Our First Taste

Guatemala is so much more than can be explained in a few word or pictures, the sounds, the smell, the history is too big to be contained in this small story. So here is a taste.

The snow in Calgary was refreshing for no other reason than we were leaving it behind.

We spent a couple of hours in the Calgary airport, then the Houston airport savoring fast foods before boarding the flight out of "civilization".

Les, Heber (pronounced Ever) and Juan met us at the airport around 10:00 and took us to a nearby Menonite seminary where we were quickly asleep.

We awoke to realise that we were not in Canada anymore. The bird calls, dogs barking and busy city life were a reminder that we had left our cold (closed window) manicured (SPCA) life behind. An nice breakfast of ham and eggs, black beans and fresh fruit awaited us.

With some trepidation we saw our bags disappear into the Guatemalan long haul logistics system.

We began our day in Guatemala City with a tour of the main square with it's beautiful palace, a monument to an egotistiacal leader and his taste for the number 5! His fingure print is cast into every door knob in the building (over 700). Across the square is the one of the main cathedrals in Guatemala, Les spent a few moments explaining how the Catholic religion and the Myan religions have become intertwined. More on that in later posts.

A 4 hour trip through two rift valleys (39 degrees Celcius, Grade 10's please convert this to F) with a stop in Villa Del Sol for lunch of Chicken or Hamburgers brought us to our long awaited desination.

Upon arrival we were greeted by Karren and Rocky (and yes he could be Mr. Mc's twin). We quickly got settled, some crashed in their rooms while others needed a release after being cooped up in vans all day so Rocky took us for a little hike up some steep paths above the town.

There is a constant haze from burning which creates some fantastic views.

After a nice meal with our house hosts Bev and John we had an orientation and devotion time with Karren leading. The we were off to an early bed with the anticipation of things to come.....

Please pray - today (Tuesday) we will spend our morning moving cindercrete block from where is is made to the work site at Chijacorral, the new school in Tactic where construction is still taking place.

This after noon we are heading to a village in the mountains called Chicholom. The people there do not speak Spanish so we will need double translation (Eng. to Span - Achi) It is also a community virtually untouched by the gospel. There is a pastor who has been trying to plant a church for a long time and has been asking Les for the past year to send a team to do children's ministry and evangelism!! We are that team.... PRAY for us that we would be sensitive to the fears of the children as we are strange strangers and that we would be able to effectively share God's word with them.

This evening we are joining a youth worship service and event (activity) here in Tactic. It will be a full day and we will be tired tonight!!