Q&A continued

A question for Jessica TenHaken - Having knowledge of root causes of poverty, rights deprivation, injustice - what did you notice with Esperanza Miralta? How do you feel the people of Esperanza support each other?  In Esperanza Miralta, I noticed pride. Everyone was clean, neat, and well dressed. I noticed the people were healthy, and happy. They were anxious for our arrival and excited to show us their community. I felt a great spirit of cooperation among the people. I was happy to see Vidal's son, who had special needs, come forward to receive school supplies, but I was saddened to see others be sure to point out his special needs. I was also saddened to see the women be so hesitant to kick back and have fun with us, but it delighted me when they overcame that and participated with joy. In the village, I noticed homes were tidy and well kept. An example of that is when I noticed a broom for the dirt floors. That certainly depicts a sense of pride and ownership in their properties. The spring where they got water was a long trek down a steep hill. Going there to wash dishes, their hair, and their clothes provided a chance for socialization and teamwork. This community is vibrant and continues to grow stronger under the leadership of Vine and Branches. Their main challenge is the great difficulty to get water.

A question for Warren - What grabbed your attention, in light of God's creation, during our stay i Guatemala? How farmers farm the land of Guatemala; the step mountain sides and deep valleys, it really amazed me. It amazes me that our world can be 90 degrees in one place and -9 degrees 2,800 miles away. What an awesome God!

A question for Debbie - Did you experience any form of doubt before or during this mission trip?  I did experience some doubt about going on this mission trip before I made my commitment. For the last 2 1/2 years my major focus has been on my parents. My dad's health had been declining, but my daughter and sisters stepped up and helped when I am gone so I decided I could once again take time to go this year. I have much love and compassion for the Guatemala people and the country. I have been coming down here for 8 years now and my dad was very proud and supportive of my trips. I almost backed out in the middle of January when my dad had a very bad week. But he rebounded so I once again felt it was okay for me to go. Unfortunately, my dad passed away Feb. 8th. The following 2 weeks I was on auto pilot. I told Phil I didn't think I should go. I came anyway, I thought I would take dad with me. I thought I was doing pretty well but come Wednesday, it was just too much. My heart is too broken and too heavy. I haven't had enough time to process the loss of my dad. So for this I apologize to my teammates. I'm sorry.

(Phil and Debbie were amazing on this trip! I, and I'm sure I can speak for the rest of the team, are very glad they came this year. They added tranquility and peace to the group. It was admirable, from my perspective, to see a couple lean on their faith during their personal time of calamity. They trusted in God to persevere through this mission by putting others before themselves. Something we talked a lot about on during this mission, was to be do justice, love mercy and walk humbly "Micah 6:8". I learned a lot from them.) Thank you, Phil and Debbie. Thank you for being strong and courageous.

Q&A

A Question for Jennifer - What seemed to strengthen the community of Esperanza? What bonded their relationships?  -  What strengthens a community like Esperanza is leadership, structure and pride. Having a contract or plan in place allows for accountability. Accountability is key in determining if there's follow through and it also determines if conditions of the contract are being completed. A contract could be how the community is using financial donations from Pease CRC to Vine & Branches to World Renew. Contracts specify what each party is expected to give or do. This helps the bond between organizations and communities by working together, giving each other pride when a project is completed. Accountability and strong leadership, in my mind, strengthens the community of Esperanza. This is evident in their attitudes and demeanor.

A Question for Jerry - What was your perspective with the church in Helvetia? What did you feel? How were you engaged and what grabbed your attention? - During our short visit in Helvetia, we dropped off new plastic chairs for their one room church. It made me very pleased as now they can worship in a more comfortable seat. They were very thankful and gave us all hugs. They have very little but they were very clear in understanding that we have a very big God.

A Question for Peggy - How would you self-evaluate your faith during this experience(Mission)? - My faith grows in our Great God as we travel throughout Guatemala to the villages. There is so much beauty to behold of God's creation. God has created these people, as well as us, and yet they live with little in comparison to us, but they are so happy. Seeing their happiness, love and trust for us continues to make my faith stronger and stronger. God is Great - All the Time!

