I'm Back!

I got back from Guatemala Thursday night and am spending a long weekend in small town Mississippi with family before returning to Louisiana tomorrow. I have lots to catch up on, but I promise to start returning phone calls and emails Monday.

It was an incredible trip. A lot was accomplished. A lot was learned. A lot was clarified. A lot was revealed. I did not have my laptop with me, so all of my notes are in a spiral notebook, some of my thoughts in my now rarely used journal and many prayers in my prayer journal. I think I have more that I want to blog about from this trip than I have any of the previous ones. Just looking at my notes, I have at least eight or nine blog entries to write and that doesn't include this one which is going to be just a quick run down of the basics.

I visited with families that received damage in May and thanks to your generous donations, materials were provided to make repairs. More details and photos will be posted next week. We made plans for further rebuilding to take place in December, once rainy season is over and things have had a chance to really dry out and more preparation can take place. I met with other families that are in need of home repair. Some of them are far beyond needing repair; their homes need to be completely rebuilt. I met with the principal of the local school and found out that 400 children are enrolled this year and that is the expected number for enrollment next year. Their school supplies consist of notebooks, pencils and pens in red, blue and black. That's it, but it is so difficult for most of our families to provide even that. Not this year! We are determined to make education a priority and to ensure that children receive what they need to attend school, we are praying that we will be able to supply all of the required school supplies for every child that is enrolled. More details to follow. I learned a lot about the area's water system and am even more disgusted by it. It is horrible! I knew it before, but hearing every little detail about it and then watching children drink it made it that much harder for me to deal with. Again, more details coming soon. So many of these things deserve their own posts. I visited Hermano Pedro for the first time after wanting to visit for three years and thanks to another new friend, visited a children's home in San Lucas that is home to mostly girls that have been abandoned and/or abused that we may consider working with in the future.


After all of that, I had some brand new experiences that were somewhere between terrifying and refreshing and some a little of both. See? I have so much to share about this trip...I may get sick of writing before it's all over. I'm not sure how so much can be packed in 4 days, but that's what happened and I cannot wait to share the details...