Bring A Friend, Cement, Soccer, Movies and More

You know, I am not sure why I signed up to write a day of the blog. I am not a blogger. I am not clever like my friend Amy B. and I am not very creative at the end of the day. So I apologize in advance if this post is a little dull but you can know that I am giving it my best effort... :)

Today was Day 3 of our VBS and Construction and things continue to go well. The team at Chuk Muk is making good progress and should be done soon. The Barrett, Jenn, Lillie and Jolleen team went on a trek to get some more roof material (tin) and sifted a bunch of dirt to make sand. My team got started laying the cement floor of our house and helped put the roof pieces on. I have to put a shout out to Tara Shadle... she's a hard worker, has an amazing name, and is a cement-mixin' fool... I'm glad she's on my construction team.

We told all the kids that today was "Bring a Friend Day" and they did. We had 115 kids come (our biggest crew ever!) and while it was a little chaotic, it sure was fun. We learned that object lessons where kids are supposed to share candy don't work too well and that painting on tote bags is not something that Guatemalan moms want their kids to do in their nice clothes. Overall though, it was great.

Tonight we hosted a movie night at the mission church in Cerro de Oro. Jack and Aaron went with a translator to set up while we finished VBS. When the rest of the team got to the village, the movie was underway and the church was full. A few of us went to visit Barbara at her home. For those who know her story, she is doing really well. :)

Baudilio and two of our translators (Pablo and Cesar) joined in a soccer game outside the church in a dirt field. The game was supposed to last 30 minutes and to win, your team had to score at least two points. The agreement was that the losers would have to pay the winners 5 Q each (about 70 cents). I told B that he better win because I didn't have any money on me.

The good news is that after 45 minutes our team won 3-1. I think the time keeper added extra time hoping that the other team would come back and win, but that didn't happen. Nobody exchanged money and the boys finished sweaty and smiling. The only bummer was that somehow Baudilio got dirt in his eye and it started to hurt a lot once we got on the bus.

During the game, Tara S. and Holly played with a huge group of girls and Barrett and Aaron threw a football around with a crew of boys. Kristen and I made friends with a boy named Angel and he attempted to teach us the local mayan language. Our pronunciation was quite terrible...

We made our way back to the hotel and had a great dinner with our bus driver Josue. It's funny to see everyone whip out their electronic devices after we eat. There are five laptops and two i-phones out as I type. We are quite the connected bunch.

I think that's it for tonight. Before I go, I'd like to ask that you please pray for the physical health of our team. We have hurting hips, aching knees, headaches, minor intestinal issues, and sunburns.

Thanks so much for your support!

In Christ,

the non-blogger Tara M.