A Question for Julee - Recognizing and valuing the unique gifts and talents, God has given this team, how were we able to utilize them during this visit? Our group this year, as in the past, comes with many talents and gifts to share. I think much of the time we did a great job utilizing our individual gifts but I also believe we could better. It's always a good practice to remain humble within ourselves. That is something we really stressed this year, is humbling ourselves. To single out the one gift we all have, and were able to share, is our genuine love and concern for the people in Guatemala. I truly believe they were able to see that love in everything we did with them and for them. I must say they are VERY good at showing love and affection for us. That was displayed in the way they welcomed us and when they prayed over us.  

May Our Mission Never End

Hola  Today, we spent time alongside teachers, parents, children, farmers, politicians, tourists and God. First thing we did was drive to La Palmera to give the children and teachers school supplies and gifts. When we arrived, they had a very very warm welcome for us. They diligently decorated there school ground with flower petals, arches made of various leaves, welcome signs and balloons topped with firecrackers. They were so kind to us. We greeted one another, sang each others National Anthems and they shared a tasty snack with us. They seemed very excited with our gifts, and in return, they gave us a beautiful plaque as a token of appreciation and gratitude. After that, we visited a few local farms around La Palmera. It was very impacting to see Lázaro's farming techniques. We were shown a lot of the local plants: fruits, vegetables, roots, nuts and spices. It was all very cool and I hope I can do the same with my own garden this summer.
Meeting with the Mayor! We were able to have a meeting with the mayor this afternoon. We spoke for about 45 minutes and it went really well. We thanked him for his efforts in the communities that we worked in and he gave his gratitude for us caring so much for communities we don't even live in. We also spoke about other projects he has in mind within Esperanza and El Tineco. Phil did a great job as a spokesmen. He was almost as eloquent as Terri.

We then endured the long ride back to Antigua - nothing really special happened until we pulled over to go to the bathroom. Julee bought cookies to bring back for her family and Jessica got her cocoanut she was craving! Lucky for me I got to drink the cocoanut milk! YuM!!  

We winded down the day with dinner and a walk through the busy streets of Antigua.....This is my favorite city, because of it's history and architecture.
















Thank You for keeping up with us during our mission - The prayers and support mean a lot to us and the people of Guatemala. God Is So Good and we are very blessed He has given us love and support through you!

Please pray for patience, as we get antsy to get home. Pray for safe travels and pray that our mission never ends.

God Bless - 

Zephaniah 3:17 "The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing."

El Señor

Fun Facts about Guatemala:

Guatemala means "Land of Many Trees" - Mayan Tongue
Guatemala shares borders with neighboring countries like Honduras. El Salvador, Belize and Mexico
Capital: Guatemala City
Population: 14,373,472 (July 2013 est)
Area Comparative: slightly smaller than Tennessee
Literacy Rate: 75.9 adults
Religions: Roman Catholic, Protestant, Indigenous Mayan beliefs
There are 33 volcanos located in Guatemala’s highland region.
Ancient Mayan's used coco seed as currency
Coffee, sugar and bananas are the main crops grown in Guatemala
The Bird on the Guatemala flag is called Quetzal (Ket-Sal)
Currency is called Quetzal, plural is Quetzales (Ket-Sall-Es). - The Mayans used tail feathers of the Quetzal (bird) as currency.

A Question por Phil - From your perspective, with the help of the Holy Spirit, how are God's people restoring the communities we visited? Is there a difference being made? What did/do you notice? - Starting with the physical aspect of restoration in the communities, I was extremely happy to see the improvements and progress of Monte Margarita and El Tineco. By this, I mean with the roads and physical support for the schools. From a personal standpoint, we (the group) are renewing relationships and growing new ones with the people throughout the communities. Every year I come here I feel more affection from the people and it's easier for me to show affection back to them.
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Today, we spent the morning helping at the "classroom" worksite in El Tineco. We helped in three different areas 1) "ribbing" the barbed wire 2) hauling cement sand and rock 3) mixing concrete and pouring the foundation. The help today was outstanding - the kids and other community members all wanted to help. (check out this guy carrying cement blocks on his back).

