Home Safe

The GO Guatemala team has returned home safe. They arrived at LAX at 12:30 A.M. and were back at CBC by 4 A.M. Join us next Sunday at CBC (www.VisitCBC.com) as we hear testimonies and watch a short video that will recap their trip.

Blessings,

The Ministry Office

We Stink Even Worse

by Katie Hade

Hey guys! Yesterday we had a special service for the girls at Proximos Pasos. Elsa, Jamie, Sara, and Jolene did skit based off of the parable of the three talents , and Courtney helped by taking lots of pictures, and recording. After the lesson we did a relay race with the girls, and they had a blast. The girls have really enjoyed having us here , and taking the time out for them.

Also yesterday was another long hard-working day at the cistern. After mixing the cement, and pouring the cement by hand, we were able to finish the lower half of the walls. The family afterwards invited us into their home for lunch after working, we enjoyed talking to them, and seeing their appreciation of our work.

Upon our return home we started painting some more, even though at this point we were pretty exhausted and also smelly (we haven’t had running water in 3 days, just a note you cant flush the toilets). But we managed to finish for the most part of the painting.
That night we were delighted to meet Lito´s family, and share an evening together. For dinner Edgar, our cook, prepared chicken CORDON BLEU which was delicious, along with some other things. Afterwards some of us joined in a game of keep away/football/tackle with Lito´s daughter, Leslie, that was a lot of fun. A good way to wrap up our trip, with people that we have become close to.

This morning after breakfast, the team split up and some went to the cistern and also stayed back for painting. Since we haven’t had running water in 3 days the laundry is loading up, things smell, and we are getting annoyed but hey its all in the experience of the Guatemalan life, what these people face all the time. Anyways me, Sara, and Megan went to the pilas where the local women wash their clothes to give it a try because we were at our last resort for clean clothes. Lets just say that was an experience, and we now appreciate the modern washing machine. Some local women watching us, laughing at us, but they enjoyed the show of us gringos trying to wash everyones jeans…..but we managed and got the hang of it eventually. When we arrived home we were glad to find that we have water now..finally

Well we are wrapping things up getting ready to go. Tonight we are going to Antigua for our banquet dinner. We are starting to pack up get in the mode of leaving and going back to our busy lives in Cali, but we have definitely had a great time here, and we cant wait to share our experiences when we return.

Another Grand Pumba style group photo in Antigua on Sunday

Choof Choof! (We stink)

by Megan (and Jon&Joey)

Saturday morning we left at 7am to hike Volcano Pacaya. After several near death experiences by several of us (j/k), we managed to make it to our destination near the top; some of us had a little extra help getting there (see pictures).

Needles to say the easy life in CA has not done us well; don´t worry, we still managed to roast some marshmallows in the hot rocks. We got to experience an amazing view of the Guatemalan landscape before heading back down the volcano.

Grand Pumba style group photo.

Volcano Pacaya (don´t worry, we climbed the other side)

To help us feel a little bit at home, Mission Impact provided us with an awesome 4th of July BBQ. After the sun went down, we put on our own fireworks show from the roof of Proximos Pasos; there´s nothing like some good old´illegal (in America) fireworks to bring in the 4th.

Even God provided us with a show

On Sunday morning, we went to a bilingual church service in Antigua. It was a great experience worshiping in English and Spanish. After church, we all split into groups to eat lunch and do some tourist shopping in the market place. Everyone had fun bartering for the best possible prices on our souvenirs. On the way back to the bus, Jon was beat up (ok, just hit on the leg) by an 80 year old toothless Guatemalan woman. You´ll have to ask him for the details when we get home. Don´t worry, no one was injured! =)

Today we split up again; half of us going to work on the cistern and the other half staying at Proximos Pasos to continue the painting and put on a program for the girls in the school. We´ll give you an update on that in the next post. Those of us working on the cistern now have a huge respect for American technology after mixing (by hand) enough cement to form the bottom half of the walls. Wow, that was hard work! Tomorrow we plan to pour the cement for the top half of the walls. We´ll post some pictures later of the finished cistern.

That´s all for now... we are heading back home to shower.

