First Week in Guatemala!!

Our amazing group of women includes

Kelly: who we nicknamed Mom...shes our sweet leader

Rachel: nicknamed Ranger Rache!...thanks to her loving father....haha

Malerie: she´s been here since May 30th! So she´s a big help to our trip

Molly: who we lovingly call guacaMOLLY

Sadie: who is like the youngest sister of the group...shes awesome

Vivien: she plays the oldest sister role.....we simply call her VIV.

Liz: who is our sweet southern spunky perfection of a chica!

and myself, Gina: they call me GENE....

As you can see, we´ve already begun to grow close to eachother as friends. We had been here for 4 days and we were all amazed how it seemed like we had known eachother for years!!! God´s pretty awesome like that I guess....:) Well, I guess I´ll just jump right into the feeling and amazingness of our first week...

We drove 6 hours to HueHue, in the mountains of Guatemala.....we were so tired but could hardly sleep a wink bc of the GORGEOUS scenery displayed as we drove on the curvy roads. (o yes, and by the way, for all you parents.....they drive CRAZY over here.....even in the mountains....full speed ahead is their moto!!....so NO WORRIES)...moving on....We stayed in a great hotel there in HueHue which was surprisingly very modern and beautiful....NOW for the important part.....we arrived at the orphanage and all the children swarmed the bus as we drove in!! We were all so ready to meet and fall in love with every single one of these children. IN FACT, if the roles were switched and the children had been in the bus and we on the outside...I´m sure we would have swarmed the bus just as they did to us in anticipation of meeting eachother.

The day started with hugs and picking up children, and just getting to know them each with smiles and laughter and games! It was amazing! It didn´t take long to notice that this orphanage was very much like a large family instead of some cold building to stay in. The older children cared and loved the younger ones. Some of the children even had their mom staying there at the orphanage with them......it was SO beautiful.

Every single night of this past week, we got the chance to go back to the orphanage (Fundacion Salvacion) after dinner and tuck the kids into bed, praying with them, singing them to sleep, or just laying with them in the their beds until they fell asleep. These are moments that we interns will never forget.....

During the day! It was all about games, fun, laughter, pictures, VBS, songs, painting nails and doing hair!! It was a blast......Each of us had one particular orphan child that we grew close to during our time there and on the last night, parting with them was the most agonizing thing many of us have ever had to experience.....but trusting God we have been praying for those children that we grew to love and care for so much every day...trusting that God has them in His perfect care and plan. During this week, we met our translators who are 4 young men, all about 20 years old who are in a Guatemalan Christian Punk Band called Mosquito Farm. They are the RELIENT K of Guatemala. Their hearts and lives were so beautiful to watch as they cared for their own countries less fortunate and orphaned. We have all come to be very close friends with them in a way that has been SUCH a blessing to each of our lives. We have also grown much closer to eachother, encouraging eachother with prayer. Sharing tears, stories, and testimonies almost every night.

This experience has brought us closer to our Father....our Heavenly Father....our FIRST PARENT. He was the FIRST one to visit us while we were orphans spiritually. He is teaching each of our hearts what TRUE religion and christianity is all about. We could even leave after this one week, and never be the same bc of the depth and impact that Christ has made in our hearts during this week, BUT......He still has more for us to do here! So we´re very excited!....a little tired.....a little tired and weary at times bc of the different food and what not.....BUT, so ready and willing to go to the next place to meet the next kids....to fall in love with them JUST as much.....

this is what God has called us to do......this is what He calls all of us to.....we appreciate your prayers from the bottom of our hearts! They matter and help us stay strong throughout all of this, so keep it up!!! God Bless you!!!

Until Next Week,

Loving and Missing You All,

Kelly, Gina, Rachel, Sadie, Malerie, Molly, Vivien, and Liz