We did all this until 12:30pm. Carrie (from Michigan) and I sneaked away to play soccer right before lunch. The kids loved it! Lunch was great, as usual. The teachers prepared pulled chicken with beans and rice with a very tasty sauce. We washed it down with Hybiscus Tea (juice) - It was AWESOME!
After lunch - we prayed over the project, gave thanks and encouragement to each other then hit the road for La Palmera.

We stayed in La Palmera until 4:30, playing games (lighting, soccer, duck duck goose), story telling and singing, even arts and crafts with cut-out hands!

I think it's safe to say we were pretty exhausted once we arrived at La Palmera. That is my only regret is not having enough energy to play with the children there . I'm thankful we get to go back to La Palmera tomorrow to see the them again!
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I (Nick) would like to tell you about two children who've been very heavy on my heart. A boy named Esdras and a girl named Greis (Grace). Both are from El Tineco. Esdras is an 11 year old who has been by my side since yesterday. I noticed him when he started carrying rock with me. He randomly spoke "stop" in a fun tone, while I was walking my rocks to the drop off zone. I happily stopped because he spoke English! I wanted him to know he had my attention. I knew, some how, he was testing to see if "stop" meant what he thought it was. I turned it into "Simon Says." We did this periodically for at least an hour. Stop, Go - Stop, Go .......I also did it in Spanish. It was a lot of fun. Before I left I heard him speak other English words. He said "Thank You" and "Goodbye" - I was excited to see him the next day, as I made a new friend. Today, as we pulled in he was sitting next to the site, as if he was waiting for our arrival. We saw each other as soon as I got off the bus. "Buenos dias, we exchanged. Jessica TenHaken and I got to work together, ribbing the barbed wire. Esdras was by me the whole time, along with a crowd of children. Luckily, our translator, Patty, was there because they all asked a lot of questions. "What do kids do in Minnesota?, how old are you?, how many are in your family? Can we see pictures of Minnesota? Why are there no leaves on the trees? so on and so forth (and this is when I met Greis 'Grace') - but I'll get to her later.
While we were working, Esdras was proud to say all the English he knew; the colors, counting, pretty much a little more of what I know in Spanish. But what really grabbed a hold of me was when he patted me on the back and said "my friend, Nick" - I was blown away! I was very impressed with his English (the other kids didn't know English like Esdras did) I wasn't only impressed with his knowledge and gray matter, I was impressed with his will to pry out more English - He wanted to know more and more. He kept repeating to himself what I was telling him. This kid has a lot of potential! I spoke with Patty about kids with potential like that....living in a small village where school ends after 8th or 9th grade, what happens to a child who is gifted with such knowledge and potential? She said, unless the family has enough money to send them to the nearest city for additional school, nothing happens. I was crushed by this. It hit me that this kind and enthusiastically smart kid may not be able to reach his potential. He may not be able to succeed with the gifts he has been given.
I believe Esdras has been laid on my heart for a reason. Can you pray that God gives me clarity for this young boy? Can you pray that I understand the gravity of this situation and I say "Yes" to God if he chooses to use me to give this kid an education and a chance at a future outside El Tineco?

Thank You                         (below is Esdras)

The other child is Greis (Grace). I over heard her talking with Patty about what her parents do for work. Her father works in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I was excited to tell her I was from Wisconsin and told her how beautiful it was. Her father has been there for 7 years working at a restaurant to pay for her and her brother's education. She said he will return once they are finished with school. I got his name and told her I will try my best to locate him. It would be great to see a father in the state I grew up in and tell him that I met his daughter in his home community. haha that would be the coolest thing ever! I realize that's a long shot, but stranger things have happened!!
My prayer is I can maintain contact with Greis in her community of El Tineco via mail. I'd love to send her information about the state in which her father has been working for so long. It's gotta be so hard for a little girl to grow up without her father around. Please keep this family in your prayers, to keep her father safe and that his efforts grant her and her brothers a great education.

