Title done by Ethan :)
Well we have come upon our last night here in Guatemala [well most of us anyway] and we are all having mixed emotions about leaving. Many of us miss our families and are ready to get back to Michigan and begin changes in our lives. But there are also many of us who could stay here longer to serve and love on these kids.
God has done great things while here at Casa Bernabe. We have all grown close to at least one special child and we have all seen God work in marvelous ways. Not only have hearts been changed, but lives have also been changed.
Today was a great way to end our time here at Casa Bernabe because we were able to spend most of our time with the kids and sharing special moments with them. The work on the sewer line is at a great point for us to leave and those who are still here including the SBU team and some other members of our team will be able to continue work on it. The women in the kitchen prepared us a great meal to end our stay with rice and beans...a very traditional meal here in Guatemala. After dinner they threw us a desperdito [a farewell party] where a group from each house of children performed something and said goodbye. It was a great, but very emotoinal, time for us to say goodbye to our new friends and tell them that we will see them soon.
As six of us prepare to reenter the U.S. we ask that you would continue to pray for us as we have a great transition to make. There are things in our lives that need to be changed and the different culture will be a great shock for a while. We ask that you pray for God to be with us and that we would be prepared to serve back at home. We also ask that you pray for those who are staying longer here at Casa Bernabe; that God would be with them and His Spirit would guide them in their service.
God is good and we know that he is doing great things here at Casa Bernabe and in the U.S.. We challenge you to go out of your comfort zone and to be a servant and be willing to sacrifice those things that will make you a better servant.
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine. Gracias a Dios.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Monday, January 4, 2010
Saturday, the 34th of Orange Juice...with no Pulp.
So sorry for the late arrival of this new blog...it's been crazy here the past couple of days!
Sunday was such a great day; filled with fun, worship, and relaxation. We started the morning off with a little bit of sleeping in and then church started at 10am. What an awesome worship service with Spanish and English worship music for about an hour and then a man spoke who is certainly a man of God. The entire service itself lasted about 2 hours which is something we normally don't experience at Cornerstone.
After church we were able to spend some time out on the cancha [basketball court]with the kids, just hanging out and playing and loving on the kids.
Sunday lunch is always special. We had BBQ chicken and rice with homemade lemonade. It was great to simply spend some quality time with the kids, getting to know them and seeing where they come from. Life for these kids is not always easy and most of them come out of situations that we will never experience. It is amazing to see how God is working in Casa Bernabe and how the lives of these children are being changed.
The rest of Sunday was spent just relaxing and doing small tasks. We also were able to raise enough money to buy the kitchen staff a new refridgerator. What a blessing it was and praise God for the money that was raised!
Today was a great day to start a new week; the weather was beautiful and everyone was ready to serve. There were not a lot of small tasks to be done so it was somewhat challenging for those that weren't working on the big sewer line project. The men have been doing a great job of working hard on the sewer line and we are blessed by their hard work. Today the women were kind of all over the place. We were able to wash some really dirty windows and we were able to play and spend time with the kids.
This morning in our devotion we talked about expectations and how no matter what expectations we have, God has bigger and better plans and if we commit our work to him, we will be successful. God is good and his plans for us here at Casa Bernabe are wonderful and we may not know how we are blessing people now.
We are coming upon our final days here at Casa Bernabe and we appreciate all your prayers. We ask that you continue to pray for the Brennfleck family and Jill, Justin, and Dana as they all will be staying here longer. Pray that those of us leaving to come home will be able to take what we have learned and experienced and be able to share it with friends and family back home to bless them as well. I challenge you to consider the next place where you are going to serve. God has big plans for you and I encourage you to ask him specifically if he wants you to serve through missions. No matter where you are, God can use you. I ask you to LET GO AND LET GOD!
If you don't understand the title of this blog, it's totally ok. It's a inside joke from some of us college students on the trip and is a great example of our crazy team commraderie! :)
Sunday was such a great day; filled with fun, worship, and relaxation. We started the morning off with a little bit of sleeping in and then church started at 10am. What an awesome worship service with Spanish and English worship music for about an hour and then a man spoke who is certainly a man of God. The entire service itself lasted about 2 hours which is something we normally don't experience at Cornerstone.
