Day five- Wednesday

Hola! Today I went down to the orphanage to build a fence around it. While I was doing this I fell off a cliff but luckily I was saved. We also found a toxic bug that can kill you, which was pretty scary. I enjoyed playing with the little kids and blowing bubbles with them. That was basically how today went so… audios!
~Shanna Santos


Estoy muy emocionada! Vamos a jugar al futbol con los trabajadores de mi porjecto. Oh, sorry. I’ve been speaking Spanish mostly all day and can’t seem to drag myself back to speaking choppy English. But for your sakes, I will. I’m very excited! We’re going to play soccer with the workers from my construction site. They invited us, which is a huge show of friendship, familiarity, and respect. But more than the game, I’m excited each time I walk down the narrow hallway, into an open, flower covered courtyard, past hundreds of screeching, dirty chickens, and into our designated building area. I’m excited for each day that I can see the guys, work alongside them, and get to know them better. It’s great to laugh, smile, and laugh as Laura attempts to speak Spanish (while she’s actually speaking Spanglish). Today, at the house, we finished four layers of block, and cement and we started the middle support layer.

Other than the house, the fence team came back looking like they had just climbed out of a chimney. The VBS went very well, as we did a craft, performed the Ragman drama, sang songs both in Spanish and English, and played with burbujas (bubbles) and globos (balloons). I heard that teaching English went well; however, I didn’t ask the details. Everyone is working hard and soccer tonight will be a nice break, although dinner is going to be late and my stomach is already singing.

God is at work! Thanks for all of your prayers and support. However, with a little bit less support, I may have been able to manage to just buy a plane ticket here and would have to stay…but I guess it’s not my time yet. Oh, and check out Psalm 145:6-7 (and the rest of the chapter while you’re at it). It’s my verses for today on witnessing.
Much love, Heather


Today was a great day. Each morning we begin the day as a team; then we spend time with the Lord individually. This is a great consistency of the week. The team is starting to experience some weakness as we have been away from home for a few days. However, the team is reaching people through service. I am on the house team where we continue to bend steal into rectangles for the beams, sift sand for a cement mixture, lay block for the foundation, and any other odds and ends that need to be done. The first and only time we attempted to do VBS at the house was this afternoon. There were too many children for our man power and supplies, but we were able to talk to a few before we had to leave. I love spending time with the kids and trying to communicate with them! The best part is that we have formed relationships with the men we are working with. We know about their families and how they ended up working for Mario! Somehow we ended up playing a soccer game with them tonight. This was quite the break through because men and women do not play soccer together in Guatemala! (I watched a great game!) We ended the night spending time together by the fireside and watching Princess Bride or mingling. Thank you for your continued prayers. Pray for our continued strength and unity as we finish our last few days in Guatemala.
Always,
Tricia Michalko