(From Left to Right - Greis and her friend)


Thank You
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Prayer request - The mayor has agreed to meet with us tomorrow. Please pray for our team and Phil to fill him up with eloquent words, may God speak through him. Pray the mayor feels God's love through our praises.  

Through Our Eyes

We heard and saw some wonderful things today! First, a little history.....Last year, Moises' suggested we visit El Palma to talk to the mayor of the communities of Monte Margarita and El Tineco. (In Guatemala, mayors oversee regions, rather than just a single city or township.) Moises and Terri Baas eloquently described to the mayor of the team's visits to the communities. First, we showed compliments to him on all the good we observed but followed each compliment with a suggestion of improvements that could be made. He graciously accepted the compliments and encouraged us to come back again to help with the improvements, as he had no funds in his budget for such projects. We left with heavy hearts. We felt, as we left, he didn't hear us at all.
Today, as we arrived to Monte Margarita we saw the finished road that we had help start last year! We were more amazed to learn that they had received assistance from the mayor of El Palma to add more cement to the roads - the same mayor we had spoken to last year! It was very exciting and felt we helped make a difference in a community.
After a great presentation from the kids of Monte Margarita, we took off for El Tineco. When we arrived, we saw the area for the new classroom that we soon would be helping with. Even here, we learned the mayor sent a backhoe to dig out the area for this classroom to be built. Then the biggest surprise of all.....while we were presenting the school supplies to the children, guess who showed up??!! THE MAYOR! He wanted to see the progress and meet us! Unfortunately, he did not have time to stay as he had a meeting several hours away and didn't want to interrupt us. Adolfo (a World Renew represent) made sure to tell him that we were so pleased to see all the improvements he was making in the communities. He told him we would love to meet with him and thank him in person so he is checking his schedule for Friday afternoon to see if we could stop in his office on our way back to Quetzaltenango. Adolfo is quite certain that God, and our visit last year, is what prompted these improvements to the communities. He says - "it may be only political, but who cares as long as things are getting done to help these people."

Please help us in praying that our words of thanks and gifts, that we plan on leaving with him on Friday, will help him to continue supporting these communities. We will be leaving him a cap and shirt with our church's logo (Thanks Sharon)
It was such an exciting day to see how God is working through us to bring changes to these communities - May God continue to bless our efforts!
                                                                                                          -Julee Moorlag 
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 A fun story to tell -- While in El Tineco, the children wanted to celebrate "National Day of Mother Tongue" - which was actually February 21, but they waited for us to celebrate this National Day, today! They sang the Guatemala National Anthem, among other songs, and the 6th graders did a dance for us. We also got to sing our National Anthem; it was an AWESOME experience.

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Much work was accomplished today. We handed out school supplies to two different schools. The first was Monte Margarita and the second being El Tineco. We spent most of our time in El Tineco as we also helped prep to build the new classroom. We hauled a huge pile of rock to the work site, leveled the work site, and got all the barb wire ready. We were very excited to get that accomplished as it would have taken a 3 man crew a solid week to do those three jobs.

Stay tuned for more information on the work to be done in El Tineco
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Overall, it's great to see progress in the communities, Pease Church, has plugged into. It's reassuring to see the hope in their faces and we feed off their energy. Thank God for making this possible. Let us thank God for using us and giving us the opportunity to say "YES" to this mission.

Pray for Monte Margarita and El Tineco. Also keep the mayor in your prayers - Our prayer is he sees God in all this and that God weighs heavy on his heart.

God Bless

(Kids washing their hands and getting a drink)

Cement, Sweat and Water

So I (Pastor Michael) am giving Nick a break from practicing his prose on the blog tonight.  We spent the day in Esparanza Miralta and we did four things.  As a group, we presented school supplies to the students and teachers at the school there – quite a production.  We heard their national anthem and then they asked to sing ours.  We celebrated Jennifer’s birthday and the birthday of one of the teachers – Adelia by singing Happy Birthday in both English and Spanish.  And that was followed by presenting them with notebooks and school supplies (and two soccer balls).

