Family Camp... well, sort of

   Dave was scheduled to be home for two weeks before he left again for Outreach with the DTS students.  I was looking forward to spending time with him and feeling a little annoyed that we would have to share the base with two different teams during those precious days as a family.  Regardless of how I felt though, the first team arrived and settled in for five days of ministry.
 
      I immediately was convicted of my selfishness as we got to know the first group.  They were students of a YWAM training course and had come with hearts wide open to love on Guatemala.  They were cheerful and willing workers, putting all their energy into every ministry they were involved in.  They uplifted us in our Christianity, parenting of Z, and work that we are doing.  I enjoyed having their team here and could see God using their efforts every day.

     The first team overlapped with the second, and for one night we didn't have a single empty bed in the whole base.  In fact, one of our staff moved out of her room so we could put more people in there, and we put some of the boys on the floor!  The next morning we said goodbye to beloved team one and greeted team two.
 
     They were a large group, 21 people in all, including four leaders, from a youth group in Delaware.  The very first day I was impressed when a couple of the teens sat on the ground outside our room and played Playmobil with Z for over an hour.  I got to chatting with one of the leaders, a mom of one of the teens, and we hit it off right away.  I felt revived to see them interacting with Z and be able to relax and have a conversation with another mom.  I began to realize that God had sent us exactly what we needed, even if my heart had been resistant to receive them.

     Over the next week I felt life poured back into me in a way I haven't felt in an extremely long time.  The team embraced us like one of their own, and Z was the team pet.  They constantly played with him or carried him around.  The girls were doting and affectionate, letting him sit on their laps when they watched movies in the sala, or playing endless hours of Playmobil and trains with him.  The boys were equally as friendly towards him, playing tag, teaching him to hit a baseball, and goofing off with him at every possible opportunity.  I felt rejuvenated and appreciated by the team, and even broke my "I don't play games" rule almost every day to enjoy round upon round of Jungle Speed at the lunch table.

    Thursday morning our family went into town to do some errands, and came back stressed.  Dave and I weren't communicating well, and although neither of us voiced it, we both were wishing that we could just go on a date and have a nice time with each other instead of spending our family time quarreling.  A knock came on the door and two of the girls invited us to come downstairs because their team wanted to talk to us.  We followed them down and found the whole group sitting around the table, smiling.
 
     "We've decided to send you on a date," Matt, their leader, said.  "We'd like to babysit Z for you and we've even taken an offering to cover your meal."  (Paraphrased, sorry, Matt, I'm sure you said it in a cooler way than that.)

     Then he handed us enough money for a very nice dinner.  I almost started crying right in front of them, I was so happy and thankful.  In the evening Dave and I got dressed up and went out for a delicious, peaceful meal together.  We enjoyed having time together, literally stress-free; we knew Z was happy and well cared-for, we knew the food was paid for, and we knew that this wonderful group of people really wanted us to have a romantic date.  It was probably the best evening we've had together all year... and then when we got home we got to play games with the team!

    Sometimes it surprises me what God does for me.  He saw that I was feeling discouraged and worn-out, so he sent ambassadors of joy in the form of two amazing teams.  Being part of the Outreach, and having Dave be the leader of the DTS has been a stressful process for me, and living at the base has been a challenge as well.  I didn't want to share the base with any "strangers", but God sent them here, knowing that I needed them.  Obviously He brought them here to help other people too, but those people can write their stories on their own blogs.  Ha, ha.  :)

     In these past two weeks Dave has loved playing games and doing ministry with the teams, Z was entertained and cherished, and I was befriended and encouraged.  It's been like family camp around here!

A family photo before we left for our date

The obligatory "on our date" selfie.  :)

  

     

         

Z snuggling with Kelsey while they watch Mulan 

Playing Jungle Speed with the team leaders and Turner 

Z and Kate

Z and Turner... Homeschoolers unite!  

  Dinner time with everyone!

