as did Daniel and Nancy) and everyone teased Nancy about it off and on the rest of the week.
After that, service was over and it was time to go home. So we gathered up everything and headed back to the cars for the 2 hour drive home.
Nothing else really happened for me that evening. On the ride home I chatted with Hugh, Jillian, and Heather, but once we got back to Daniel and Brandi's house and got everything unloaded, I pretty much went straight to bed.
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