Then we divided into three groups.  One group did projects and played games with the kids.  This included teaching them new songs and making cutouts of their hands that will be brought back to the kids at Pease CRC.   The other two groups went to get water and help build a kitchen for the school.  I helped with both of those other two jobs and I’ll say this – I hope I’m a better preacher than I am bricklayer.  I laid a whole row of about 7 bricks and the guy in charge of construction had to fix every single one.  It wasn’t pretty.

I was a little better at hauling water, but only slightly.  To get water to the worksite in order to make the mud to lay the brick we had to walk about a kilometer (about a half mile) down the hill to the spring where the members of the community wash their dishes and do their laundry.  We filled five-gallon jerry cans with water and carried them up the hill – and it’s a hill! – to a 250-gallon container at the worksite. 

The women carry the water on their heads and the men carry the water on their backs using a head strap.  See the photo below for how cool I looked doing it.  I know, pretty cool.   

It was pretty humbling to see the efforts the community members go to just to get water.  I learned that once they get the water, they still can’t drink it.  They need to boil it in their homes before it is safe to drink. 

It was great for the team to be able to go back to the same community and be welcomed by them.  This is the third year in a row our church has been here and the benefits of that year-over-year relationship is starting to pay dividends.  I’ve not been here before but I was welcomed and treated as one of the family because I was a part of a group from Pease.  These people love us even though we never met them.  You are here even if you aren’t here.  That is the power of Gospel message and the name of Jesus in whose name we have been sent.

Happy Birthday to Jennifer Elton!! - A couple of the guys threw her into the pool to celebrate

Stay tuned…God is at work through you.

Also, we would Love to hear your comments – they mean a lot to us

A visit to the Helvetia and Esperanza Communities

HOLA! Today, we woke in Quetzaltenango. A fun fact - Quetzaltenango is also called, or known by, Xelajuj, which is Mayan. Xelajuj is pronounced "Shayla-hoohk" but because the country's primary language is Spanish, the city is called Quetzaltenango. The locals mostly refer to it as Shayla = Xela. The Mayan "X" sounds like "Sh"

We drove to Hotel La Colonia in Retalhuleu to drop off our luggage then drove to the Helvetia community to drop off school supplies and chairs for the local church. This is the place, or farm, you may have heard the returning missionaries speak how bad the people were treated by the farm owner. Since the first mission to Helvetia, there has been a new owner of the land and he has built a brand new school. We think the people are being treated much better but we don't know the heart of the owner. These are the people, the returning missionaries said, who seemed hopeless. It was a relief the atmosphere has changed for the better but there was still a sense of hopelessness in their eyes. The kids were VERY excited to see us. They were very happy to receive the school supplies and bracelets too!!! Unfortunately, we couldn't stay long, but it was very refreshing to experience the excitement in their voices and their smiling faces. We then made a pit stop, by the church, to drop off the chairs. They invited us in. I'm glad we didn't just stop to hand out chairs and only see the church, but actually spent much time listening to their concerns and spent time in prayer with them. You could feel God's spirit in that place and in their hearts. It was sad to go, but before we did, they surprised us with watermelon.

