Safe And Sound In Xenacoj

We made it to Xenacoj!!!

What an adventure so far. Our day started with a early morning breakfast at the Best Western in Newark, NJ. It wasn’t anything spectacular, but we knew we should appreciate it with an unknown of what may be coming in the food department. We headed to the airport in a shuttle and then everything went like clockwork until we found our seats on the plane.

Guatemala City was busy when we arrived. We quickly found Dave Sgro and his son, Jesse. And before long, we met our other partners who came from Ogdensburg, NY. The traffic was pretty bad between Guatemala City and Xenacoj, so we stopped to pick up some chicken at a trusted chicken restaurant on our way.

As we finally rode into Xenacoj, the town was buzzing with excitement as the annual town festival was getting ready to reach its pinnacle tonight. After our lunch, Dave Sgro debriefed us with information about GO! Ministries and about our week ahead.

Tonight, we met Linda and her five children. For all intensive purposes, she is a widow, and her kids are orphans. From what I understand, her husband left her. She is illiterate. She’s 27 years old. She makes the equivalent of $35 per week which leaves her 12 year old daughter to take care of the younger siblings. GO! has recently stepped in to help her get an education and to help her get on her feet. We were able to treat her kids to a fun time at the festival where they roadie rides, played games, and ate food. It’s a night they won’t soon forget, and neither will we!

And now, I try to sleep to the sounds of Xenacoj – fireworks booming, raindrops occasionally hitting the roof, the music of the festival still blaring, and dogs barking. Despite the noise, there is a peace to it all. Tomorrow is a new day, I can’t wait to see what it holds for us.