Sunday April 7

Greenbank-Seagrave Mission Team

Sunday April 7, 2019

It was another early morning…breakfast by 7:30 – we are 2 hours behind our friends and family back home. Carmen served us hot Guatemalan coffee, cereal, fruit and …peanut butter!  We had an 8am pick up around the corner.  The streets here in Antigua are starting to be shut down for an annual Easter festival and parade.  It is the kick off to celebrating Holy Week (Semana Santa). Antigua is a large city with about 46, 000 pilgrims (citizens), but this weekend more than half a million descend upon the city to celebrate by decorating the streets and balconies.  They fill the streets with carpets out of sawdust and flowers that  disappear the moment that “pilgrams” walk upon them.

We began the day with Church in Chimalentango…an Evangelical Pastor calling the neighborhood children in to meet us and have a special time with Canadian Friends.  When we arrived at “Church” we were surprised to find that we were set up in a Carwash. Literally, it is a carwash all week, but Sundays it is used for Church services!  John 10:14-16   "I am the good shepherd; I know my own sheep, and they know me,just as my Father knows me and I know the Father. So I sacrifice my life for the sheep."  Juli lead the lesson through the translator, and then we all did a scavenger hunt to find the lost sheep (colored cotton balls) and then we played “popcorn sheep” with the cotton balls on the parachute while the shepherds found their “color” of sheep. The kids absolutely loved the parachute! 

Cathy led the craft through the translator for all the guests and we made friendship bracelets with yarn to remind us that Jesus is our Shepherd and to represent our new friendships with each other. The parents including the fathers and the children really loved the craft and stayed with it until it was done. We lined up the ninos and ninas and then began distributing goody bags and teddy bears that Eunice Rahm made for us.

 We handed out more than 65 bears to the children today!

The children started gathering and a team from the church sang songs with the kids and danced and prayed together before welcoming our team in to lead them in a Sunday School Program.  We talked about how we are sheep and our Shepherd will never lead us astray. Jesus will always find us if we are lost and we related it back to John 10:14-16   "I am the good shepherd; I know my own sheep, and they know me, just as my Father knows me and I know the Father. So I sacrifice my life for the sheep."  Juli lead the lesson through the translator, and then we all did a scavenger hunt to find the lost sheep (colored cotton balls) and then we played “popcorn sheep” with the cotton balls on the parachute while the shepherds found their “color” of sheep.  The kids absolutely loved the parachute!  Cathy led the craft through the translator for all the guests and we made friendship bracelets with yarn to remind us that Jesus is our Shepherd and to represent our new friendships with each other.  The parents including the fathers and the children really loved the craft and stayed with it until it was done.  We lined up the ninos and ninas and then began distributing goody bags and teddy bears that Eunice Rahm made for us.  We handed out more than 65 bears to the children today!

It was an awesome experience, connecting with the children and making friends with the teen age leaders of their children’s program. They were so grateful for the lesson and the gifts and it really filled our hearts to see their smiles and feel their hugs!

We had an eventful trip to the Sunday market in Parramos on the way back for lunch.  We did a quick tour through to pick up some fruit for the hotel…well, mainly bananas.  We bought 24 bananas, 2 fresh pinapple, a watermelon and 3 mangos all for 55Qs ($10CAN).  We made it back to the School of Hope for lunch – sandwiches, fresh guacamole, fruits and cookies.

School Maintenance

Maintenance is important.  With the rainy season coming - some basic maintenance of the property is required ensure the buildings stay in good condition.  

 

Stephanie, Rod, Doug and Krista donned their sunscreen, gloves and smiles and headed out with sandpaper and paintbrushes to give the exterior window bars a fresh coating of paint.  While they were scraping the paint, Rod spotted several active wasp nests along the soffits of the school.  Krista volunteered to climb the ladder with a jar and remove the nests - smoking them out.  Luckily Rod did not Tragically break his Hip.  All in all, almost one side of the school was completed, and everyone got to know each other a little better as they chatted from the ladders.

Build a Home

Dianne, Kelly, Stan, Judy and Cathy gathered their tools and walked across to the building site that was located at the back of the School of Hope property with Miguel (local contractor) the lead on the job. The project for the afternoon was to construct walls for the build a home family.  Everyone was able to share their talents. They measured, cut, laid out the frames, nailed the wall structure and covered it with the outside board. They were thrilled to have nails that hammer in straight and timely this year!  They had a very successful team on the job with the completion of 7 panels.  Stan and Kelly ran the skill saw to start the process, with great skill Stan added. 😃  Dianne laid the frames as the cut measured boards were ready. The next step was Judy, Kathy and Dianne began nailing the frames together.  They all worked to cover the frames with a light panel and finished nailing them secure. Cutting the excess after the plum line was added, was everyone’s job at one point.  Cutting the windows and door was done with a hand saw. They all at one point managed this job. Great team effort for the build a home crew today!

School Preparation

Brian and Juli spent a lovely afternoon wrapping workbooks for the children at the School of Hope.  This way all the children’s books are color coded and easy to keep track of for both the teachers and the students. We then prepared the materials needed for our busy day tomorrow so the team can be ready to go first thing in the morning.

We found our way back to Antigua, and wow!  What a bustling place.  We all went for short walks around the area and enjoyed the street decorations and the excitement.  Doug and Stephanie toured a Catholic Church that is celebrating its 800^thanniversary this year and really noticed how elaborate and realistic they portray the events leading up to Easter.  We are curious to see how the week unfolds as we move towards Easter.

Carmen prepared spaghetti for dinner and fresh salad – with fresh fruit for dessert! It was beautiful end to a full day!

GS Mission Team