We then took off for the school in Esperanza. The children waited about 300 to 400 yards down the hill from their school to wait for our arrival. They patiently waited with a sign and with firecrackers. It was their way of showing their appreciation for our visit. Because the teachers had already left for the day, we decided to wait until tomorrow to present the school supplies. However, a small news team was there to film and capture the relationship between Pease and these communities. A representative of the community wanted to take advantage of the news team as a way to show the public and government that it's communities are receiving no help from their government. We pray for this situation and that the government decides to start helping. So, because of this, we presented the some of the supplies to the 6th graders. The rest will be presented tomorrow for the teachers to see. We then tied the bracelets on each child and some adults wrist. Patty, our interpreter, explained what each color meant to the kids. It was very cool how she didn't only explain what the colors meant, but made sure they understood by interacting and having them repeat. She is a great and enthusiastic teacher! She later shared with us a very cool testimony. The trip to these two communities, we had to have two police escorts. While we were in Esperanza Miralta, one of the officers over heard Patty explaining what the bracelets meant with the children and asked her to explain it to him. It was not long and the other officer was interested and listened. When we got back to the hotel, Pastor Michael offered to give them the paper that explained what the colors stood for - "Si" they loved it. They replied, "we talked and rehearsed what Patty shared with them the whole drive back to the hotel. They wanted to make sure they remembered. How Great!!!!
Before we left, however, we had a job to start. The project in Esperanza consists of building a kitchen for the school. The foundation and footings had been started before we got there. A pile of cement blocks was being held on private property across the street from the school. The reason, so the owner of the house could watch over the cement. Our job today was to move most of the pile to the work site in preparation for tomorrow.  Tuesday, the kitchen will go up.

Please pray for Carlos and David as they will stay at the school tonight and watch over the cement blocks so they aren't stolen. Please Pray for the two police officers and please pray for Adolfo, a World Renew representative, as he is feeling sick. Please pray that we continue to have the opportunity to spread God's word like Patty did with the officers. Thank You


Each bead represents:
-Black bead: Sin separates us from God (Romans 3:23)
-Red bead: Jesus shed his blood on the cross to pay for our sins. (Romans 5:8)
-White bead: The blood of Christ washes us pure and white as snow when we accept Him as Lord. (1 John 1:7)
-Blue bead: Water baptism is an outward sign of our faith (Romans 10:9-11)
-Green bead: Our faith grows [like a plant from a seed] as we pray and read the Bible (2 Peter 3:18)
-Gold bead: We will spend eternity in heaven with the Lord (Revelation 21:1-3)

1 Peter 5:6-11 - "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble" - "He Cares For You"

A big Birthday Wish to Alex TenHaken from mom and dad....He turned 5 today

Today's Worship and visit with Moises

Pastor Michael, Moises and his daughter, Maya exchanging gifts. (Below) Moises sharing his new tea hobby  

This is only a description of what we did today - There will be another blog about today's events, with more heart and emotion, at a later time.

A beautiful sunrise rose this morning around 6:20am - I can't give you more detail about the sunrise because I was still sleeping. It was our morning to sleep in but I'm sure it was beautiful. We met for breakfast at 8:30, and afterwards, organized the school supplies for the week to come; which starts tomorrow. We then set off for Emmanuel Church, where Moises and his family attend. WORSHIP WAS AWESOME and Moises was so enthusiastic in his sermon. Our team then sat face to face with the congregation and shared questions and encouragement. Afterwards, the church made us a great lunch. It was a traditional Guatemalan recipe - way too much food to describe (also I'm getting tired). We then had a meeting with Moises and Emmanuel's elders. I also got to slip away and see what the youth were doing and converse with Les, their youth president, about youth ministry. Pastor Michael (representing Pease Church) and Emmanuel exchanged gifts. It was a great feeling and amazing to witness the establishment between two churches and countries. 

We were invited later to Moises' house for dinner later in the evening. 

This is where I'll pause for later comments from the rest of the team. Not knowing Moises and his family the way the returning members do isn't fair to you and them for me to describe tonight's atmosphere. It was a blast, to say the least. I will add, just from spending a day with them, what they were like: Christ centered, heart filled, honest, down to earth, humble, brilliant, strong, very smart, experienced, strong willed and just plan fun to be around. These are only some words to described who they are! I think I can speak for everybody when I say this. I very much enjoyed my time at Emmanuel, and also with Moises and his family. 

Keep staying in touch and please pray for Emmanuel Church and the people we will be in contact with tomorrow. 

