OCA 2007 - Day One

Hey All, this is Krista!

We made it safely.. even though there were some doubts. It has been a blast so far. The bus ride today was BEAUTIFUL!!! The kids are incredible!!! J Mom and Dad, I love you. Ashley.. Mrs. Clause survived the trip. And Amanda, Kelly, and I will be wedging tonight in honor of you. I don’t have much else to say for now..

Love,
Krista

Hey this is Amanda and Christa!

We had the longest plane ride and bus ride of our lives and didn’t get sick, but being here in Campur is completely worth it. The kids are so cute and are currently standing behind us watching us type as we speak. Its raining but its completely acceptable. To the Crownies…pj your blonde. Flynner watch out for the pickles. Jon there’s clowns. Kelli we’re still gonna go through with the plan. I pretty much love you guys and miss you a ton. My family I love you and will see you in 2 weeks!
Stina I loved the eels poem and I love you mom and dad and louie, and c-mo.

Love always,
Amanda and Christa

Hey mom and dad! its lindsay
Just wanted to say how much I love you and miss you! Things here are a bit crazy but fun! Hope things are going well! We met really cute kids!! Love you!
Lindsay

P.S. keep looking for Bentley

Hey mom and dad its Allie!
We are having so much fun! The kids are adorable and we had a super fun bus ride on the mountains, the part we weren’t sleeping. The views were gorgeous! We have played tons of games with the kids and its so fun using the Spanish I know! Love you!

Dear family! It’s Kelly I just wanted to tell you all I love you and I am having a great time!

Hey mom, dad and friends! It’s Taylor!
We drove on the bus all day today it was crazy! I slept for a little bit but I was so hot it was hard to stay asleep! We arrived in Campur tonight and man am I out of my comfort zone! I tried some interesting food tonight it was interesting to say the least! Well hopefully I will get some sleep tonight but who knows! I love you all and am thinking about you tons!
Love Taylor!

Hey Family and friends its Ashley!
I just wanted to let you know that I am loving it here the kids are adorable! The bus ride was well interesting, crazy to say the least! Well I have to skidaddle right now so yeah but I will blog later I love you all and miss you a ton! See ya in 2 weeks!
.:Ashley:

Hey Mom and Dad, its Christina!
Today was really tiring, but fun at the same time! The van was really crazy and at some points scary…when we got to Campur all the kids came running up and we were immediately surrounded by the people. I’ve gotta go get ready for the mime though! I’m performing tonight.
Love You! Christina

Hello all!
Campur! Yess! We have mosquitoes this year unfortunately, but hey we are all safe so far! Well we arrived in Guatemala without a hitch. We arrived into Campur at about 5 or 530 and just played with everybody. It was fun, I saw the 4 kids that were in my favorite picture of last year. I also was able to go back to the house I helped build last year. I went with a translator and talked to the person that we built the house for. He has been doing a lot of updates on it, there is a little more to do on the roof, but he has added another part to his house and separated part of it. It was awesome to be able to see how much it has come and how happy he was. It already made my trip! Have fun at grandma’s Kristin and dad have fun at work! I MISS JOHN HANN, AMY POWELL, SCOTT JENNEN, T-BIRD, AND MEGAN DOTEN. Oh yeah, we can’t for get about Carleigh (remember I before e, except after Leith and Carleigh!).
Love all of you!
Greg Krech

Stein, Daniel and Nathaniel,
We are actually in Guatemala! It is AMAZING! Right now we are in a rainforest town. There are many little kids that love to play with you. The drive to this town took about 6 hours! That’s like going to school, except staying in a bus the whole time. The roads to the village went up a mountain. It was pretty scary at some points, because the edge of the mountain rode up just alongside the car and turned into a 30 ft. high cliff. I was wondering if you guys would possibly want a slingshot or hacky sack as a souvenir from Guatemala? If so write a reply to this blog entry and I’ll be able to read your reply. I can’t wait to see you guys when I get back.
P.S. I’d take the slingshot. They look a lot cooler.
Until Later,
Chris

The mime team has their first presentation tonight in Campur. They are learning the next sketch “Goal” as we try to put the 30 min. presentation together. I’ve been told that we have five presentations scheduled for San Marcos with three or four happening here in
Campur. Pray for the team as they engage this culture visually with the Gospel in Mime. Pray that the Lord will use what they do to draw people to Himself. It is a pleasure working with this team who are willing to extend themselves in order to share their faith.

