The Last Day of Work

A small portion of the city dump. The entrance to the dump was a block away from the neighborhoods in which we worked.

Jordan, Chris, and Nick with some new friends.

One group put up multiple walls throughout the week.

Everyone got in their fair share of cement mixing this week!

Today we did a "mezcla" (mixture) of things. Some groups finished up their work sites while others played with new friends, made bracelets for women in the community, and enjoyed a low key morning in the neighborhoods. Sometime around early morning, Brady began taking groups of us to the local dump. To sum it up, Mr. LaRocque said, "At the beginning of the trip I had said that if you see one dump, then you see them all. I take it back. I take it back." The sight of the dump is truly overwhelming, and it's even more overwhelming to know that thousands of people make their living off that dump.

I (Annette) had a student who was raised in the dump, and she said that since she worked in the trash and ate from the trash, people told her she was trash. What reason do you have to rise up, or to hope, when your life is literally trash? Thankfully we serve a God who creates beauty from ashes and turns mourning into dancing.

After those trips, we headed to a "despedida" (farewell party) put on by the women in the communities. They thanked us and gave us gifts, we said our words to them, and we ate some tostadas. A few thoughts that stood out: Jimmy Kallas thanked the people in the neighborhoods for "helping us help them." It's so true. The homeowners were getting down in the cement with us, hauling buckets, giving us nourishment, and, at times, cleaning up our messes. It was a beautiful picture of community!

Another highlight was hearing from a woman in the community whose home received new walls. She stood before us crying, and thanking God for the blessings we were able to bring into her life.
A great last day, and we're looking forward to a volcano climb and time in Antigua tomorrow!

a day to remember

Today we got to hear from our young life guatemala leader Fito. Fito shared his story with us about how he had been involved with one of the gangs in the city before he found Christ. Everyone was sitting on the edge of their sits while listening to him share his story. Fito is from the neighborhood that we are working in and still lives there. When he grew up his family was the poorest of the poor and used to get made fun of at school about their poverty. He worked in the dumps for awhile before he rose in power within the gang. However, after a series of events (involving many gun shots and close run ins with death) Fito kneeled for the first time in his life and asked Jesus to come into his life. After that moment he stopped doing drugs and his wife left him with his two children. He is currently leading young life in this neighborhood and spending time with the gang members and drug lords this time for a very different reason- to talk to them about Jesus. Bottom line Fito is a great guy to have with us. It was amazing to get to hear his story and is something none of us will surely ever forget.

We also got the chance to go to the Guatemalean young life club tonight. It was a lot of fun to get to watch the kids from the neighborhood as they sang songs and played games. There was a slight language barrier but the smiles said it all. Matt, Jimmy, Jack, and Nick put on a skit for them in Spanish! It was hilarious and very impressive how well they spoke the language! :)

Tomorrow we work for half a day. It will be our last day in the neighborhood.

It has been such a blessing to spend time in the neighborhood surrounded by amazing people like Fito.

By, Mary Ruge

Post by Hannah "Montana" McCarthy

Today all of the groups had another day full of hard work, but everybody was successful and made much progress in their projects. During out lunch break we had the opportunity to listen to a new friend of ours her name is Estella and she is in charge of the "mamacitas" or young teenage mothers. We were given the opportunity to hear her story and learn a little bit more on how the people in these communities live. Her story was full of sadness but it was over powered by the happiness and joy that she gets from all the people that love her and are thankful for all of her help. What stood out to me the most was how willing she was to help these young moms, most of them are ages 14-18 and have nobody to help them to get the supplies that is needed to take care of their children. Without her help these moms would really struggle to get by each day. It was a blessing to hear her story and we were all happy that she opened up to us.

Once we left the work site we headed back to the house to have some dinner but this night was a little different. Instead of just our normal group of younglifers we had the Guatemalan younglife staff join us for some pizza. These people were from the neighborhoods that we have been working in the past couple of days. We all joined in conversation with them even though we all struggled with our spanish it was alot of fun. We had the opportunity to not only ask them questions about how they live their lives but we made some great new friends as well. We finished off the night by singing the spanish and english version of "Open the Eyes of My Heart" and then said our good-byes to our new friends. We all had a great time and hope to see them during our next few days at work. Well that is all I got. It was a great day with no rain so that is always a plus!! We hope that you are praying for our group but also for all the people that we are serving this week. See you soon

First Day of Work

We had a successful first day on the worksites! Team "Omar" is completely tearing down and rebuilding a new house, team "Kira" is working on laying some cement floors in a house, team "Bubbles" mixed loads of cement to create a sidewalk leading back into a neighborhood, team "String" is working on some floors as well, and team "Bunk" are rebuilding walls in homes and helping out on the big sidewalk project.

Each individual task may seem small, but they are huge blessings to the people we're working with. For example, every floor we lay means that that family will not have to live in mud during the three month rainy season. Three parts stone, 2 parts sand, and 1.5 parts cement can go a long way!

During our time of reflection tonight, we got to share some of our responses to the first couple days. Lacey, and many others, is loving the time that we get to spend with the children in the neighborhood; Jack had some laughs with some guys as he got to flex his muscles and haul sand from one work site to the next; Conor was impressed by how welcoming everyone is; Noelle and Kolby expressed some confusion over how immense poverty and immense wealth can reside so close together.

Our day is closing with some Uno, sandwhich making, conversation, laughter, guitar, and anticipation of what's to come!

FYI: Out of respect for the people we're working with, we won't be able to have cameras on the sites for the first couple days. As we get to know the people, cameras can come out. However, Brady is taking pictures. If you want to check those out, and read some of his thoughts, head to www.vjguatemala.blogspot.com

Estamos Aqui!

The past 24 hours have been a whirlwind for us! Send off dinner at Papa Passero's, girls soccer winning the state championship, airport at midnight, flight at 3, land at 6:00 am.

However, we are safely in Guatemala and dove right into things. We jumped on the bus and went down into the neighborhoods where we'll be working. The different neighborhoods had welcome receptions for us--complete with the traditional Guatemalan fireworks and tasty tostadas (baked tortillas with guacamole and cheese). It was great to meet and interact with the people whom we'll be working alongside.

Thankfully, we have the afternoon to rest and recoup before we attack the job sites tomorrow. More to come!

Vamos a Guatemala!

The summer "camping" season is officially here! Young Life/WyldLife summer opportunities provide a great extension from a year of ministry, and a great intro into the next year. As of right now, 25o kids from Hinsdale and Clarendon Hills will be coming on trips with us. What does that number mean? It means a lot of kids will be coming face to face with their Creator in new, different, and signficant ways. Praise God for those opportunities--I am expecting great things.

Our first trip of the summer is our annual mission trip to partner with Vida Joven (YL) in Guatemala City. We have a group of 27 students, 7 dads, and 5 leaders heading down Saturday night on a redeye out of O'Hare. I would really appreciate prayers, and here are some ways to focus those prayers:

1) Safety: from the flight to our work in some rough neighborhoods, pray for protection.
2) Unity: that the group comes together, and that new and deeper bonds are formed.
3) Humility: that our group approaches the trip with an attitude of service and desire to understand the beauty that is Guatemalan culture and custom.
4) Transformation: that authentic transformation occurs within each person on the trip--that God would draw us all closer to him in unexpected ways.

We're hoping to update my blog throughout the week with pictures and stories from the job sites. Thanks in advance for your prayers!