After church we were able to spend some time out on the cancha [basketball court]with the kids, just hanging out and playing and loving on the kids.
Sunday lunch is always special. We had BBQ chicken and rice with homemade lemonade. It was great to simply spend some quality time with the kids, getting to know them and seeing where they come from. Life for these kids is not always easy and most of them come out of situations that we will never experience. It is amazing to see how God is working in Casa Bernabe and how the lives of these children are being changed.
The rest of Sunday was spent just relaxing and doing small tasks. We also were able to raise enough money to buy the kitchen staff a new refridgerator. What a blessing it was and praise God for the money that was raised!
Today was a great day to start a new week; the weather was beautiful and everyone was ready to serve. There were not a lot of small tasks to be done so it was somewhat challenging for those that weren't working on the big sewer line project. The men have been doing a great job of working hard on the sewer line and we are blessed by their hard work. Today the women were kind of all over the place. We were able to wash some really dirty windows and we were able to play and spend time with the kids.
This morning in our devotion we talked about expectations and how no matter what expectations we have, God has bigger and better plans and if we commit our work to him, we will be successful. God is good and his plans for us here at Casa Bernabe are wonderful and we may not know how we are blessing people now.
We are coming upon our final days here at Casa Bernabe and we appreciate all your prayers. We ask that you continue to pray for the Brennfleck family and Jill, Justin, and Dana as they all will be staying here longer. Pray that those of us leaving to come home will be able to take what we have learned and experienced and be able to share it with friends and family back home to bless them as well. I challenge you to consider the next place where you are going to serve. God has big plans for you and I encourage you to ask him specifically if he wants you to serve through missions. No matter where you are, God can use you. I ask you to LET GO AND LET GOD!
If you don't understand the title of this blog, it's totally ok. It's a inside joke from some of us college students on the trip and is a great example of our crazy team commraderie! :)
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Fun in Antigua!
Today was an exciting day because we got to adventure outside the orphanage into Antigua to spend a day shopping in the mercado [market] and learning more about the Guatemalan culture.
We left the orphanage at about 8am and took the scenic route through the mountains and Guatemala City so it took us about 2 hours to get there. Once we found a place to park and manuvered through all the crazy traffic and people in the tiny little streets, the group split up and some of us went to a HUGE buffet brunch at Casa Santo Domingo which is a five-star hotel built on some ruins in Antigua. It was really cool to wander around the ruins a bit and see some of their culture while eating a MAGNIFICENT breakfast!
After we all ate, Tom took us on a tour of the mercado where the natives all sell their vegetables, fruit, meats, etc.. It was really neat to see how they live and what it takes for them to survive and make some money. This is where we saw one of the big culture differences. In the meat market there are no rules of regulations by the FDA saying that everything has to be refridgerated, everything just hangs there with bugs and warmth all around...the smell was not too pleasant to say the least.
After the tour of the market we were able to shop around for about two hours or so and buy for people back home. It was so neat to see how proud people are of their work and what they have made by hand.
After a day well-spent shopping and talking with some of the native people, we loaded back up in the vehicles and went on our way. We stopped at the transition house just outside of Antigua where some of the house parents here at Casa Bernabe are setting up a ministry for those girls who are too old to be here at the orphange but are still not ready to be on their own in the real world. It was a beautiful house with lots of space and in a safe neighborhood. We were able to pray over Hilma and Jugo's family and lay hands of them. What a wonderful time of prayer and worship...we are excited to see how God will use that place to better His kingdom.
We thank you all for your prayers once again and ask that you would be praying for good health for our team. There are some of us who are exhausted and some that are just not feeling well; please pray for an extra boost of energy, strength, and immunity and that we can all stay healthy. Also, please be praying for us as we come home and that the transition would be smooth and we would be able to process the trip in an adequate way. God knows all our thoughts and prayers and we ask that you come alongside us with these requests. Thank you and have a blessed day!
