Picaya!

Tuesday the team did a medical clinic in Embaulada. Everyone always loves spending time there because of many relationships that have been built there over the years. We saw about 50 people, the majority of them being children. It is always great to see familiar faces, and I think the people there feel the same way because some of the kids even remember our names. God has used Due West United Methodist in such an amazing way there and it is awesome to see how much a church body can do when it is serving the Lord. Today, Wednesday, was the team’s free day and we went to Picaya. It is a volcano that is still active and erupted a few years ago. It’s about a 2 mile hike to the top, and the terrain is very difficult to navigate because of the volcanic rock. Cindi, Olivia, Melanie, Carolyn, and Lyndy rode horses to the top, but the rest of the group hiked the entire way. Needless to say we were all pretty exhausted when we finally reached the top, especially because we were at such a high elevation. The way down was a little bit easier but the volcanic dust made it hard to keep sure footing. All in all we made it back to the mission house in one piece, but a few of us were completely covered in black volcanic ash. Once we returned to the mission house, Dale began to prepare for the skype call between Boy Scout Troop 444 in Marietta and the Boy Scout Troop 7 in Guatemala. Because internet connection in Guatemala can be scarce, Dale drove to Embaulada to pick up the boy scouts and bring them to the mission house, where chairs and a projector were set up. The Guatemalan boy scouts filed in quietly and sat in their chairs patiently awaiting the video skype. It was such a neat experience to see two very different groups of kids come together for a common cause. Dale worked very hard to set this meeting up and I’m sure the whole team would agree that it was a great success. The boys in Guatemala then watched some videos of themselves that Ken had made from last year. They really enjoyed seeing themselves. After the skype call, everyone dressed in their Sunday best and got ready for Wednesday night church. Tonight we preformed Noah’s Arc and made necklaces. Keeping children’s attention for more than five minutes can be very difficult, but Olivia, Taylor, Jen, Jordyn, Bobby, Hunter, Jay, and Ken did an amazing job of keeping all of the kids interested in the story. The craft came next and it was a little harder to coordinate, but we managed. Since it was the last night we will be in Embualada, there were many sad goodbyes. It’s tough because we spend the most time there and we get to see the same kids so Wednesday night is always our final goodbye. The people in Embualada, like majority of people in Guatemala, are so full of love and our group is always so blessed by the love that we feel in Embaulada. After returning from Embaulada where we also found out that Cheryl Leigh (daughter of Tom and Elizabeth) is coming back to the states with us on Saturday to spend 2 weeks with us. We are very excited. We had a very special devotion via skype from Chris Moss who we all miss very much here in Guatemala and at home.