Tuesday In Xenacoj

Today held several ups and a couple of downs. All in all, it was a great day to serve and share in Xenacoj.

The day started out bright and early (after the roosters woke up at 4AM) with a three mile run with Hannah through the streets of Xenacoj. Our run took us by women cleaning up the streets, men heading out to the fields, and children making their way to school.

When we arrived back at the Center, we learned that Isaac wasn’t feeling so great. He was starting with a bug most likely brought on by exposure to a third world bacteria. Right before breakfast, it took on another turn as he puked out whatever was in his stomach. And so, he started with the Cipro.

After breakfast, we journeyed to an elementary school on the edge of town. Here we had a chance to feed the kids a meal of rice, beans, and tortillas. 170 kids go to this school, and for most of the kids, this is the best meal they will have all day. GO! Ministries has set up a program that feeds these kids a hot meal every school day. After they ate, we had a chance to play games with them at recess, and we had time to share with the kids in a couple of the classrooms. We played some games that helped them with their English, we shared some words about God’s love for them, and we prayed with them. It is truly remarkable to me how open they are to the message of the gospel.

We returned to the Center where we worked on taking inventory on items that had already been gathered for a giant Christmas outreach. GO! provides Christmas gifts for over 5,000 children in and around Xenacoj. I was also relegated to help “build” a playhouse for kids who will visit the Saturday morning feeding program. We joked that this is the second house that I helped to build in Xenacoj.

During the afternoon, we visited two women who just became widows in the last week. It was sad, but it was also an interesting experience to bring the message of God’s hope and love to these families who clearly needed some comfort in their lives.

After this, our family walked over to visit with Zully’s family (where we build the house last year). We had a great time visiting with her family. Hannah is amazing with her Spanish! She served as our translator.

Tonight, we spent some time working on our widow baskets for the widow party on Friday night. We also enjoyed a time of devotion and reflection. Joshua 1:9 was the verse that sparked much of our conversation.

Isaac was doing much better by the end of the day.

It was another great day in Xenacoj. We will see what tomorrow brings.

Thanks for your prayers for health, safety, and effectiveness as we continue to serve this week in Guatemala.