updates from the team
 
Friday, July 11 at 8:45 a.m.
We will be departing from Guatemala City airport today at 2:25 pm. We will arrive in Sacramento tomorrow at 11:54 am.


Monday, July 7 at 8:44 p.m.
We had a wonderful day today in Antigua, the former capital city. We enjoyed the museum, art gallery and beautiful gardens then had lunch at Pollo Campero, the Guatemalan version of KFC. The rest of the afternoon was spend shopping with some of our Guatemalan friends. We do ask prayer for everyone's health. Carolyn was pretty sick today with stomach problems, but is resting comfortably tonight at the home of our hosts Howard and Heidi. Tomorrow we begin the most intense ministry of the trip, working with Tita at la Limonada, one of the poorest areas of the city. 60,000 people live in this community where there is a lot of despair and sickness and spiritual depression. Please pray that we will have open eyes to see God's kingdom among the people there and that we will be a blessing to Tita's school Plantio de Jehova (God's Little Garden). We so appreciate the support, love and prayers you have given us all. Dios les bendiga!


Monday, July 7 at 10:49 a.m.
Today we will go to Antigua, which should be good. Then Tuesday thru Thursday, we're in La Limonada with Tita!


Saturday, July 5 at 5:20 p.m.
Greetings from Guatemala! The last couple of days have been filled with activity and emotion! Friday we went to the Basurero, the garbage dump. We entered a very large Catholic cemetery on a hill overlooking the dump. It was an eerie feeling making our way around mausoleums and gravestones with hundreds of vultures perched in the trees as the ominous smell and sight of tons of garbage hit our senses. We watched from a distance as precious children of God dug through the trash in search of something of value. We then listened to a story of the least, last and lost as found in Judges 19... read this and we'll try to explain later. As our visit there entered our guide pointed out the spot that just two weeks ago 18 people died from a landslide of mud and trash prompted by heavy rainfall. Four of those who died were children. Time does not permit me to express all of the heavy emotions we experienced there, but we encountered God in a very real way there. His grace was so evident. Later that day we spent time playing games, doing crafts, sharing snacks, and sharing stories with about 50 children in a hospital for HIV patients. The children were excited and playful, but we know that many had very sad stories. Today we spent the whole day with Marvin (our former intern) and his church. We had a special program for neighborhood children in the morning, had authentic Guatemalan food for lunch, helped judge a break dance competition in the afternoon, walked through the neighborhood around Villa Hermosa, and then attended a Quinceanera! We also feasted on tamales, horchata, cake and cotton candy. We had a great time of fellowship with the youth and adults from the church. Tomorrow we will attend worship at Howard's church, split up in groups for meals in homes of church members, and attempt to play soccer with the youth from the church. Monday will be a day off, visiting Antigua, the ancient capital. Everyone is feeling well and getting along great! Thanks so much for praying for us. We continue to have much to process and we'll need to do so when we come back. Please be prepared to let us share stories and really listen to what God has done in our hearts. Love and blessings to all of you!


Thursday, July 3 at 3:08 p.m.
Today was our second full day here in Guatemala and everyone is doing very well. This is a wonderful team of students who are working well together and are seeking to glorify God in their experiences here. We are staying in a very comfortable hostel in one of the nicest parts of Guatemala City. We are sharing dorm rooms but have nice beds, hot showers, and the nighttime rain on the tin roof lulls us all to sleep easily. On Wednesday our host Howard, pastor of a local church and trainer of youth leaders, gave us a great orientation followed by a tour of various ministries around the city including: Shock Radio (Christian music and programming for youth), Vida Book Distributors, International Bible Society, Juven Famil (an organization that works with children and women who are at risk or abused) and SETECA one of the largest seminaries in all of Latin America. Today we worked painting the children's ministry rooms at Howard's church, El Mensaje de Vida. We also had an opportunity to meet some of the youth and other leaders of the church there. Tomorrow we will be visiting the city dump which I am sure will be an emotionally challenging time for everyone. Joel Van Dyke, a good friend of Howard's does very significant ministry there. Lives have been dramatically transformed there by the Gospel of Jesus Christ. After visiting the dump we will be working with Rolando, a member of Howard's church who does clowning ministry with children. We will be going with him to visit children who are HIV positive or whose families have been affected by AIDS. We appreciate all your prayers and support. Please know that the group is getting along very well and are enjoying the experiences so far. Pray that as we get into the more challenging parts of the trip that we will all remain open to what the Lord wants to show us, tell us, and do in us. He is faithful. He is here in Guatemala. He is the King of the Nations. Love and prayers to all of you!


Wednesday, July 2 at 4:00 p.m.
Today we took a tour of several ministries in Guatemala City...very cool! We even toured a radio station...that was really exciting. Tomorrow, we're going to be painting/working at Howard's church "El Mensaje de Vida"...so that will be very fun!


Tuesday, July 1 at 1:04 p.m.
Arrived safely in Guatemala.


Monday, June 30 at 10:01 p.m.
Departed for Guatemala.
the trip

who:

19 college/high school students and 2 adult leaders

 

when:

June 30 - July 12

 

where:

Guatemala

 

why:

Because First Cov is a Mission Station and we want to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with every person everywhere and to grow and equip believers into fully-devoted followers of Christ.