Mothers Day Blessings --??

In Guatemala May 10th is Mothers Day, but celebrations seem to be slightly different from England. Here any celebration involves a lot of noise -and preferably from fireworks / bangers / firecrackers. But most importantly you should wake up to this noise!! So if it's your birthday, your friends will get up early and set off firecrackers outside your window as a wake up call! Apparently the same goes for Mothers Day. Where I was staying with the step team - in a rural town -- getting up before the mothers meant that the bangers started at 3am! - and continued - sometimes accompanied by loud speakers explaining how wonderful the particular mother in question is - until about 5.30am. I was tempted to quote Proverb 27: 14 (If you wake your friend in the early morning by shouting "Rise and shine!", it will sound to him more like a curse than a blessing), but realise that this is a cultural difference that I should attempt to understand. And I have since discovered that this was actually quite mild! One of the Striders spent most of the night (from 11.30pm til 5am) with the youth group from his church, traipsing the streets and setting off bangers and firecrackers and 'serenading' each person's mother. The mothers presumably felt blessed by this.

A day in the life -part 4 - Step manouvers!

Sunday 9th May
6.30am
I step over the 2 step team members asleep on a mattress on the floor of my room in order to get to the bathroom. The Step team have had a weeks holiday after their first project, and have been based more or less in my house. Today I'm going with them to their next project.
7am
I wake up the rest of the team so they can get packed and clean the house before the minibus arrives.
8.20am
Everyone's ready and sat on the front lawn with all the luggage. Matt and Josh (for whom 'sit and wait' doesn't quite compute) entertain the rest of us with renditions of various Harry Potter scenes or Star Wars battles.
8.45am
a minibus arrives (it was due at 8.30) -- but it's much smaller than the one I had booked - and doesn't have a roof rack - so when the driver sees the pile of luggage and people that's supposed to fit inside, he makes a couple of phone calls and leaves again.
9.15am
Another minibus arrives - still without a roof rack but slightly bigger than the first one, so we manage to stuff all the luggage and people inside and make a start on the 2 hour journey.
11am.
We stop on the side of the highway as steam rises from somewhere in the engine (ie underneath the 2 Steppers sat in the front passenger seats!) -- so half of the luggage comes out of the bus and the driver begs water from a house nearby to cool down the engine. (B tells me "You look very calm", "It's Guatemala" I reply!) A few people get out to stretch legs or pee but we're on our way again after half an hour.
12.15
The engine has cut out and we cruise for a bit downhill before finally coming to a stop. Fortunately we're about 1/2km from out destination so I call the church who are expecting us. They send someone with a pick up which we fill with all the luggage and we walk the rest of the way.
The church is decorated for Mother's Day - but also includes some welcome banners for the team - who get very excited seeing their accommodation behind the church. It's much more spacious than their last project in a rural community in the mountains. The church has managed to provide mattresses and even a few beds so nobody will be sleeping on the floor this time. There's also an oven, fridge, freezer, microwave, coffee machine and TV - all lent from members of the church. (This isn't a rich area or church - but people are generous)
Juan David and members of the church eldership say a few words of welcome before we enjoy the lunch that they've provided.
2.30pm
We join the church for their service. I'd met the elders several times beforehand and spoken in a previous service about the team coming so it's great that I'm now able to introduce them - and they sing a song that they've prepared. Juan David encourages the congregation to collaborate with the team in the project (1/2 an hour after the service, a church member turns up with a donation of food supplies for the team)

The team spend the evening sorting out their stuff and getting settled. This will be their home for the next 2 months -- so shelves are VERY exciting! And we have a few chats. A couple of team members wonder how well they really know each other and are known by others and we talk about different personalities and ways to be more real in our friendships. Someone else makes a shopping list for the trip to the market tomorrow.
Later I find Dan and Bekah (the team leaders) for a chat. Whenever I visit the team (about once a week) we get together and talk through how things are going; with the project, with team dynamics, how they are coping with being leaders and all sorts of other things. This time we talk about the strengths and weaknesses of different styles of leadership and I recommend a book for them both (must remember to bring it with me on my next visit!)
By 10pm everyone is on their way to Bedfordshire!

Semuc Champey

I've just been to Semuc Champey with the Step team. The guide book calls it the most beautiful place in Guatemala and it is amazing -- it's a series of pools and waterfalls over Limestone rocks with a river running below it.

An amazing place to relax

Bekah's birthday

Another day out with the step team - this time for Bekah's birthday.

Day out in Antigua with the step team

So here's a few pics of the step team in Antigua -- in the rare moments when they weren't shopping!!!!

Day in the Life - Part 3 - Wed 7th April

Today started with a skype call at 7am, with other members of the Core Team (the international leadership team (?) of Latin Link). With me being the furthest west - it's me who has to get up the earliest - but then the others have the enviable pleasure of listening to me munching on my cornflakes! Whilst I'm on the computer, I have a quick check of my emails. Then I nip across the road to the market to buy a few supplies.

By about 9.30am, one of the Striders has arrived and we go together to Antigua - she's had teeth problems and needs to settle her bill at the dentist -- I have to go to DHL to send some documents to England. Once we're done our tasks, and whilst we wait for her bank to call her back and unblock her credit card (!) we have a smoothie and cake in one of the cafes and 'ment'. I'm her mentor - so we meet up every couple of weeks and chat about how things are going in her work placement, church, host family and anything else that comes up!

1pm When I get back home, I remember that another skype call is due - and spend an hour or so chatting with a couple who may join Latin Link as Striders - possibly longer - answering their questions about possible placements and the practicalities of moving a family to Guatemala.

2.45pm Phone call from another Strider. She has a meeting with her boss on Friday so we chat through some issues that she would like to bring up and ways to bring them up in a positive way as well as how, with some issues, she could adapt to the different way of doing things here. In the meantime Alex arrives at the house and has a chat with Kathrin - another Strider who's been staying a couple of days. I finish off my phone call sat on my front door step and pray over the phone that God would give her wisdom and sensitivity.

3.30pm Meeting with Alex - he is Guatemalan and has been accepted on the Stride programme and hopes to serve in England next year. We chat through his plans to raise all the support he needs to get to England and support himself there for a year. It's often very difficult for Latin Americans to raise all the support they need to be sent as missionaries to Europe - but God is always faithful - so I try to encourage Alex in his efforts and share some tips from my experience of raising support.

5pm. Kathrin's host family comes to pick her up and Alex catches a lift with them. Realising that I have the house to myself, I strip the spare beds and put a wash on (the last few weeks have been almost non-stop visitors in the house - and I'll have other visitors at the weekend so want to get the house straight!)

5.30pm - just thinking about sweeping through the house when Anna arrives (the phrase 'revolving door' springs to mind!). So instead we chat over tea and biscuits (and me doing the ironing) - about her placement and her plans to celebrate her birthday at the weekend.

6.30pm Clean the house, make and eat tea, write up some notes of my meeting with Alex, send a couple of emails arranging some visits for next week, and have a quick look on facebook!

7.30pm watch a film - only briefly interrupted by a phone call from the step team leader - wanting to chat through a couple of changes in their project.

10am - off to bed as I need to make a reasonably early start tomorrow to travel to Quetzaltenango to 'ment' with Joe and then to San Pedro La Laguna to 'ment' with Jeanine. !

Step team get to their project

I went with the step team to their new project. - It's quite remote - in the mountains of Tecpan, so getting them there with all their stuff -and a fridge was a bit of a squish but they managed it.