Everyone learning about intercession before we had a great prayer time!

 Z and Noah 

Dakota and Z just loungin' 

Tim teaching Z to play baseball 

Connor and Z playing baseball.  

The End of the Road (Puerta Abajo)

Juan teaching some of the kids how to make things out of recycled pop cans 

Puerta Abajo

Brayan and Dave at the school 

All of the students teaching songs during kid's club

Time to colour!

Little kids song/game time

Puppet show!

Juan presenting the gospel using a giant "EvangeCube"

Hosting an evangelistic movie night at one of the churches- seven people accepted Jesus!  

Z and some friends eating lunch.

Amarilis was the only student for the literacy program, and she only showed up for one day of class.  We were prepared for ten students, but we will just have to save our supplies and try again somewhere else.  

Brayan's impromptu morning music group, with Z and Francisco.  

     On the way to Puerta Abajo we had to bring both of the base vans to get all the gear up there.  We had big plans for ministry that week, including a literacy class, movie nights, kids club, and Bible distribution (door to door prayer and encouragement ministry).  We also had to bring in all our own food and cooking utensils, and bedding.  It was like a big camping trip, and we weren't packing light!
     We stayed in two small houses that share a yard, and had a kitchen with stove to use, as well as a dining room table that we could all fit at to eat meals.  Not a bad set-up.  The shower in one of the houses even had a widow-maker shower, so we could have warm water.  The houses were right down the hill from the school where we held the kids club too, so it was a easy to carry supplies up there for each afternoon.  Dave made all the meals and we never had to worry about left-overs because there was always a group of kids hanging around outside to see if we'd give them something.

    Literacy class was a no-go, due to the fact that none of the women showed up.  We invited them personally, and sent other people to tell them about it, but no one had the time for it.  I wasn't too upset about it though because as it turned out Z got quite sick on the fourth day, and after spending the day cleaning up his puke until we had no more clean clothes or towels, I decided that we'd had enough Outreach and it was time for Mom and Z to be done. (He recovered completely within 6 hours of arriving home.)

    Everyone else carried on though, and saw great victories as they went door-to-door and visited people in their homes and prayed for them.  Dave's group saw a woman's knee instantly healed of pain caused by diabetes, and both groups were used to the Spirit to minister to people's hearts and show them the love that God has for them.  Puerta Abajo has a deeply-rooted poverty mentality, and one of the challenges was encouraging people to look to God for their help instead of just asking the "rich white people" to give them hand-outs.  The two teams visited almost every home in the entire community (over 100), and gave away about 50 Bibles into homes that didn't have one.

    The kids club was also a big success, and was attended by around fifty kids every day, along with many of their mothers.  The gospel was preached, Bible songs learned, and everyone participated in the fun games and activities.  Many of the children don't receive a lot of attention at home, and they drank up every moment of time the team gave them.  If the sun was up, so were the kids, ready and waiting to hang out with the team!

    Our students facilitated a church service, and also hosted an evangelistic movie night.  After the movie Brayan presented the gospel and six children came forward to accept Jesus.  When many of the people had left another man came forward and said that he also wanted to re-dedicate his life to God after many years of bitterness because of a dispute between himself and the pastor of his church.  He was reconciled with the pastor, and tearfully submitted himself to the Lord in front of everyone.

     The team arrived back to the base for a good night of sleep and a chance to wash laundry before they headed out for El Salvador on Sunday morning.  They will be gone for two weeks, but Dave did not go with them for this portion, because he can't leave the country... our residency paperwork is now pending approval at the immigration office!!!

    With our involvement in the Outreach basically complete (except for DTS graduation in a few weeks), our hearts are being drawn towards our soon-to-be home at the lake.  We have started packing the room, and with the boxes piling up, it is becoming very real that we are actually moving!  We are very excited to finally be doing what we have prayed about for the past year, and we know God is about to do even bigger things in our life and work here in Guatemala!