We left the orphanage at about 8am and took the scenic route through the mountains and Guatemala City so it took us about 2 hours to get there. Once we found a place to park and manuvered through all the crazy traffic and people in the tiny little streets, the group split up and some of us went to a HUGE buffet brunch at Casa Santo Domingo which is a five-star hotel built on some ruins in Antigua. It was really cool to wander around the ruins a bit and see some of their culture while eating a MAGNIFICENT breakfast!
After we all ate, Tom took us on a tour of the mercado where the natives all sell their vegetables, fruit, meats, etc.. It was really neat to see how they live and what it takes for them to survive and make some money. This is where we saw one of the big culture differences. In the meat market there are no rules of regulations by the FDA saying that everything has to be refridgerated, everything just hangs there with bugs and warmth all around...the smell was not too pleasant to say the least.
After the tour of the market we were able to shop around for about two hours or so and buy for people back home. It was so neat to see how proud people are of their work and what they have made by hand.
After a day well-spent shopping and talking with some of the native people, we loaded back up in the vehicles and went on our way. We stopped at the transition house just outside of Antigua where some of the house parents here at Casa Bernabe are setting up a ministry for those girls who are too old to be here at the orphange but are still not ready to be on their own in the real world. It was a beautiful house with lots of space and in a safe neighborhood. We were able to pray over Hilma and Jugo's family and lay hands of them. What a wonderful time of prayer and worship...we are excited to see how God will use that place to better His kingdom.
We thank you all for your prayers once again and ask that you would be praying for good health for our team. There are some of us who are exhausted and some that are just not feeling well; please pray for an extra boost of energy, strength, and immunity and that we can all stay healthy. Also, please be praying for us as we come home and that the transition would be smooth and we would be able to process the trip in an adequate way. God knows all our thoughts and prayers and we ask that you come alongside us with these requests. Thank you and have a blessed day!
Friday, January 1, 2010
Adventures in Zona Seis and Donation Day!
Today was a beautiful day for many reasons and thank God for that!
First, we were blessed with the gift of sleeping in! After working so hard for many days and after staying up quite late for New Year's we were able to sleep until we wanted to wake up! What a blessing a good night of sleep is and so much good it can do!
The morning was somewhat frustrating because there was not a lot of things to do because of the holiday. We were able to take more time with devotions and it was really cool to see Mrs. Rumbarger sitting up on the hill in the sun for at least an hour and being blessed by alone-time with God. Although there wasn't a lot to do, we were able relax and be replenished.
This afternoon we were able to sort through our suitcases of donations...WOW!! We have been so blessed by the people of Cornerstone so thank you so much for all your donations, God truly is providing for the orphanage. We ended up with a total of 273 pairs of jeans and an estimate of about $1400 in donations besides jeans, not including all the craft and art supplies. God truly is good!
At 4:00pm we all loaded up in the van and car and were able to drive into Guatemala City to Zona Seis. This is a part of Casa Bernabe that has been open in Zone 6 of Guatemala City for about eight months now. There are a total of 17 children living there and they do not often get visitors. There is a 22 year old acting as the house mother right now because the other couple had to leave due to health issues. It was so great to minister to these young children ages 2-12 with magic, music, and gifts. We were able to spend about 2.5 hours with them, simply loving them.
Another piece of great news is that we are up to almost $500 for the new refrigerator for the kithcen here at Casa Bernabe. We have been taking a love offering between our team and the team from SBU and we have over half of our goal. Please continue to pray for God's providence as we have the desire to serve in this way.
Stay tuned because there is more to come! The next couple of days we will be able to experience more culture...in Antigua and gonig to church here at the orphanage on Sunday. Many blessings to you all!
First, we were blessed with the gift of sleeping in! After working so hard for many days and after staying up quite late for New Year's we were able to sleep until we wanted to wake up! What a blessing a good night of sleep is and so much good it can do!
The morning was somewhat frustrating because there was not a lot of things to do because of the holiday. We were able to take more time with devotions and it was really cool to see Mrs. Rumbarger sitting up on the hill in the sun for at least an hour and being blessed by alone-time with God. Although there wasn't a lot to do, we were able relax and be replenished.
