Wednesday, April 2

This morning was an early start. We all rose at six to eat breakfast at the guesthouse. After we had finished breakfast we departed for our morning worship at Chamche. Their worship was beyond words. The intensity that they sing and praise; can be heard from the guesthouse that is a ten-minute walk away. Once worship was finished we traveled in the vans to a public school in Pansinic; ten minutes outside of Tac Tic. Our group separated into different activities. We played soccer, blew bubbles and painted faces for about an hour. Songs ensued after the games finished Mr. Werth started what he call “ silly songs with Darryn”. Mrs. Werth narrated a drama that we performed for the kids about the story of Joseph. Mrs. Werth organized hat designing and bracelet beading as crafts for the kids. Worship songs finished our time with the kids and they left for home. The vans carried us to Les’ house for lunch. Home visits for the students who had sponsorship children lasted until dinnertime. We traveled to a Guatemalan home where we ate a homemade Guatemalan dinner. We got dry corn and walked to the corn mill where we made corn dough. We traveled back to the house and made corn paddies stuffed with cheese. These were then deep fried. Our drink was hot rice pudding with cinnamon. Scott found a interesting snake on the ground and decided to poke in around with his plate. Zaak came out and let Scott know that the snake he was poking was very poisonous. After dinner we walked back to the guest houses and had a debrief and devotional.

- Chris Horback

Hola Bearspaw Christian School!
The day began with Jordan and I awaking to a horrible sight. There was a large puddle between our two beds! The pipe in the corner of our room leaked while we were asleep and the water all gathered under Jordan’s bed and then went to the center of the room. Jordan and I then went to face the most deadly and horrifying experience of the day or possibly the whole trip… the hotel showers. “They are really cold but I don’t think they were that bad” said Trevor Maekelburger, who in my opinion has nerves of steel. For me however, the showers were the most grueling part of the whole day. I could barely even stand under the water! But something made the shower much more scary. Behold the man they call Israel, a Guatemalan man who works with Les Peters. Israel thinks that all us Gringos are hilarious and often finds ways to harass us. Israel decided that it would be funny to make our showers even more miserable with several bizarre objects. For me Israel decided to take advantage of the shower window. Now the shower window is blurred so people will not be able to look in on you bathing. But the window in my shower was a little bit open. Imagine my surprise to turn around and see a dark silhouette behind the window reaching through the small opening. I figured it was Israel especially when he proceeded to throw a bouncy ball into my shower.
After this traumatizing experience we left the hotel to go to the guest house for breakfast. After having some Choco Rice Krispies and some yogurt, our group traveled out to visit a local school with a man called Zaak, who is a missionary who has lived in Tac Tic for two years. We attended the school’s opening worship ceremonies and we were all just so blown away by how into the worship they were. Every single child had their arms stretched out to the heavens and crying out as loud as they can. Zaak attempted to translate the lyrics of the songs they were singing but none of us could hear him over the children. After saying goodbye to the children we traveled to a second school where we formed a hug line, which is just what it sounds like. All of us stood in a line and got hugged by kids. We then played a short game of soccer with the children in which Eric kicked the ball right into a kid’s face. We were all quite surprised to see that the kid was fine and laughed it off.
Then came what might be the most memorable part of the entire trip. Our group left the school and traveled to one of the largest sinkholes in Guatemala. After a trek up a very steep hill we came to it. It looked very intimidating. It literally just seemed like a hole in the Earth. Zaak told us that this sinkhole is more than 500 years old and that it is synonymous with Mayan rituals to their Gods. We then made the trip in. There was a winding path that gave you the impression that if you stumble once you will be in for a nasty fall. When we reached the bottom everyone was astonished by the cave-like atmosphere. Rocks rose and dropped at odd angles and formed the most intricate and bizarre shapes that seemed like something out of a dream. What made it very weird was that it was not all rock. There were patches of soil and mud dispersed around the ground making it feel like there is actual vegetation growing. After everyone looked around for twenty minutes we all got together and began to worship. We sang three songs and then did an open prayer for anything that came into our mind. This was a very cool experience to worship in an area such as this. After we were done worshiping Zaak told us to just be silent on the way back up and reflect on our spiritual life. This was a good idea but it kind of threw me off on the way up. When I was walking back up the sinkhole I was so caught up in thinking about the trip before I suddenly realized that I was walking straight up the sinkhole rather than taking the winding pathway. I decided to just keep going but I eventually got to a point where there was nothing to walk on except very loose soil. I decided to turn around and go back down but the soil began moving under my feet. To avoid hurting myself I decided to just sit on my but and let the falling soil carry me down. This ruined everybody’s quiet moment because they all looked up and saw me sliding down. Extremely awkward indeed.
Up next was the work site. We all got pick axes, wheel barrows, and shovels, and traveled to a work site that I was surprised was going to be a school in a few years. We worked at the site for four hours, so for 4 straight hours I took dirt from point A to point B. As you can imagine, four hours of this was enough to drive me nuts. I got very antsy and began to take frequent water breaks towards the end for I just could not stand walking back and forth over and over again. This work experience was punishing on others as well. “Ow my arms hurt” exclaimed Danielle while sitting at the kitchen table. Danielle and Janaina apparently both have excruciating sun burns on their arms and are planning to have an ice party to heal the wounds tonight. Danielle also felt compelled to rescue a baby goat who was bound by one of his legs but had to tough it out in the end. A unique sight at the work site that happened to be caught on camera was Jordan deciding to herd cows. When we all get back you will have to ask for the photo of this.
After the work experience was done we went to Les Peters’ house for yet another scrumptious meal. Me, Michelle Willms, Christine Dang, Jordan Wiens, and Beatrice Yip were all on serving duty and therefore had to eat last. The meal was mashed potatoes with chicken doused in a ridiculously tasty red sauce (very tomato like). After the meal was done we began to discuss the day’s events and had an open discussion about special things that we experienced during the day. After this we discussed tomorrow’s events. But by the time I wrote this tomorrow is today. Aaargh that’s confusing!
Anyways, I would like to apologize again for the delay in this blog. For when we got back to the hotel I was ridiculously tired as was everyone else. Remembering the blog caused a feeling of immense dread so I asked permission to write the blog a day late. Sorry about all the confusion. Now if you excuse me, there is a pastry with my name on it.

- Adam Sylvester

PS: For your enjoyment I will let you know that Israel caught Eric Belt posing in front of a mirror and every time he sees Eric, he leads him to a mirror and makes him pose.