Not gonna lie, we all smell pretty bad as we haven´t had showers in three days since the school´s cistern is empty.

Disclaimer: Read at Your Own Discrection (Joey and Jon wouldn't let me edit)

by Jon and Joey Nigg
YOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!
Hola, from your fellow Guateamericans. I hope you’re doing well in the good ol U.S. of A. As for us? Well… Guatemala is treating us very well. Not only are we enjoying the company of others, but we’re also learning a great deal of new information. Por example… Choo-Choo means you stink in kaqchikel. I’ve had to say choo choo to Megan a few times. Nah, I kid I kid. Anyway, here’s a recap of the last few days.
Yesterday we enjoyed another long day of digging. Just a little feedback… A nine foot hole is MUCH larger than you think. I was starting to get concerned that we were going to reach the center of the earf. Lucky for us, we were a couple thousand miles away from that. I think… Anyhow, after work we had the great joy of going out to dinner as a team in Antigua and we couldn’t have had a better time. The food was awesome and the music was fantabulous. Better yet, Elsa somehow managed to get the crowd to sing happy birfday to Jamie both in ingles and Spanish. And you KNOW we went buck wild during the song. Let’s just say, it was an amazing time.

After dinner we all decided it was time to call it a night. Elsa and Jamie somehow manage to strip people of all their energy with 1st grade jokes. Which reminds me let’s take a quick break for one…
Why did the turtle cross the road?
To get to the shell station.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!
Yes. This is what we are all dealing with. Now a quick recap… Lots of dirt in my life, good dinner, fun times and super tired. Okay. Now we’re all caught up. We went to bed just after dinner. Only problem is… The roosters thought it’d be cool to have a screaming contest over the course of the night. Needless to say, we were up and down all night. But it’s otay… Sleep is overrated. I told Lito (our boss, so to speak) LET’S DIG MORE DIRT. And it was done. While we continued our journey to the center of the earf, the others stayed back to share some love with the mothers. From what I hear, it was amazing. There were some tears, laughter, and bonding. The girls gave a great sermon and followed it up with some bracelet creations and cookie making. I don’t know if the men should wear them but hey, to each it’s own, right?
Seriously though… The experience thus far has been nothing shy of amazing. The people are absolutely wonderful (when their not laughing at the gringos when we say hi) and the atmosphere is breath taking. Even better, the family we’re working for has stolen many of our hearts. And this, I must say, was completely unexpected. But that’s always God’s way isn’t it? I truly hope everyone is well and we all thank you VERY much for all your support. You are all with us in spirit. We will see you soon.
Sincerely.
Your 2009 GO Guatemala Team.
Now we are off to a shoe melting volcano. Wish us luck
P.S. It’s time for Katie to get her license.
P.S.S Sara is es loca.

Paint and Dirt

by Sara Calderon

Today, we had Jamie open us up in our devotion time sharing about how we are to praise our heavenly father with a thankful heart, and really see and understand just HOW great our God really is.
After breakfast, we split up into the usual groups: one group working on the construction of the cistern, and the other group finishing up the painting projects around the girls school.

Day 2 working on the cistern consisted of digging 5 feet deeper into the hole the group from yesterday started. Once the hole was about 6 feet under, it was difficult for us (ok, at least for me!) to shovel the dirt up so Lito quickly constructed a pulley system where we lowered a bucket down, filled it with dirt, and pulled it back out. The boys have definitely impressed us all, doing their fair share of the work plus more!

While the boys were hard at work, Katie, Courtney and I went outside to play with the local kids who lived nearby. After a while we had 8 children swarming our cameras, and we loved every second of it. Daniel was sharing some music from his phone with the kids, bumping some Michael Jackson..LoL. Jon and Joey were probably the whiniest of the bunch, but also the funniest, most entertaining people I’ve probably ever met in my life! All the boys have definitely stepped it up and not only taken on most of the heavy workloads, but also have followed through and taken very good care of us girls. At the end of the day, we were exhausted, dirty, and sore…but it was entirely worth it. Knowing all of our work is for the family and Guatemalan people we have grown to love in these past few days, and everything we have done as a group thus far is the very least we can do to show them God’s love, simply because He loves us.