This afternoon we were able to sort through our suitcases of donations...WOW!! We have been so blessed by the people of Cornerstone so thank you so much for all your donations, God truly is providing for the orphanage. We ended up with a total of 273 pairs of jeans and an estimate of about $1400 in donations besides jeans, not including all the craft and art supplies. God truly is good!
At 4:00pm we all loaded up in the van and car and were able to drive into Guatemala City to Zona Seis. This is a part of Casa Bernabe that has been open in Zone 6 of Guatemala City for about eight months now. There are a total of 17 children living there and they do not often get visitors. There is a 22 year old acting as the house mother right now because the other couple had to leave due to health issues. It was so great to minister to these young children ages 2-12 with magic, music, and gifts. We were able to spend about 2.5 hours with them, simply loving them.
Another piece of great news is that we are up to almost $500 for the new refrigerator for the kithcen here at Casa Bernabe. We have been taking a love offering between our team and the team from SBU and we have over half of our goal. Please continue to pray for God's providence as we have the desire to serve in this way.
Stay tuned because there is more to come! The next couple of days we will be able to experience more culture...in Antigua and gonig to church here at the orphanage on Sunday. Many blessings to you all!
Happy New Year 2010!!!
"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, and the new has come!" 2 Cor. 5:17
What a wonderful verse to begin not only a new year, but a new decade. I encourage you all to focus on the future and how to use your gifts to serve God this year rather than looking back at the past decade and mulling over what went wrong! Anything is possible with Christ and we as Christians have the capability to serve in mighty ways!
Celebrating New Year's here at Casa Bernabe was a treat indeed! The entire day yesterday, our team and some others from the SBU team made a huge dinner for the whole orphanage. Starting right after breakfast, we began the process of preparing enough comida [food] for about 250 people! We were preparing a tossed garden salad with homemade dressing made my Vilma [the head of the kitchen], a pasta and chicken dish with a homemade alfredo sauce, and dessert. The dessert consisted of marble cake with canned cherry filling on top with a crumbled topping. The kitchen staff also helped us make homemade pan [bread]. Finally after quite a few hours of cooking, chopping, and preparing we were done with this exciting meal and were able to serve it to each house and eat dinner with whatever house we chose. It was such a blessing to see the excitement in the eyes of these kids when they knew they were getting something new and different and something they had never had before.
After dinner we had a program prepared with a magic show that had the gospel message, games, snacks, and praise and worship. It was so great for our team of musicians to lead worship in Spanish...it was really cool to see everyone worshiping in another language.
After our program we were able to spend time out in the soccer field with the entire orphanage as they gave us a huge fire works show...or as they call it, "sky fire." It was so much fun to pray, sing, and spend time with the kids as we said, "Feliz Ano Nuevo" and gave many hugs! The difference in culture was very evident here as there were five year olds running around with sparklers and full out fire works, setting them off around crowds of people! It was a bit scary, but a beautiful time indeed!
There is still plenty of work to be done here at Casa Bernabe. We have about five more days to get our fill of work in! Tomorrow we get a day off and will spend a day in Antigua shopping and learning more about the Guatemalan culture!
Please continue to pray, we appreciate those of you reading this and praying for us daily! May God bless each of you and your families as you enter into a blessed new year!
What a wonderful verse to begin not only a new year, but a new decade. I encourage you all to focus on the future and how to use your gifts to serve God this year rather than looking back at the past decade and mulling over what went wrong! Anything is possible with Christ and we as Christians have the capability to serve in mighty ways!
Celebrating New Year's here at Casa Bernabe was a treat indeed! The entire day yesterday, our team and some others from the SBU team made a huge dinner for the whole orphanage. Starting right after breakfast, we began the process of preparing enough comida [food] for about 250 people! We were preparing a tossed garden salad with homemade dressing made my Vilma [the head of the kitchen], a pasta and chicken dish with a homemade alfredo sauce, and dessert. The dessert consisted of marble cake with canned cherry filling on top with a crumbled topping. The kitchen staff also helped us make homemade pan [bread]. Finally after quite a few hours of cooking, chopping, and preparing we were done with this exciting meal and were able to serve it to each house and eat dinner with whatever house we chose. It was such a blessing to see the excitement in the eyes of these kids when they knew they were getting something new and different and something they had never had before.