Be Humble and God Bless

In Motion

His main concept is to teach his people, the people of Guatemala, to utilize the land to grow crops organically instead of going to the markets. He is always teaching three main programs; Organic Agriculture, Ecology, and Sustainable Agriculture.  He trains them on his 20 acre farm called La Fortuna (The Fortune). If he didn't train people on his farm he taught in Miami, D.C./Virgina area, Germany, Denmark and will soon be going to Bolivia. Just to give an example of how many people he trains and teaches, he taught 410 people just in the month of November. He figures about 40,000 people have walked through his farm to learn his ways of agriculture. His name is Lázaro Agüin and has collaborated with World Renew in giving training. His farm is in San Martín Jilotepeque but this is not were he became an expert in agriculture. It took him 20 years between Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama and El Salvador to learn the skills needed to farm in tropical environments with scarce financial resources. He grows 72 different crops on 20 acres and it's all organic. He showed us some insight on how he keeps unwanted pest from destroying crops; he gets help though.....a lot of help. He has about 5 million little helpers. He feeds worms manure and they give him soil and worm urine. Worms produce great soil, and the worm urine is used as a pesticide. It keeps bugs, and other animals, away and even makes the crops more green in color. He was a great teacher and it was very cool to see the worm compost and other parts of the farm. It is the practices of Lázaro that is trying to be instilled throughout the farms we'll be visiting over the week. It was great insight for us to see and hear his passion of agriculture and it'll be interesting to see the other farms. What a great gift God has given him.
Because of the extended stay in San Martin, we decided there wouldn't be enough time to visit the Mayan Ruins. We then set off for Quetzaltenango. From San Martin to Quetzaltenango it is 103 miles and according to Mapquest.com - 2 hours and 40min. We were on the road for about six hours today- this included a detour for coffee. The back roads are very very rocky and steep and the interstate roads are very very windy. Anyway, we eventually made it to Quetzaltenango and met up with Sadoc, his wife, Becky, and their daughter Rebecca. It was very nice to see them and their new born son, Aaron, who arrived a month early, is still in the hospital. He is doing fine, pending some test, but please keep them in your prayers, none the less. Thank you and God Bless.

Happy Birthday wishes to Dylan Moorlag from Julee and Jen!
Happy Birthday, Tyler Cruthoff from Nick - Happy Birthday, Bro

Micah 6:6-8 "With what shall I come before the Lord
    and bow down before the exalted God?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
    with calves a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,
    with ten thousand rivers of olive oil?
Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression,
    the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.
    And what does the Lord require of you?
To ACT JUSTLY and to LOVE MERCY
    and to WALK HUMBLY  with your God."

Atlanta to Antigua

Atlanta, GA - We started our morning (and when I say morning I mean 12:40am, when we landed) by finding some empty chairs and hoping to get a catnap in before the 4:30am airport normalcy. We enjoyed some IHOP and waited for our 10:00am flight to Guatemala City where we landed around noon Central Time. From there, we were picked up by Juan, our driver, Adolfo, a World Renew representative, and Patty, our translator. These three graciously helped us get around and drive us 40 or so Kilometers to La Antigua, Guatemala. Some fun facts about Antigua: Antigua Guatemala means "Ancient Guatemala" and was the third capital of Guatemala. The Capital moved because of a massive earthquake in 1717. Before the earthquake, the city had a peak population of some 60,000; it is currently around 34,685. Antigua is popular due to its developed tourism infrastructure.
Once we arrived in Antigua, we settled into our hotel, the Casa Santiago, grabbed a bite to eat, and adventured out to see the city. Our driver, Juan, drove us to the top of Cerro de la Cruz (picture above). It was beautiful over looking the city and a great image that will last a lifetime. In the background you can see Volcan Agua. After taking this in, we continued on our quest through the city and do our best as tourist for the evening. We managed to find some great shops, one of which was a Jade store(pictured below). It was like a mini factory. The woman, who I suspect was the owner, gladly showed us how they made the various jewelry and ornaments. It was impressive. We concluded our day with another meal and devotions.
Colossians 3:12-17 - Let us clothe ourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

Please pray we wear these virtues during the week ahead and forever more.
God Bless and stayed posted.

