Pretzels and Prayer (by Rachael)

Even though this has been a relatively “easy” and relaxed week compared to some of our other trips, I’m exhausted.

Thankfully, this morning was somewhat restorative.  We went to one of the bigger churches here in Guatemala City, Casa de Dios.  And when I say “bigger,” I don’t mean 1,000 people.  I mean 25,000.  We spent the first 50 minutes of the service singing and praying.  Nate commented that it was great to be able to break away from thinking about this past week and the upcoming week and just focus on worshipping. 

Believe it or not, this was the first time we’ve been to church in Guatemala.  We noticed that the congregation worshipped in a very passionate and focused way.  On an unrelated note, we also noticed lots of people wearing winter coats while we were breezing ourselves with makeshift paper fans.  Apparently, 70 degrees is cold (not even cool, cold) by Guatemalan standards. 

Another fun part of the experience was that we had ear pieces that allowed us to hear an English translation of the service.  It saved us a lot of frustration and allowed us to participate more fully.

The church is close to Hogar Solidario, so we decided to grab some fast food and head straight there.  We were still eating when we pulled into the compound, so we locked ourselves in and finished our food.  While we sat there, 10 boys circled the bus, banged on the window, and tried to open the doors.  We said we felt a bit like we were in a Zombie movie or being circled by sharks.

Once we escaped, we headed to the multi-purpose room where the boys were listening to a Bible lesson from a local church.  Note to self: Sunday probably isn’t the best day to visit.  The boys get lots of “church” on Sundays.  Since the boys had been sitting for so long already, Nate quickly adapted his plans.  He had the boys stand up and copy him as he lead them in exercises and stretches. They loved it.

Ever since we prayed with the boys in small groups in April, Nate has been wanting to talk and teach more about prayer. Just for fun, we started the “lesson” by passing out hard pretzels and sharing about how the pretzel pattern was originally meant to symbolize how early Christians crossed their arms to pray.  The pretzels were given as treats to good little boys and girls who memorized their prayers. 

Guess what?  None of the boys had seen or eaten a pretzel before.

Next, Nate broke us into four smaller groups and led us in a few different types of prayer.  We repeated Nate as he prayed for the group.  We prayed silently for the person next to us.  We prayed through the different themes in the Lord’s Prayer out loud and all together.  Last but not least, we had the kids write out their prayers and prayer requests on a huge poster for us to take back to the people at our church.  Our hope is that we can hang it up and encourage our congregation to pray for the specific needs of the kids.

Poor Nate felt terrible most of the afternoon.  His group prayed over him and his sickness.

Unfortunately, before his group had the chance to pray, Nate had to make an emergency run to the bathroom. Whatever this sickness is, it seems to have hit Nate the worst.  However, Chris and I have felt lots of gurgles and general stomach weirdness.  Are you sick of hearing about our digestive problems yet?  I’m sick of writing about them.  I think we need to follow the advice our friend Adam Pomfret included in his comment to our last post: maybe it’s time we  stop trying not to get sick.

After our prayer time, we started the insane process of passing out 100 candy bags.  The Foreign Exchange “Amigos” from our church put together packets of their favorite, all-American candies for the boys—Blow Pops, Sour Patch Kids, Skittles, Gushers, and Pixie Sticks!  I knew it would be crazy and lots of boys would try to get extra candy, so we recruited Chris to be the bouncer.  Once a boy got his candy, he had to leave and not come back inside.  Chris and his muscles were there to block anyone who tried to sneak back in for a second helping.

 

One interesting and unusual thing we’ve failed to mention so far is that the place has been buzzing with activity in preparation for tomorrow’s visit from Guatemala’s president and first lady.

The boys have been busy painting, moving in new furniture, setting up flower arrangements, hanging signs, moving in catering equipment, and practicing the songs and dances they’re going to do for this most-important couple. 

The place looks gorgeous. 

But, as Christy pointed out, it’s sad that it takes something like this to really fix the place up.  Why isn’t this home always tended to with such care and concern?