After dinner we had a program prepared with a magic show that had the gospel message, games, snacks, and praise and worship. It was so great for our team of musicians to lead worship in Spanish...it was really cool to see everyone worshiping in another language.
After our program we were able to spend time out in the soccer field with the entire orphanage as they gave us a huge fire works show...or as they call it, "sky fire." It was so much fun to pray, sing, and spend time with the kids as we said, "Feliz Ano Nuevo" and gave many hugs! The difference in culture was very evident here as there were five year olds running around with sparklers and full out fire works, setting them off around crowds of people! It was a bit scary, but a beautiful time indeed!
There is still plenty of work to be done here at Casa Bernabe. We have about five more days to get our fill of work in! Tomorrow we get a day off and will spend a day in Antigua shopping and learning more about the Guatemalan culture!
Please continue to pray, we appreciate those of you reading this and praying for us daily! May God bless each of you and your families as you enter into a blessed new year!
Thursday, December 31, 2009
What a Mighty God We Serve!
What a mighty God we serve! After a few women from our team were up most of the night praying, we learned that she slept through the whole night without night terrors for the first time in months! Praise God! Never doubt the power of prayer my friends!
Today was a great day and there were great things acomplished! There were workers in the baby house who were able to serve in whatever ways possible including; changing diapers, feeding the babies, and just playing with them. Tom and Mike were up early this morning for a trip to the market where we spent a good chunk of our team money buying fresh vegetables, fruits, and other things. The men from our team spent most of the day working on the sewer line and made some great progress with the help of the rented backhoe man! The team from Southwest Baptist University has also been a great blessing with all their hard work and them work on the sewer line as well.
Kay-Marie and I were able to work in the bodega and scrub down the food shelves that were covered in dirt and mold and rotting fruit. Although scrubbing with bleach and rough scrubber pads wasn't the most comfortable things in the world...we made such great progress and the shelves already look so much better. Now we are just waiting for the paint to make them look even better!
In the afternoon the women of the team were able to go back to Casa de Alabanza and complete the empanada making process. It was so much fun! We made fruit empanadas with apples, brown sugar, and cinnamon; and we also made some with a chicken and vegetable base. It was great being able to eat the chicken ones at dinner time...they were delicious! All in all we made about 500-600 empanadas! It is so great to see how the people here take pride in what they do. Since everything is made by hand, they have much more appreciation for what they complete.
In the evening it was really great to see Ethan being able to practice music with the Guatemalans. Although they don't have the same sound technology we have and they might not sound as good as our choir and band at Cornerstone, they still have the ability to priase God and we know He enjoys it!
At our debriefing meeting tonight, we had a discussion about the "business" end of things...in other words: money. We came here with about $1300 and we are already down to only $170. We have bought a lot of things to minister and help out here at the orphanage and there are still so many other things that we want to help with. Please be praying that God would provide more money somehow so that we can minister to each group that we can. We know what God has in store for us to do, but we have such a desire to serve more than expected. Besides praying for the provision of more money, we ask that you pray for good decision making in what we do with the money we do still have.
Tomorrow is a big day for our group because it is New Year's Eve and that means we get to cook for the entire campus of Casa Bernabe! We have an entire meal planned out and we are excited to serve in that way! Please pray that God gives of focus and excitement and that we don't get frustrated with everyone in the kitchen!
Thank you as always for your prayers and HAPPY NEW YEAR'S EVE! :)
Today was a great day and there were great things acomplished! There were workers in the baby house who were able to serve in whatever ways possible including; changing diapers, feeding the babies, and just playing with them. Tom and Mike were up early this morning for a trip to the market where we spent a good chunk of our team money buying fresh vegetables, fruits, and other things. The men from our team spent most of the day working on the sewer line and made some great progress with the help of the rented backhoe man! The team from Southwest Baptist University has also been a great blessing with all their hard work and them work on the sewer line as well.