Guatemala Mission Team

Snow Snow Snow

The time is nearing 4:00pm on Thursday, February 20th. As I was watching the USA vs Canada Olympic women's hockey game, I received a phone call from Pastor Michael that we are taking off for the Minneapolis Airport THIS afternoon. Rather than depart from church at 2:00am Friday, Feb 21, as originally planned, we thought it'd be best to catch an earlier flight due to the weather. The forecast for this evening, and through the night, is 8 to 12 inches of snow and blizzard like winds. So.....probably a good idea to catch a flight ASAP. I'm blogging from the back of the Moorlag truck right now and so far I've counted 5 cars and one US Postal Truck(sideways) in the ditch. AND WE'RE NOT EVEN TO ELK RIVER YET!!

So about that hockey game...... We lost 2-3 in OT to the Canadians. To make matters worse on top of having no certainty that the flights won't cancel on us before we get there, I'm sitting next to Jess TenHaken, a CANADIAN!!! 

Please continue to pray for safe travels and USA men's hockey. USA vs Canada rematch tomorrow in semifinals. Go U.S.A. 

Stay posted and God Bless

2014 Guatemala Agenda

Below you will find an itinerary of the 2014 Guatemala trip as well as prayer suggestions to go along with each day's activities:

Guatemala Mission Team Itinerary & Prayer Guide

Team Members:  Jerry & Peggy Baas, Jennifer Elton, Nick Hoffman, Warren Kamstra, Julee Moorlag, Pastor Michael & Jessica Ten Haken, Phil & Debbie Vedders

Please pray for good health for all the team members, and for our families back home.

**You can follow our blog which will be updated throughout the trip as internet access permits at: www.peasecrc.org/guatamalaactionproject.cfm**

Friday, February 21st:
                Leave Minneapolis at 5:25AM arriving in Guatemala City at 12:45PM
                Pray for a safe and on-time trip, that our bags and supplies arrive with us and that we all clear customs.

Saturday, February 22nd:
                We will be seeing some of the sights and sounds of Guatemala, visiting a farm plot, and traveling to Quetzaltenango –
                    about 2 hours from Guatemala City.
                Please pray for open eyes and ears for the team members as we begin to understand life and culture there.

Sunday, February 23rd:
                We will spend the day worshiping and talking with our friends at Emmanuel Presbyterian Church.
                  They have asked us to have a question and answer time with them to talk about how each of us worships and lives out
                  our Christian walks.
                Please pray for the Spirit-filled worship and gracious and compassionate listening as we dialogue together.

Monday & Tuesday, February 24th & 25th:
                Distribution of chairs to a local church and school supplies purchased by our congregation to local school children
                  in the community of Helvetia.
                We will also begin construction of a new kitchen for the school in the village of Esperanza Miralta.
                Please pray for good connections with the people we come in contact with as well as opportunities to present the Gospel.

Wednesday & Thursday, February 26th & 27th:
                Distribution of school supplies and construction of additional classroom space in the village of El Tineco.
                Please pray for safety during the construction process and opportunities to talk with the people there about how
                 we can make our partnership stronger.

Friday, February 28th:
                We will be seeing some of the work of Vine & Branches by visiting farm plots that have been established to provide income and
                  sustainability to the people in the community of La Palmera.
                Please pray for the work of Vine and Branches and our partnership with them.

Saturday, March 1st:
                Our flight departs Guatemala City at 12:45 and we arrive in Minneapolis at 11:30PM.
                Again please pray for safe travel and no problems with customs.

Sunday, March 9th:
                Please plan to stay after the morning worship service to hear about the work that God is doing in these communities
                  through our partnership with World Renew and Vine & Branches.

Guatemala Comminssioning 2/16/14

I can't believe it's almost time for us to head to Guatemala! We've been looking forward to this for what seems like a long time and it's finally here. We will have our commissioning this coming Sunday and we'll be leaving next Friday, the 21st.

In a way we've all been working toward this date, and in a way, you are all coming with us... Thank you for your support and for your prayers.