Berta mentioned later that she is worried for the kids.  Hundreds of new kids have been moved to Hogar Solidario but no new staff workers.  We briefly saw Joseph (our friend who gave us the gorgeous baby booties last time), and he looked frazzled.  He asked us to pray for strength, because he’s so tired he just wants to go home.  The workers from the girls’ home (Manchen) and the baby home (Casa Alegria) expressed similar sentiments.  They’re exhausted.  And no wonder.  Berta said there are 2 women caring for the 44 children under 4—just think how much work and time it would take to keep up with all those dirty diapers! 

We finished up the afternoon by playing games outside with the kids.  Chris threw his football.  Nate grabbed a Frisbee.  The two pregnant ladies headed to the baseball diamond.  I’m sure our doctors and midwives would be proud.  🙂

 

I have mixed feelings about leaving tomorrow.  On one hand, we need rest.  We need these last few pre-baby months to be calm and restorative.  We need sleep, silence, and time to chill. On the other hand, I’m not sure I’ll know what to do with myself without another Guate trip to look forward to this year.  I’ll miss the kids.  It’ll hurt to not fly down with Jody and her team in August.  I’m trying to set some goals for myself (e.g. learn more spanish) that will help us when we come back.  Like we told the boys, we’ll come back.  We always come back.  It’s just that next time they’re will be three of us instead of two!

Toy Story 3 with Casa Samuel (by Rachael)

Today was a fun day.  We had a relaxing breakfast with Christy and Chris, and then headed straight to Casa Bernabe to pick up the 23 people from Casa Samuel (Daniel’s home) that were coming with us to see Toy Story 3.  The kids in this home are amazing.  They were calm, quiet, and polite.  This says so much about their house parents, Jairo and Veronica.

Since the movie just came out, we were surprised that it had already been dubbed into Spanish.  Nevertheless, in spite of the language barrier, at least two Americans cried.  I’ll give you two chances to guess who along with the hint that it wasn’t me or Nate!  I guess our traveling companions are going soft.  🙂

This sounds crazy, but I don’t know if I’ve ever watched a movie with little kids!  I got a huge kick out of Daniel’s shocked gasps, scared squeals, and free-flowing giggles.  At the scariest part of the movie, I had a boy on each side cuddled up next to me and clinching my arms.

After the movie, we took the kids to get pizza and ice cream.  Along with two translators and the house parents, we had help from a girl from Wheaton college who is interning at Casa Samuel.  It was great to be able to ask Emily questions about the home and to have her help translating.

My expectation was that the best parts of the day would take place during the excitement of the morning, but I was wrong.  We had several wonderful conversations this afternoon.  Nate, Christy, and Chris went back to Casa Samuel and spent some time getting to know Jairo and Veronica.  They asked them about their marriage and about how they decided to serve as house parents.  They are truly special.  Not many of the homes have both a mom and a dad.  The children of Casa Samuel are lucky to have a couple to look up to and show them what it means to be men and women of Christ.

While the others were talking with Jairo and Veronica, I got to talk with our friend (and one of the social workers at the home) Tonilynn.  We talked about CB’s desire to see justice for all of the children in Guatemala (not just the kids in Casa Bernabe) and a bit about Daniel and his situation.  Just like last time, my favorite part was praying together.  I’m thankful that we can come together and lift up our hopes, fears, and desires to a God who hears us and moves on our behalf. 

We ended the afternoon with some more play time with the kids from Casa Samuel.  Daniel sat on the couch in between me and Nate and put his hands on my belly to feel the baby move.  We told him it was almost time for us to leave, but that we’d return and bring the baby with us next time. He gave us big hugs and smiled.  If you must leave a kid that you love, it’s best to do it with hugs and smiles.

