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Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Today we only built one widow house . . . well, sort
of. Several members drove 45" into the mountains to build a home for a sweet 70 yr. old grandma who was raising three
of her grandchildren. She was so excited to be getting a new house that she was waiting expectently by the road like a child
at a morning bustop. She was all grins. It was a wonderful build. Randy made the dedication of the new home and Jan led
the prayer. Remember, the words spoken have to be translated twice--once from English to Spanish, then from Spanish to K'iche'.
After the dedication the group sang two verses of Amazing Grace. The rest of the group spent the day at Monte Flor, the site
of the main property of Manos De Jesus. There they built a double-sized "widow house" to be used as a bunk house
for laborers.
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| Juana is thrilled for this life-chaning day |
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| Monte Flor has several apartments, a ministry home, and a shoe factory |
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Happy 50th birthday, Jody! Today ended with a great
dinner, birthday cake and icecream, and a pinata. Yes, a pinata! How the day ended was the proverbial (and literal, in this
case) icing on the cake. How the day began was the real excitement. Today was the final work day and our team split again
and built two more widow houses. In the late afternoon most of us went to a feeding program for a second day in a row. The brown
saucer-eyes of the of the beautiful children bore straight to the heart. Pictured below is just one. Imagine 150 of them laughing
and singing!
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| Richard found a friend who just might fit into his suitcase |
Imagine cooking on a fire in the middle of your one-room
house. No chimney. Smoke rolling out the door and through the spaces between the roof and the wall tops. That's the way it
has been for centuries for most Mayan's in Guatemala. In the past few months Manos De Jesus has been installing Onil Stoves
in a few of the widow houses they've built. They are so popular that word is spreading all around the greater Chichi area.
Everyone wants one of these. They only cost $125 dollars (U.S.) and they are literally revolutionizing the families who fortunate
enough to have them. Cooking time for regular meals has decreased a stunning 90%. Wood consumption has decreased 60-70%.
The risk of children falling into the fire has been eliminated. These simple items are making a tremendous difference.
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| For more info on these clever appliances visit www.onilstove.com |
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Today our group played the role of the typical tourist.
After breakfast we loaded into three vehicles and headed off to the amazingly beautiful Lake Atitlan. Pictures are inadequate
to depict the stunning handiwork of God's creative expression. We ate lunch at a restaurant right on the shore of the lake.
It was an open air patio and our view included an 80 sq. mile lake surrounded by three volcanoes. We loaded into two boats
and headed for a 30 minute ride across to Santiago where we shopped, shopped, shopped. We were all swarmed by vendors
on foot, many of the children, offering us "special price just for you."
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| Lake Atitlan, Guatemala |
Friday, April 8, 2011
Today is the final post. We spent the morning packing,
getting last minute pictures and organizing ourselves for departure back to Guatemala City. There was even a few extra minutes
to do some last minute shopping and sightseeing around Chichi. After lunch we will return to Guatamala City and spend
one more night here. Early tomorrow morning we head back to the states. Please pray for a smoot transition as go through customs
in Dallas and try to catch our connection flight to Chicago. Naturally, we'd love to stay on schedule and be home by Saturday
night. However, among the many things we've learned from our experience, one of them is that schedules and time frames can
be met with intense pressure or relaxed peace. Either way, everything will work out just fine. See you all soon.
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| 2011 FCC Guatemala Team |
305 N. Camburn Street * P.O. Box 926 * Stanton * MI * 48888
* Phone: (989) 831-5240 * Fax: (989) 831-4098
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