A general update on life!

This past week was an incredibly exhausting but awesome week. The week to come will be about the same, but for a completely different reason!

Tiffany (my sister) and her roommate, Laura, are coming to visit for Semana Santa - it just happened to be the Spring Break for all three of us! They'll arrive late Saturday night, then we'll spend Sunday through Saturday together visiting the sites around Antigua, going to a coffee farm, climbing Pacaya (an active volcano), and enjoying the Semana Santa celebrations. I'm very excited to share a little bit of my life with them!

This past week we worked at our ministry sites again - I'm at El Gorrion (see previous blog post). On Tuesday I was sick so missed out on work, but as it turns out, everyone else did as well. A gang had taken over a bus on the way to Guatemala City and murdered the ayudante - the man who collects all the money and helps out the driver. Once this happened, the buses stopped running for the rest of the day. Please pray for the bus system here - there are many problems with violence and gangs on the buses, which makes it harder for us to get to our ministry sites. We've been taking a private shuttle for a few days now, but it's much easier (and cheaper) to ride the bus. However, until it's more secure, we'll be avoiding the buses to our ministry sites.

A little bit about what we did this week -

~On Monday and Wednesday we made tambourines out of flattened bottle caps, wood, and wire. The kids really went crazy with paint, and decorated their instruments.

~On Monday and Wednesday we also tutored two moms of the community after school. We're helping them with the manuscript and also reading skills. We're trying to build relationships with the families in addition to the children, and spreading the love of God around the village. Each time we tutor we end with a time of prayer, where we all lay our hands on the women and pray for whatever they've requested or shared. It's a blessing that goes both ways.

~On Thursday we spent our time preparing for today, because the kids had the day off of school. This was a good time of relaxation and conversation.

~On Friday we led an Easter craft. We made Easter bags with rabbits and eggs, and in the end filled them with a bible verse and candy. We were able to share a bit about the meaning of Easter, some of our traditions in the US, and spoil the kids with candy.

~After school on Friday we visited the homes of the two moms we work with to say hi and see how they're doing. In one of the homes we learned how to make the staple here - corn tortillas! It was amazing, and incredibly difficult to do! Eventually, by the end of our time, we were making some that looked about 1/2 as good as hers. Even though they didn't appear great, it was awesome to learn. We even got to eat one, fresh!

~Now I'm doing some homework for an education class, updated folks back home, and trying to wait patiently for the arrival of Tiffany and Laura.

I hope that everyone has a blessed Holy Week, and truly experiences Christ's love through this season!