Kay-Marie and I were able to work in the bodega and scrub down the food shelves that were covered in dirt and mold and rotting fruit. Although scrubbing with bleach and rough scrubber pads wasn't the most comfortable things in the world...we made such great progress and the shelves already look so much better. Now we are just waiting for the paint to make them look even better!
In the afternoon the women of the team were able to go back to Casa de Alabanza and complete the empanada making process. It was so much fun! We made fruit empanadas with apples, brown sugar, and cinnamon; and we also made some with a chicken and vegetable base. It was great being able to eat the chicken ones at dinner time...they were delicious! All in all we made about 500-600 empanadas! It is so great to see how the people here take pride in what they do. Since everything is made by hand, they have much more appreciation for what they complete.
In the evening it was really great to see Ethan being able to practice music with the Guatemalans. Although they don't have the same sound technology we have and they might not sound as good as our choir and band at Cornerstone, they still have the ability to priase God and we know He enjoys it!
At our debriefing meeting tonight, we had a discussion about the "business" end of things...in other words: money. We came here with about $1300 and we are already down to only $170. We have bought a lot of things to minister and help out here at the orphanage and there are still so many other things that we want to help with. Please be praying that God would provide more money somehow so that we can minister to each group that we can. We know what God has in store for us to do, but we have such a desire to serve more than expected. Besides praying for the provision of more money, we ask that you pray for good decision making in what we do with the money we do still have.
Tomorrow is a big day for our group because it is New Year's Eve and that means we get to cook for the entire campus of Casa Bernabe! We have an entire meal planned out and we are excited to serve in that way! Please pray that God gives of focus and excitement and that we don't get frustrated with everyone in the kitchen!
Thank you as always for your prayers and HAPPY NEW YEAR'S EVE! :)
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
What a Day!
Gracias a Dios para su gran poder y amor!
What a day it has been here at Casa Bernabe and God has truly been working through our team already!
There are many projects taking place here at the orphanage right now and it is an honor to be able to take part in all of them! This morning the men started on the sewer trench that is going to be replaced...the men certainly showed what it means to be hard-workers and most of them came back with sun burns to prove it! The men were blessed by a young girl named Ophelia who jumped in and began working with them on the trench. It is such a blessing to see such young children with a desire to work and serve!
Today we also had the opportunity to sort through MUCHAS BANANAS! The orphanage recieved a donation of at least twenty boxes of locally grown bananas and there was simply too many to handle here at Casa Bernabe. It was such a blessing to see the orphanage decide to donate some of them to other shelters and orphanages around here in Frijanes.
Justin went to work today on the shelves in one of the bodegas where all the fruit is stored. At one point in time there was contact paper that was put on the shelves and now it needs to be removed and they all need to be painted. It was great to witness Justin volunteer to take on the job of removing the contact paper all by himself...and he made great progress. Now we are just waiting for the paint.
It is so inspiring how the women here take pride in their work. After working in the kitchen, it is evident that because everything is homemade and home-raised, there is much more pride in what is being done. It puts it in perspective as to how lazy us Americans can be when we just run to GFS to get a big bag of frozen fruit or vegetables...but not here, there is no GFS or Costco, everything is done by hand; gardening, cutting, etc.
This evening the women on our team were able to minister to the girls in Casa de Alabanza [ages 12-18]. This afternoon we had the opportunity to start making the dough for empanadas [sort of like a crepe, only much better] with the girls and it was so much fun! After dinner, we prepared a devotion and gave it to them which was such an awesome experience. We talked with them about how Christ is such a great gift and we were able to emphasize the excitement that comes with recieving a gift with a small regalo [gift] for each girl. They were so thrilled to recieve something so small as a notebook and pencil! After we were finished with the discussion and prayer, we were able to comfort a nine year old girl named Maria Fernanda. Maria and her sister both live in Casa de Albanza and about a year ago their dad was killed. Maria [Mafer...her nickname] has been really struggling with this and wakes up in the night with night terrors and panic attacks. After the discussion tonight, it was evident that the devil was attacking Mafer. She was not herself and she began to sob uncontrollably claiming that she couldn't breath well and her heart was beating really fast. It was evident that she was filled with fear as she cried out "mi papito" or "my father." We ask that you would lift Mafer up in your prayers, commit her to the Holy Spirit and pray that she would seek out the love of Christ at this time in her life. What a horrific thing to be encountering at such a small age. But God is in control of all situations and we have faith that he knows what Mafer can handle.
