Students - Guatemala - July 23

Today was the ninth day of our guatemala trip and our last day of vbs at cruz blanca. after an early breakfast consisting of multiple bowls of fruit (for me personally), we prayed over what the day had to hold and stepped onto the bus, heading out on our oh so favourite turbulent, jouncy ride up the mountain. we all definitely made sure to divvy out the mint gum and peppermint oil. 

after a bit over an hour, we arrived at our destination. we stepped off the bus and onto the school grounds, waving to the guatemalan children. they held their parent’s hands at the gate, waiting for us to welcome them in. 

the day was quite tiring for the lot of us but nonetheless profitable, full of quality conversation, and the final day for us to make a difference to the kids.

the crafts team learned new bracelet weaves, the gaming team improvised here n’ there, 

the teaching team switched roles to help each other out, and the music team learned new songs from the guatemalan teacher. 

we took a break for lunch after the first set of kids and rushed to make a big ol’ stack of sandwiches (a sandwich sandwich, if you will) and when i say “we rushed” i mean only a handful of us. the crazy ones on the team somehow were able to play a good 15 minutes of soccer. 

we all sat together around 12:30 and had a good time of fellowship as we took an hour to eat and rest our bodies before the second set of kids. the teachers thanked us kindly with a big, homemade card and little bags of gummies for each one of us before we dispersed. 

after many sessions with the kids, we said our last goodbyes to them, took pictures, then walked down to get our hands dirty in the ditch. 

as tired as we may have been from the long week, we somehow managed to find the energy to strike up many good conversations and let out some good laughs. we got into a pretty good groove and got an exceptional amount of construction work done. so you could say we most definitely made the best of what little energy we had. 

taking our last looks around the school, we headed out onto the bumpy road once again. the ride home was a bit sad, driving past the marketplace and through the village for the last time. however, speaking for myself, i most definitely was fast asleep after 15 minutes in. 

we arrived back at mimi’s house around 6 pm and freshened up a bit before meeting for dinner at 7. after a delicious, much needed meal, we met up on the chilly rooftop to talk about the day, share testimonies, and worship together before heading off to bed. 

although we may be tired, we have been blessed in so many ways this week and are excited about what is to come the next few days here in guatemala. 

- Laura Olsen