White Flower

Flowers at Guatemala Bible Seminary

 All of these flowers are right on the property of GBS in Chimaltenango.

Note the bug.

Garbage Pile

This is all too normal for Guatemala.  Basically, Guatemala is fairly clean, but there are areas where it does get kinda trashy.

 {looking to my right}

What a contrast!

{looking to my left}

 This photo was taken as I was walking down the road in Panajachel to catch a boat to Santiago.
~J

Texas Cook-Out

 No sooner had we said "good-bye" to the team of 12 from GPBC, than we welcomed Maria (former Guatemala missionary and good friend) along with 2 early team members.  Glenn went early Friday morning to take the GPBC folks to the airport, then 12 hours later, he was back there picking up Maria and crew.  Maria knew exactly where she was staying, the downstairs guestroom.  She has stayed there "many a night".

The next day, Glenn was out helping Maria do some purchasing for her team at Wal-Mart and at PriceSmart. Glenn also picked up an AA pilot, I mean Delta pilot :), that got here early, around noon, to join the work team. They also were able to drop off some suitcases and food at the Los Lagos Hostel where the rest of the team was to stay on Saturday night.

Glenn fired up the grill and we enjoyed Grilled Dr. Pepper Bar-B-Q Chicken for lunch.  Yum!

We also invited several friends that Maria knew.  We had a great lunch.  

We hadn't planned on having a P-A-R-T-Y, but it was fun to go with the flow and encourage this work team as they are just starting out and and to hear how the Lord is directing them this week.

~J

Room for 1 More

While in Santiago, we piled into the back of a TAXI - pick up truck that is.

 11 GPBC team members

1 Sara A

2 Glenn and me

7 Foote family

______________________

21 Total

GPBC Piñata Party and Antigua (Thursday)

The GPBC 2012 Guatemala Mission Team spent the last 2 days working at Casita Benjamín.  The highlights were:

• Puppet Ministry on Wednesday
• Cookout at the Stewarts
• Giving "Kitchen Set" to the Crib Babies at Casita
• Closing program with Piñata Party on Thursday
• Afternoon in Antigua, Guatemala

This little guy had the BIGGEST laugh.

Judy V. gave a short "Wordless Book" story.

 The kids loved the piñata.  This looks like "Angry Birds".

The children all rushed to the ground to get THEIR candy!

Antigua, Guatemala

~J

GPBC Casita, Dump, and Beyond (Tuesday)

Tuesday, the GPBC team had a variety of activities they participated in.

• Morning Activities at Casita Benjamín
• View of Guatemala City Dump
• Visit the Cemetery
• Best steak dinner at Media Cancha
• Cathedral
• Relief Map
• Casa Bernabé
• Shopping at Wal-Mart

Tuesday morning, the GPBC team was escorted from SETECA to Casita making the 3 block walk in a few minutes.  This time, the team members were divided into the class rooms to help the teacher with their normal activities.  The children were respectful and engaging.

After their morning activities, we took the team on a City tour.  Our first stop was the Guatemala City Dump.  They viewed the vultures and the poverty there.  We drove through the City Cemetery to get to the Dump.

Then we immediately went to lunch at Media Cancha. (Gary's favorite steak restaurant).

Best Steak by far!

 Media Cancha

After a great steak dinner and experiencing the differences between poverty (City Dump) and wealth (best steak in the world), we stopped off at the Cathedral, the main downtown plaza in Zone 1 and then the Relief Map.

By mid afternoon, we all (14 total) piled into our Toyota HiAce van and headed over to the other side of town to drop off some goodies at Casa Bernabé.  Our final stop was at the local Wal-mart store to purchase some toys for the nursery.  Michelle picked out some great toys such as a kitchen set and play dough.

Conclusion:  It was another fun day, helping at Casita Benjamín, with the added bonuses of experiencing some of the culture of Guatemala by noticing the stark differences of poverty and wealth, taking long van rides through the traffic, seeing an orphanage and walking through a Wal-mart.
 ~J

GPBC Casita Benjamín (Monday)

Monday, we had a variety of events that the GPBC folks participated in.

• Tour of SETECA
• Orientation to Casita Benjamín
• Tour of TGNA
• Afternoon at Casita Benjamín

 Linda gave us a tour, telling about the rich history of SETECA and asking for prayer for the years ahead.

 Finally, an afternoon with the kids at Casita Benjamín.

 The children had a sign "Thank you for your help for Casita Benjamín"

 The boys just hung onto Larry.

 Michelle found a sweetheart.

 We played ball.  We played "ring a round the rosie".  We jumped.  And We hugged the children.

As the afternoon wore on, we were all pretty much tired.  We loved sharing our lives with these precious little ones.