 

A few weeks ago, my parents set to work on sponsoring a child from Casa Bernabe.  I asked Tonilynn which child she would recommend, and she pointed us to a new girl named Maria Isabel.  I know that Maria Isabel hasn’t been there long (February, maybe?), and it sounds like she has had a tough time adjusting.  I believe I heard that she has a brother living in another orphanage, and there was, at one point, an American family that played some sort of role in her life.  I don’t know the details, but she seems like a sweet girl in need of a “patrocinador” (sponsor) to show her love.  Emily and Veronica explained to her that my parents would like to be her patrocinador.  At first, she just looked at us blankly.  At Veronica’s prompting, she eventually came over to me and told me to tell my parents thank you and God bless you.  Then, to my surprise, she threw her arms around my neck and wouldn’t let go.  I rubbed her back for a minute or two while she hugged me. 

When she finally pulled away, she was crying. 

Veronica asked her if she was crying because she was happy.  “Si,” she said.  She left us for a few minutes and came back with a card she made for my parents that said, “Gracias.  I love you.” I told her that my parents were praying for her and that they were excited to get to know her more. 

It amazes me how something so simple can mean so much.

I hate to admit it, but I think Nate’s sick.  Right now, he’s shivering in bed under all of the blankets.  What is our deal?!  We are so careful about what we eat, drink, and touch, but no one else seems to get sick in Guatemala as much as we do!   Please, please, please keep praying for us.  Pray that we would have lots of energy for our last day and no ailments to slow us down.  As always, please pray also that God would protect our baby and help her to continue to grow and be healthy and whole as she prepares to make her grand entrance in a few short months!

Strength Day at Elisa Martinez (Nate)

Even though the morning was relatively relaxed compared to the previous days and we got to sleep in a little, Rachael did not feel well for breakfast and the drive to meet the translators. Please pray for Rachael and our baby that they would be well and that Chris & Christy would not get sick on this trip or afterward.

When we arrived at Elisa Martinez, we met a few new boys, and I struck up a conversation with a muscular African-Guatemalan. It turns out he used to get paid about $120/month to play soccer on a neighborhood team, but now that he’s in the government home for 3 months, he hasn’t been able to practice or really have a ball to himself to juggle. He is one of the strange cases where his mother’s spouse abused him, so he was sent to this government home for his protection. For three months. How strange that he would be sent to live with a bunch of orphans as a form of protection. I was able to share briefly about my joy and how it comes from knowing Jesus. He seemed mildly interested.

Chris and Christy had prepared a lesson involving Samson and what we’re supposed to do with our strength. Chris’s big muscles were a huge hit and the kids laughed a lot while learning a Bible verse and doing some exercises! Chris just jumped in to lead the session and made it look easy. I guess the whole being a lawyer gig helps in front of large crowds!

Afterward, we all went outside and split into separate groups for Football, Soccer, Oragami, and other various crafts. Christy found some boys with a lot of talent and patience for folding paper:

I  did my afternoon of soccer and had a blast, as always:

Chris appeared to have a ton of fun explaining the rules and getting the kids playing some football. I think this picture is the result of a good game:

 

Rachael made her rounds with the camera, but they still won’t let us take pictures of all the boys individually. I’m not sure what they are afraid of, but the government has made it clear that we can only take a few general group pictures when we come. Everything was running smoothly, thanks to Rachael’s planning and preparation! A bunch of the boys were wearing their sunglasses today when we arrived and we were able to pass out a few more pairs to the boys who didn’t get any yesterday because they weren’t there.

Rachael got mobbed passing out glow sticks and candy, but was able to settle the boys down to get a little more information about a few of them. I think her Spanish is getting a lot better, because I didn’t hear much about translators, but she had more details on what some of the boys are learning and want to do when they leave the home.

When we went back to the mall to drop off the translators, Rachael thought ahead to Saturday when we’re going to take Daniel’s whole house at Casa Bernabe out to see Toy Story 3. It’s a good thing, too. The lines were ridiculous since it was opening day. While Berta helped us get 25 tickets to the show, she just mentioned in passing how nice Chris and Christy are and how they aren’t picky at all. We agree. They have been really great to travel with. They’re willing to tackle anything we throw their way, and they have done it with grace and love toward the kids. How lucky I am to have a sister and brother-in-law that were willing to come along with us even though they don’t belong to our church and have never been to Guatemala before! They have been awesome traveling companions and excellent co-laborers in helping us with all the kids here. We thank God for them and their help.