Last Day!

My heart grieves to know that in less than 24 hours we will all be leaving! Personally, I would be fine with not returning to america ever again. I have been personally blessed beyond measure, and have fallen in love with many children here! Tommorow we head to Antigua (spelling) and we go to the markets and have a "relaxing" period, although I would rather stay here. I have nothing else to report besides going in the pool today was SO COLD! Some of us tried to teach the children to swim in the pool (that is also our bath water). God bless! and please pray for the children of Guatemala.

Hola, This is David blogging n0w. Just fyi ... we have a teenager...a great teenager as our team blogger. It is unbelievable...we have been here for nearly four days and the guys just cleaned up from putting up a portion of chain link fence around the Eagle's Nest school and filled some concrete under the fence and fence posts. We had some great relationship building time with the men who work here at Eagle's Nest.

It is amazing to be here and see old friends from the town of Solola. Yesterday we attended an outstanding worship service...membership appears to have doubled from last year. The have a women's choir from the women who work at the orphanage or nearby the orphanage. And Sunday school for the kids. The orphanage kids here are always great. Although a few of our teens have some wet spots on their laps from potty training kids.

Yesterday, Sunday, was a great day...everyone was divided up in teams...many were organizing and dividing supplies, organizing teachers' supplies, prayer walking and another team planning the Manna feeding program. It was awesome teamwork in action by all!

Please be in prayer for Abby (fever), Jim B and Tomi J (stomach bug). And lift up the rest of us that we may stay healthy. . . most of the kids in the orphanage are sick too.

Day 4

Hola! Aright so the first thing I noticed about Guatemala ( I forgot to mention this yesterday) is how emancipated I felt when I realized EVERYONE, and I mean EVERYONE picks their noses here! I love Guatemala! On another note, today we spent scrubbing black mold (yum) off of the outside walls, as well as using white wash to spruce things up. The hunky muscular ones of us (the men) poured cement, as well as put up chain linked fences around the playground. Overall, today's highlight for me was working in the school on Eagle's Nest grounds. I was assigned to the kindergarteners with Racheal Beardsley and taught colors and numbers in English (made possible by some cute flashcards and play-dough). Three of the girls tried to trick me into giving them more candy and play-dough, but I can not be fooled with petty tricks I myself used to do to all my subs. :) Thank you so much for your prayers! We really need them!

P.s. The photo is a picture of the window behind me as I type to you all.

Attention!

hello fellow followers!

My, to actually be on the computer is a pain! today is absolutuely beautiful! few showers, but nothing too drastic to "dampen" the mood! I have already been truely blessed by the kindness and the generosity of the people here. Just yesterday, a village woman from San Teago (my best guess at spelling) invited us into her home and made us tortillas. The only electricity she had was a bare bulb, and cooked in a clay oven of sorts. All the children are so sweet! They just latch on to you and give you kisses! Although this has been short, dinner is in about 5 minutes, (at 4:45) as most folks back home are in the middle of dinner or finished.Feel free to comment with questions you would like answered in the next post. Until then, adios amigos!!!

Hola amigos!

We made it to Nido Del Aguila/Eagle´s Nest orphanage. All of our baggage made it too! Whooeeee and praise the Lord! The team is all doing great too. The high-speed bus ride, compliments of Manual, took about as long as our flying time.

It has been really neat seeing the team engage with the Guatemalan people right from the Get-go. While at McDonald´s for lunch there was a little boy -- about two years old blowing kisses to Anne Marie, saying you are my princess. That just led to great conversation with his mother and brothers.

At another table, a woman, her twin two-year olds and her grandmother were asking the Kendalls why they were here? It gave the Kendalls an opportunity to share why they love the Guatemalan people and why God loves them.

Once we arrived at Eagle´s Nest, the team kids jumped right in interacting with the children at the orphanage who were not many moments away from a good night´s sleep.

We are excited to be here and can´t wait to see how God will use us...Buenas Noches/Good night, and we will post again.

COUNTDOWN

http://www.bored.com/makecountdowns/show.php?id=215161


CLICK ON THE LINK!

PRAYER as the departure day draws sooner

Guatemala Family Mission Trip

Trip Dates: July 30,2010 thru August 7, 2010

TEAM BLOG ADDRESS: HYPERLINK "http://guatemalafamilyteam10.blogspot.com/" http://guatemalafamilyteam10.blogspot.com/

Team 1 Members (6 Families / 11 Children):

David, Gabrielle (Team Leader), Alexandria, Anastasia and Zachary Pinon; Jim, Lawrie, Katelyn, Natalie and Rachel Beardsley; Tomi & Sara Jacubowitz; Allen & Donna Kendall; Chris, Amy, Anne Marie and Olivia Kirkman; Andrew, Tammy, Jack and Abby Larrick.

Prayer Request as follows:

Beardsley:

That God would open our eyes to love the people of Guatemala in tangible ways while we are there.

Health: Lawrie’s back has flared up and is hurting quite a bit. Jim’s wrist is still not healing. Also pray that none of our girls have asthma attacks.

Sanity as we prepare. We are having trouble pulling all the different materials together that we are supposed to bring. On top of that, “normal life” (eg, work) is extremely busy and hectic.

Jacubowitz:

Satan to be bound from this trip.

Family Unity.

Kendall:

Anyone we meet will see God’s love within us. Also, pray for good health.

Kirkman

Take every opportunity to share the love of Jesus with Guatemalan children.

To Trust & Depend joyfully on the Lord each day. Our awareness of and love of the Lord to increase.

Protection from sickness – motion sickness on four (4) hour bus ride up the mountain and from foods that are eaten.

Be flexible when things don’t go as planned.

Good attitude & great love for each team member.

Larrick

Safety and wellness in travels - particularly with motion sickness, contained germs on flight, uncomfortable bus ride (Andy's back).

Flexibility - We've planned and now it is in God's hands how everything plays out. We will need flexible and willing hearts to accomplish things when our plans change. Keep God at the center.

Behavior - Jack and Abby will rise up to the challenge of mission work as they are so young, particularly Abby. We are hopeful that they will consider their choices and make the wise ones, knowing that like all of us, they may not. We are prayerful that they take redirection from parents and adults in a responsive and respectful manner.

Servanthood - Our family as a whole would keep an attitude of service throughout the trip and beyond. Lack of selfishness.

Gratitude - We as a family and as a team keep a spirit of gratitude to the Lord for choosing our team, to our supporters who fund the team, to our church, families, and friends that are praying for us, and for the privilege and honor to work in Guatemala.

Pinon

Pray for good health, safe travel and proper luggage arrivals throughout our trip and that God's protection and wisdom would be on our family, our team and Gabrielle as our team leader. Pray for unity and flexibility throughout our trip. May we depend on and put our trust firmly in the Lord to direct our paths according to his plans.