Sorry we have not been able to BLOG the last two days. We had a little trouble getting the hotel wireless to work on our laptop.

But we are on now on-line and we are able to share with you our wonderful mission trip.

TUESDAY, JUNE 24th

We took off late and landed during a heavy rain storm in Guatemala City two hours late. The passengers burst into applause when we plane landed and began to slow down. We knew it was going to be a special trip from the moment we landed. It was exciting to meet a good family friend, David, at the DFW airport. He actually helped us on our FIRST mission trip to Guatemala in 2000. He was going to visit with family for 3 weeks. We got to our hotel without any problems and headed to bed.

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 25th

Our Wednesday schedule was changed a few days before our travels and the schools we were going to visit got moved to Tuesday, the day before we fly out. So most were able to sleep in a little bit, followed by a light breakfast and great Bible Study on Jesus Christ, our most awesome Super Hero. The Bible Study reminded us of the great news…we get to be His side kick…(every super hero has a side kick and also an enemy).
Mike got up to visit with Daniel Reyes at 6:30 (YIKES). His aunt, Lilly, lives in Irving and teaches Christian Hill music and Spanish at the Sloan School. She at one point was thinking about going with us on the mission trip. Daniel is interested in Mission Work and will be joining our team late Saturday and also Sunday!
Then at 9 AM, Rebeca de Franco showed up and we were so happy to see her again. She is the coordinator for Lutheran Hour Ministries here in Guatemala and has helped organize all of our mission trips as well as this one. At about 10 AM we were able to visit and re-connect with Marta, Christian Hill’s foster mother for the first 7 months of his life. She was overwhelmed with joy, even though it took a little while for Christian to warm up to her. She was presented gifts and we were able to talk with her, thanks with the help of Rebeca. We also were able to visit with Oscar, the attorney who worked the adoption case for Christian. He shared with us that Christian’s birth mother still asks about Christian and that his older brother who is about 10 years old is primarily living on the streets involved in drugs and gangs. This made us all sad. It was a very blessed time to be able to visit with Marta and she made plans to see the presentation in Tecpan, where the Compassion International School is located which is close to her home (about 2 hours from Guatemala City)

We then went to the bank and then a large store (the Guatemalan Wal-Mart) to purchase sand bags and a few other props for our presentation. We also purchased gift items (a laundry basket, detergent, soap, towels and some food items) for both our Compassion International children and their families. Lunch was at the famous Pollo Campero.
We returned to our hotel to run through our presentation a couple times and then separate all the items we would need for our first morning visit, Safe Passage. We finished the evening with a late dinner and Tammy led our Bible Study.

THURSDAY, JUNE 26th

On Thursday, we got an early start and made our way across the City to be at Safe Passage for our presentation. We arrived there at 8:20 AM. We set up…and then took it all down…wrong room!!! We packed up and drove to the other school for younger children (3, 4 and 5 year olds) YIKES…we thought we would be presenting to the 3rd 4th and 5th graders…hmmmm…
Well, God showed up and the presentation was awesome. The children laughed and danced and sang and SO DID THE TEACHERS! They were blessed as well. Two teachers came up and asked us to please come to their church and present to their Youth Groups! Cool…but our schedule was set and there was not room to add events on Saturday or Sunday! We gave them a CD of the music we used and presented Safe Passage with two of the Puppets we use. We were also able to bless them with a check from the Mission Team from ORLC as well as 2T and 3T infant items (Christian’s lightly used clothes and shoes)
Now maybe you are asking…”What is Safe Passage?”Well, Mike discovered Safe Passage while channel surfing. A program on the Spanish HBO was showing Recycled Life. This was a short documentary on the lives of those who live and work in the active city Dump in Guatemala City. Hundreds, if not thousands of children live and work there ever day. Safe Passage was created to help get children in a safe school where they could learn and grow and have hope to escape the life of the dump. There is a great deal of information at their website: www.safepassage.com

We did not get a sense that the organization is Christian or if there is any profession of faith. It is strictly an organization to help the children of the dump. Because it is strictly a non-profit organization to help feed and educate children in the dump, large corporation has partnered with them. The school, classrooms and playgrounds are amazing!
We left happy for those who experienced the presentation (especially the teachers) but we were sad that maybe Safe Passage is missing an opportunity to help meet the spiritual needs of the children and families they work with as well.
After we presented we were given a very thorough tour and were able to see the active dump from the roof top.
The dump continues to move down a valley between two small mountains. The Servant’s Heart Ministry we connected with in 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2003 is several blocks away. We will connect with them later in the trip.
Please keep Safe Passage in your prayers. We were blessed by God that they allowed us to present.

We got back to the hotel and unpacked and got organized for our next day. We spent about 3 hours working on our Cross Necklaces we are giving away at each place we visit. They have the words: Super Hero on the front of the cross and we are adding a small rope to them. They have already been a HUGE hit with everyone! They help reinforce our Presentation theme. Jesus is the BEST Super Hero of ALL. We had our time of devotion, led by Judy with a special focus on Christian. He is playing the part of Jesu Cristo during our short drama if Jesus Going to the cross for us, dying and then rising again to defeat Satan!
He has done a great job of that so far! Imagine a Super Ninja Jesus!
We had another late dinner, this time with our close friend (like Family!) Alberto and his mother Rebeca!
They have been such a blessing to us in the past on all of our Mission Trips
We had a great visit and did not get back to the hotel until about 10 PM.

FRIDAY, JUNE 27th

On Friday, we began our day with a 8:30 AM breakfast and then we headed to Tecpan around 10 AM. Today we headed to present at the Compassion International School and visit with Edyn and Erick our two sponsored children from Compassion International.

Check out http://www.compassion.com/ for more information.

The drive seemed long…up through the mountains and it rained the entire drive there. We stopped for lunch and then continued on. We arrived there about 1:30 PM and set up. As we set up the children began to come into the school. They seemed so happy and so excited. Then…MIKE saw Erick first…How could that smile be forgotten? He was so excited to see us…It was hard to believe! And then…Edyn came in later…about 2:15 (school starts at 2:30) and he was with his mother and little sister. Our Mission Team was blessed to get to visit with him and his family back in 2003. Back then he was only 6 years old...now he is 11 years old...just like Erick!
He had grown up…but he had that same great smile. FINALLY! Most of the photos we had received from Comp. Int. had him looking sad…no smiles…but today…he was ALL Smiles! We talked a little…and finished setting up.

We began the program about 2:40 PM and it went on and on and on…almost 2 hours. YIKES! But everyone was having fun and they all seemed to really enjoy the presentation. About 5 children came down to receive a special prayer as they expressed that they wanted to receive Jesus and they had for the first time felt the Holy Spirit working on their heart. That was awesome. Check out the Photos!

We then took down the presentation props and equipment and went to the director's office to spend some time with Edyn (Eddie) and Erick and their families. Again, that time was such a blessing to them as well as us! Their families were so appreciative of the work Comp. Int. is doing for the boys because of our sponsorship. We took A LOT of Photos and prayed with the families. We pray God would bring us back together again some day soon and that God would continue to watch over them. Maybe another Guatemala Mission Trip in 2009 or 2010 would allow us to see them again!
We began the long drive home in the rain and terrible Guatemala City Traffic! We made to our dinner restaurant finally…Chuck E. Cheese. Christian was so excited! The rest of us…not so much and very tired. We made it back to the hotel for a Bible Study time led by Roger and then to bed…late again!

We finally worked out our Internet and here is our first LATE post.
Check back tomorrow for more pictures and information!