Thanks,

Chris Erickson

Hello Mom and Dad. I finally made it to Guatemala and it is so beautiful. Mom it’s your favorite word “beautiful”. I’m having so much fun being here and the people here are really nice. Our mime team is learning the whole 30 minute skit. We learned “Goal” so far and we will continue to learn more. Please pray for our safety and health.

Love Always,
Andreya Reiter

Hey mom and dad and tate!
It’s cole we finally made it it’s awesome except for the demon robot in the woods and the children of the corn that hide and watch. There is also the mariachi band that played 20 minute songs with no rhyme, reason or tune. Love you!

Hey Mum And Dad And Michelle And Tre And Kelsey!
Tis Jeffrey. So the first night was amazing and the city was beautiful in the morning. The Second night I could not sleep due to the devil cricket that sat outside seeking the blood of a sacrifice, we tried to find Pablo to give to him but Pablo ran eluded us and escaped. There is also a closet with a spiky star of david and a demon man that tried to kill Cole and me in our sleep. We ran for our lives!
LOVE YOU

Hey mom and dad and everyone else reading,
This is Trent Stensrud. Last night was really cool. We went to a church service and played with the kids here for a long time. Last night it was very nice to go to bed because we are all really tired. Apparently there are electrical wires over our heads and if we touch both of them we might get electrocuted. Pretty intense. This morning Adam and I went like a mile up the street to go buy some fireworks for Kelly’s Birthday. We came back and lit them off very early next to their room and yelled happy birthday! Time to go eat some breakfast…

Hi my family and friends­-
This is Mary Krech.
While you are in Minneapolis, watch for the man I saw at the airport. I was making a purchase and a man asked me if I dropped some money. My money was in my purse and I did not think it was mine. I turned around and on the floor was $10. I told him, “I don’t think it is mine,” while I was picking it up. I gave him the money. As I walked out of the store, I said, “Pay it forward…do something for someone else who needs something.”
He promised me he would!
I am so excited to be here at Campur. The drive was spectacular! We are getting set for our first day of clinic. John, Sophie and Amanda are going to begin our in-take, Adam is going to be our runner, Claire and Trent P. are going to work the pharmacy and Andrea and Trent S. are going to get the honor and privilege to hand out tooth brushes and tooth paste, teach people how to care for themselves and pray with them. We have lots of bags to unpack and organize…pray that all goes well. Thanks to everyone who donated and helped us pack all the medications…I can’t wait to see what God is about to do!
My love to all-
Mary

Hey Mom, Dad and friends, its Taylor
Wow we have already done so much with these people! The kids here are so loving the whole drive up this mountain the kids would chase after our bus and wave to us with such joy for they know how much we Americans can do for their city! The kids cling to you and just are so excited to be with you! Last night we had a 3 hour church service we presented the mime and we did a puppet show for the kids! We also got to see how they worship God it was amazing! I also had the chance to be the first one to share my testimony I read it in English Josh translated it into Spanish and then their pastor translated it into Ceche! It was amazing I love listening to people speak Spanish! Now we’re off to do some service work I’m excited to see what we will be doing in this community to help better them! I miss being home and I miss all of my friends but I love you all and I’m doing well!
With much love, Taylor

I’m so proud of the way that your children are shining for Christ in Guatemala. We’re off to a great start. So far, everyone is feeling pretty good. Our Children’s Team is off to several schools today, including one where they will have to hike 30 minutes into the mountain to get to it. They will be carrying their heavy bags as they hike this mountain, so please keep them in your prayers. Our medical clinic is being set up for the first time this morning. The first time is always a challenge as the team establishes best practices for running their clinic. Please pray for them as they will see close over 100 patients today. Our mime team is practicing the longer version of their program this morning. They did a great job presenting the Gospel through mime last night. Our service team is working on constructing the Children’s Home today. They are excited about being a part of this important project. We’ll be updating the blog on a regular basis and I can’t wait to see what God does in each student’s life.