One other thing that we need prayer for...a refigerator. The refrigerator in the kitchen is not working well and there is a huge need for a new one. Please pray that the people here at the orphanage would find a way to fund a new one and that our group would be called to help them in that area.
There are constantly needs around here and we ask that you would continue to pray for Casa Bernabe. It is a great place where the love of Christ shines throughout.
May God bless you as you are praying for our group and for the people here in Guatemala!
What a day it has been here at Casa Bernabe and God has truly been working through our team already!
There are many projects taking place here at the orphanage right now and it is an honor to be able to take part in all of them! This morning the men started on the sewer trench that is going to be replaced...the men certainly showed what it means to be hard-workers and most of them came back with sun burns to prove it! The men were blessed by a young girl named Ophelia who jumped in and began working with them on the trench. It is such a blessing to see such young children with a desire to work and serve!
Today we also had the opportunity to sort through MUCHAS BANANAS! The orphanage recieved a donation of at least twenty boxes of locally grown bananas and there was simply too many to handle here at Casa Bernabe. It was such a blessing to see the orphanage decide to donate some of them to other shelters and orphanages around here in Frijanes.
Justin went to work today on the shelves in one of the bodegas where all the fruit is stored. At one point in time there was contact paper that was put on the shelves and now it needs to be removed and they all need to be painted. It was great to witness Justin volunteer to take on the job of removing the contact paper all by himself...and he made great progress. Now we are just waiting for the paint.
It is so inspiring how the women here take pride in their work. After working in the kitchen, it is evident that because everything is homemade and home-raised, there is much more pride in what is being done. It puts it in perspective as to how lazy us Americans can be when we just run to GFS to get a big bag of frozen fruit or vegetables...but not here, there is no GFS or Costco, everything is done by hand; gardening, cutting, etc.
This evening the women on our team were able to minister to the girls in Casa de Alabanza [ages 12-18]. This afternoon we had the opportunity to start making the dough for empanadas [sort of like a crepe, only much better] with the girls and it was so much fun! After dinner, we prepared a devotion and gave it to them which was such an awesome experience. We talked with them about how Christ is such a great gift and we were able to emphasize the excitement that comes with recieving a gift with a small regalo [gift] for each girl. They were so thrilled to recieve something so small as a notebook and pencil! After we were finished with the discussion and prayer, we were able to comfort a nine year old girl named Maria Fernanda. Maria and her sister both live in Casa de Albanza and about a year ago their dad was killed. Maria [Mafer...her nickname] has been really struggling with this and wakes up in the night with night terrors and panic attacks. After the discussion tonight, it was evident that the devil was attacking Mafer. She was not herself and she began to sob uncontrollably claiming that she couldn't breath well and her heart was beating really fast. It was evident that she was filled with fear as she cried out "mi papito" or "my father." We ask that you would lift Mafer up in your prayers, commit her to the Holy Spirit and pray that she would seek out the love of Christ at this time in her life. What a horrific thing to be encountering at such a small age. But God is in control of all situations and we have faith that he knows what Mafer can handle.
One other thing that we need prayer for...a refigerator. The refrigerator in the kitchen is not working well and there is a huge need for a new one. Please pray that the people here at the orphanage would find a way to fund a new one and that our group would be called to help them in that area.
There are constantly needs around here and we ask that you would continue to pray for Casa Bernabe. It is a great place where the love of Christ shines throughout.
May God bless you as you are praying for our group and for the people here in Guatemala!
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