Where Is God Leading?

Hola a todos!

It seems as though even though times are going quickly, the process of beginning smallchange4bigchange projects is moving at a slow yet steady pace. A couple weeks back Lisa, Mateo and I were in the town of Xenacoj planning out how to begin with some of the projects we have lined up. As we were there, through a serious of events that would be considered God closing the doors to that particular town, we decided that we would not be working specifically with the town of Xenacoj. It is 45 minutes from where we live, and as of right now, we do not have a vehicle or form of transportation that we can rely to get us there often enough. All we knew was that in our hearts, God was leading us away from that community. We are still going to keep in touch with the families that we have relationships with, but it is not practical to be up there a couple times per week.

So we prayed. And we believed that God would lead us somewhere. A town called San Antonio, Aguas Calientes was mentioned to us several times by different people, so we decided to take the van and go exploring. We are seeking out:

1. Rural communities that would be able to have gardens by their homes.

2. Communities centers and/or schools to work alongside Guatemalan teachers and educators in starting gardens with vegetables, Moringa plant (http://www.moringatoday.com/nutrition.html) and possibly an aquaponic garden (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aquaponics).

As we were going further and further into San Antonio, we decided to turn around and head back home. We found a place to turn which happened to be a small library and children’s center. We went in and spoke with the teacher, who informed us that it was a Guatemalan run center for children and adolescents to come after school to have tutoring, lessons on character building, arts and crafts. They also have a garden and are interested in us coming alongside with them to continue the growth of their garden. These kids will also lead us to their families in the area who might benefit from vegetable gardens.

We felt confident in the Lord that he had led us there and that it is a start. We are waiting to have a meeting with the director sometime this week, and see where it takes us. But truthfully all we know is that God has a purpose and we are just to follow in His plan because He knows more about which direction we are going than we do!

Please be praying for guidance as we seek the community to start our projects in, and also specifically for a vehicle or some form of transportation that is within our budget. God bless you all!

Fuego Volcano Eruption

On Thursday night evening there was a volcanic eruption by Fuego Volcano. Many families were evacuated to nearby towns, but thankfully were able to return home on Friday. Samaritan’s Purse (www.samaritanspurse.org) donated money to Hope Haven to assemble food and supply baskets to be delivered to the families affected by this event.

Saturday we spent the afternoon assembling the food baskets and loading them onto vehicles. A large truck was sent from Municipality from the villages of Panimache 1 and Panimache 2 to carry all of the materials to two different sites. Early Sunday morning, a group of volunteers, led by Misael, Hope Haven’s accountant, traveled up the volcano to distribute the supplies, about 3 hours from Antigua.

We visited two separate sites of those affected, and were relieved to see that the damage was not as bad as we had anticipated. Some of the roofs had small holes from the burning ash that fell, but most of the holes had already been there before the eruption due to old lamina. In speaking with some of the people from Panimache they generally said they were scared when it all started, but were able to return the next day knowing that the worst was over.

The people were very gracious and it was encouraging to them to know that they were not forgotten. At both sites, the Mayor spoke to his communities and let us say a few words on behalf of Samaritan’s Purse and Hope Haven. We were glad to be there so the families knew they had not been forgotten.

 

 

 

 

Finally Made It!

It was quite the adventure getting back to Guatemala. I had a layover in Dallas on Saturday, but I was informed that my flight was cancelled. So they sent me to Miami to stay for the night, and to fly out Sunday morning. I wish I could say that I had complete confidence in the Lord that I knew my bags would arrive, since I hadn’t seen them since Baltimore, but I was very concerned that they wouldn’t arrive with me!

Once I finally got here, I settled in pretty quickly. Monday I went by the factory to see everyone, but ended up staying for the part of a distribution that was going on. It was a breath of fresh air, the workers are some of my favorite people.

Tuesday we went to a town called Villa Nueva for a distribution. The Mayor and his wife were there and gave a small presentation before and spoke about how they were hoping to improve the community because of the wheelchairs.

My heart feels at so much peace being back here, even as much as I miss my family and friends. There is going to be a lot of work to be done in the coming months, Lisa, Matt and I have been trying to organize our “game-plan.” I do thank God for his provision over me, and pray that He will continue to guide every day.