Hello from the TuriCentro Tiosh Aboj in beautiful downtown Santiago Atitlan.

We had a half day of service this morning, then had lunch at Camp Eden before moving up to the hotel for R&R. We will be here tonight, tomorrow and tomorrow night. The kids have been working hard and so are now ready to relax a bit and enjoy the wonderful sunshine (although we have warned them multiple times about the sunburns…).

We had good service days in Santiago. It was a little more challenging with a number of places speaking a Mayan dialect instead of Spanish. We were able to work it out, though, and saw good results at the programs. Service got to spend the day and a half building a baptism beach for the local church so they are the first team to officially spend time actually in Lake Atitlan. Medical was able to do a clinic and a half, even though they were down to the last bits of medicine. We stopped and refilled a number of he meds on the way from Malacatan, but we went through all of that as well. The positive side of that is the number of people they were able to help, people who otherwise would probably not receive any medical care.

We have had some good teaching times for various leaders during the trip during our evening get together. Those, along with the devotional book, have hopefully helped the students develop a better understanding of What missions really means and how to translate what they have experienced on this trip to their lives when they return to Minnesota. We will have at least one more time together to recap the trip and talk about ways we will be able to encourage each other and make this more than a passing experience.

Tomorrow we will sleep in a little, spend the morning shopping in Santiago and the take time in the afternoon to let each team debrief their experiences and then just enjoy the pool and hotel grounds. Saturday we head for Antigua and then a hotel in Guatemala before we fly out Sunday morning. We are all looking forward to the homecoming crowd we anticipate will be waiting at the airport for us.

Following are some more posts from team members, and then some pictures from our time in San Marcos.
Hasta manana.


Hi Family and Friends!
This is the first time I have been able to read the blog so I am sorry if you have been waiting! This has definitely been a life changing experience! My heart has been totally broken by the degree of need the people hear have. The medical team has worked many long hours and we have seen over 1000 patients. I have seen things that I have seen in medical books, but never expected to see face to face. The kids are getting some awesome experience. I am really looking forward to hugging my family. We are soooooo blessed! If you have a chance to blog on the Colorado Blog Please tell Mari I miss her and I can’t wait to hear how things have been going for her.
Scott was sick when we were leaving San Marcos but it passed pretty quickly. I had one day that was pretty tough, but I think it was something I ate. The gluten free diet has been a challenge, especially when you can’t speak the language. Everyone is currently healthy which is a blessing for the nurses! I’m looking forward to sharing my experiences with everyone. God has worked Miracles and has been very very good! I love all of you so much! See you soon! You better be at the airport Kirk and Trent!
Love tons! Wendy Stensrud.
　
Hola Familia y mattsons/hansons!!
This is my first chance to write!!! Yeah!! we are doing so well and building great relationships here both on the team , with the interpreters and with the beautiful people of Guatemala. I miss all of you, rol (aka gringo grande rollie /butt ka), boppa, luke, jen, mickey, ben, Zach, Krista, and of course my sweet little piper (bee-girl) we have seen about 1,000 patients and still have energy left!! Nellie is now almost fluent and I just now sat with 3 little mayans who taught me how to count in Tzu-to-hil!! I pray you are all well and happy! We are really doing great things here, including surgery. The talents on our team all compliment each other so we have such a well balanced ability to serve. It is so cool. Luke and mick, say hi to boppa and tell him I miss him, too!! JAIME SAYS HI TO GRINGO GRANDE AND TOMORROW WE PASS OUT THE SHOES FROM THE KANTARS!!! WOW, HOW GREAT THIS TRIP HAS BECOME. CAN’T WAIT TO SEE YOU ALL
PS, MICKEY, BEN AND PIPER HAVE SAFE TRAVEL TO TEXAS AND CHICAGO. CAN’T WAIT TO SEE EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! GOD BLESS YOU ALL
　
Kirk are you out there?
Wendy
This is amazing. Today all I could think of while we were riding in the back of a pick up truck to our clinic was that this is surreal. God is dong amazing things here and I’m so thankful to be a part of it. We are staying in dorms now and it’s so fun getting to know all these wonderful senior highers. I really have a heart for all of them and love being called mom by many. Thankfully Jess is only slightly embarrassed of me and her hugs are getting me thru some of the more emotional days after seeing really sick patients.. Only 4 nights left until I can come home and squeeze you kiddos. Claire, have so much fun at camp. Please, be careful and look for a letter from me. I really love you guys. Chris, thanks for encouraging me to do this. I will be changed because of it. Emma, I hope you’re having a fun summer so far. I bet you love sleeping in. Chris jr, I miss your smile, see you soon. Thanks for all the prayers. It’s working. We’re healthy and happy.
Hugs and kisses,
Heather, mommy
　
Jessica Krocak
Hola! Today was pretty hard core for the service team. We were basically moving sand to a spot on a lake where people are going to be baptized , which is super! I’m really enjoying the time here in Guatemala. I think I enjoy it because I’m really connecting with God. Being here is like finding pieces of God. I just love it! I am also getting to know new people. I never thought that are OCA team would be so encouraging and so inclusive. I can’t help but feel welcomed everywhere we go. I don’t want to go home, its just so beautiful here. Sorry I wrote some random stuff, ADHD does wonders. I just wanted everyone back home to know that this trip is worth going on. BUENO! BUENO! BUENO!


Hi family!! It’s Lisi. I just wanted to tell Catie that I am seriously right by tons of volcanoes and that it’s awesome. Miss you! Bye.
　
Hi mom and dad!
Today we start R&R and we only have 3 ½ days until I come home!!! I’m so excited to see you guys! I’m already planning my Sunday night meal, which is macaroni and cheese, an apple (please buy some apples), and milk! I’m having a great time but I’m definitely ready to come home. Well we’re starting lunch now so I have to go but have a great weekend and I can’t wait to see you Sunday night!!
Love you!
~Kirsten