Guatemala City

Buenos Dias! I’m writing here after finishing a morning of ministry in the poorer streets of Guatemala City. Just thought I’d let you all know that after two days of painstaking sickness, I am finally up to par again!! No worries, my illness didn’t prevent us from serving, I was somehow able to perform three times as my stomach stopped churning the instant I stepped onstage. I appreciate everything so much more now after having had it taken away for a while. After traveling yesterday we arrived in Guat City and went to homestays, but 3 of our families were in the bowling alley so 6 of us traveled to meet them. We ended up staying there until midnight after playing several rounds of bowling with our Guatemalan families and break dancing lessons. I apparently am worthy of the nickname “bowler” mostly because I beat Andy so badly. It was fun, and I won a prize from our friend Primo. I’m really really exhausted since we got minimal sleep, but it was an adventure that was worth the sleep loss. Since I have very limited down time here, I must go eat my hot dog (with 15 odd Guatemalan toppings) and then get back to practicing mime. Thanks for the letters mom & dad, and Catherine your note in Spanish made me laugh when I was sick!! I’ll get that postcard to you when I get a chance to shop. We’re constantly moving and ever busy, but it’s a blast!! Sr. Diaz is my hero since I don’t need a translator very often, and I’ve decided that despite the sickness, I’m moving down here! Hasta lavista! Love you all,
~elizabeth

Hi family and friends! I’m now in Guatemala City and it is so nice here. Wish I was home. I miss you all very much! We all are staying in home stays which is really nice. The hostess name is Daisy and she’s really sweet. She’s says she speaks little English but I think she speaks it very well. I’m rooming with Krista and Sophie. We decided to take a shower together in our bathing suits. The water was warm and it felt so good!!! Since my roommates are afraid of bugs I ended up killing a spider. Then we saw a cockroach, it was monstrous. I tried to kill it but it wouldn’t die!! Daisy ended up killing it. I slept well and we had pancakes this morning. We got to spend time with the children’s team (us mimes that is). We got to play with the kids with those big parachute things with balls and also blew bubbles. We performed once again. I’m having a great time and making new friends. I love you all! Mucho!!!
-Andreya-

Hey Everyone!
We are now in Guatemala City and began our home stays last night. I’m staying with the Calvo family which has five people. I’m there with Amanda Montouri. Last night when we left we got a flat tire so we had to call Brian and some of the other guys to come to the gas station we were at to fix it. When we got the tire fixed we began to drive towards their home, but then the car stopped in the middle of the road and it wouldn’t start for a while…when the car finally started we ran into a hug traffic jam that ended up being caused by a crime scene in the middle of the road. When we finally got to the home Amanda and I were very relieved. I can somewhat communicate with the family, but Amanda can’t. It was really interesting to be able to talk to the family this morning at breakfast. They know minimal English, just like I know minimal Spanish so it actually worked out pretty well. It was strange to hear that Cobán, the place we just left, was cold in their mind. Today for ministry we went to the same place as the medical and children’s team and it was really fun! The kids were really cute, but it was so hot out when we were doing the mime! Well, I’ve gotta go practice some more of the mime right now…Love You!
Christina
P.S. Happy Fathers Day!

Whats going on Minnesota?!
Well we arrived in guatemala city safe and sound. Me and andy scheimo are staying with a guy named mabolo, and he makes cookies for a living… and we went bowling into the wee hours of the night, and I sucked terribly. Mabolos a little quiet, and his brother is obsessed with this Australian band, and showed me some of their stuff and they are pretty good. Well…that’s all for now. Bye!
-Cole

Hey everyone- It’s sarah from the service team. We got to Guatemala city last night and got to our homestay. I’m with taylor, Adrienne and andrea. Our host family is very sweet and speaks very good English. They offered to take us to Shrek 3 tonight so that will be fun. This morning the service team worked to clean up a park about 1 block from the church. We machetted trees- the boys couldn’t have been happier. Don’t worry- they were supervised. Then this afternoon a few of the kids worked on repairing the roof of the church. At the park we moved old branches and leaves and then made some cement to fix an amplitheater area. The park is used by the churchs children’s ministry for Sunday school so now they have a nice clean area to sit. All kids are doing wonderful. It is weird to think that today is almost the halfway mark. Thanks for all your prayers and support- see you next week!!

It’s been a good morning here in Guatemala City. Our service team worked on the roof of the church and on putting concrete in at a local park. The medical, childrens and mime teams all traveled together to a ministry for children who are on the brink of living on the streets. Many of the children that we spent time with are abused by their parents or come from homes where the parents are addicted to drugs. It was sobering to see them. When the mime team was performing a man started shouting that we were “Satan” and that “Guatemala is free – go away!” William, our evangelist, and I went to talk to the man and he immediately left. Then when the part of the mime comes where Jesus is hanging on the cross, a little boy walked onto the set and started mocking the mime by pretending to be Jesus on the cross. He quickly left. Needless to say, we felt the spiritual warfare. God was so good though. When William was giving the invitation, the entire mime team prayed and many people made professions of faith in Jesus Christ. Please remember to pray for these churches as they follow-up on those people who make decisions for Christ. This afternoon has been spent in the medical clinic for the medical team and Lindsay, Allie and Greg from Children’s team, and then for the rest of us at the church hanging out with the youth of the church. Praise God for what he is doing!

In Him,
Brian
p.s. Happy Father’s Day, Dads!