The girls who painted today got a lot of work done around the school, and so far a total of 5 classrooms and two hallways have been painted. The girls from the school enjoy peeking in to see what the “gringos” are doing! Over the past few days we have been informed of many ways God is at work here. Not only are the girls getting an education here, but they are receiving the love and guidance from teachers who also are sharing the love of Christ to them. The teachers and staff here at the school are not only trying to give them an education, but teach them life skills such as sewing, as well as provide them with a theological foundation.
After our team regrouped for the day and ate some more yummy dinner our cook and new amigo Edgar prepared, the group went to the First Baptist Church in Santa Maria to visit Pastor Carlos whose last year’s team had met and befriended. During the youth service, the team sang worship songs and played games with the kids. Jamie and Elsa went up on stage and sang “How Great is Our God” while Daniel played guitar, and Elsa translated Pastor Carlos’s sermon for us.

At the end of each night, we have been spending time getting to know each other…probably a little better than we would have hoped for!

Daniel showing us his hidden tallent.

It’s funny how uniting catch phrase and the infamous grand pumba can be! Megan and Jolene have been doing a great job leading our team and coordinating with the director Jeff to get everything done and everyone taken care of. Elsa and Jamie are cracking everybody up with their jokes…but mainly each other=)

We LOVE and MISS you all! Thank you for all the prayers! Until next time…

Get Some!!!!!

by Elsa and Jamie
Wednesday, July 1
After a decent night’s rest, among the cool weather, we began day two. During devotions Jon expressed his expectations of this short-term mission’s trip and how God’s creation fits together so perfectly. He is excited about working with the men of Santa Maria de Jesus in constructing a cistern – “getting down and dirty with his fellow man,” as he puts it.

Lito, a hard-working, compassionate local missionary, led half of our group to where the cistern would be built, while the other half stayed at the girl’s school and painted. A cistern is a storage container to harvest rain water when water supply is scarce. This will be Lito’s 75th time constructing a cistern. Sadly, the government only turns on the water for an hour every two days. For these reasons, the need for these containers is great! Currently, there are 25 families on a waiting list to have these cisterns built in the yards of their homes. Each cistern cost 1500 Quetzales, equivalent to $186 U.S. dollars. Lito’s heart is for helping the people, therefore, he only charges for supplies and not for the labor.
Constructing a cistern is hard, physical labor. With our servant hearts, we graciously put our gloves on and got to work. Yeah, sounds easy but after six hours of work, and a short lunch break to munch on a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, our bodies experienced an average day for Lito. First step was to loosen up the soil where the container would be placed nine feet deep with a circumference of six feet. Unfortunately, Houston, we have a problem! A hefty layer of cement attempted to discourage us and wear us down but we applied Philippians 4:13 to our day’s work…”We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us.”
Shoveling after shoveling, our backs began to ache, sweat dripped down from our foreheads but we all pressed on. Our words of encouragement to one another were “Get some.” Don’t ask…it helped us through the day. We accomplished digging a hole of three feet deep along with the “ring of protection.” Cement was mixed by hand and bricks were laid precisely to create this ring of protection. All the dirt that was removed from the hole had to be transported about three miles from the work site. After several trips of transporting the dirt, we finished a great day of work by walking back to the school in the rain.


Sorry for the delay... internet was not working! mj

Here At Last!

by Jolene Holzhaur

Well, we are here and accounted for! The flight was really smooth. There was hardly any turbulence, and for the most part it was peaceful. Some of us slept most of the way, and some were too excited to wind down. We met with our team leader Diana at the airport, and Willy our friend from the Castellanos Family drove us into Antigua, where we exchanged money and bought postcards to send home.


When we arrived at the school, we met with Jeff Sprecher, the team leader for Mission Impact. We were welcomed with fresh bread from Dona Luisa’s Bakery in Antigua, fresh Guatemalan Coffee (which I couldn’t enjoy since it’s caffeinated L) and fresh liquados, which if you can imagine a smoothie with cantaloupe, that’s what it would be. After a hot shower and a short nap, we had potato soup for lunch and yes, more bread. Ahh…lovin’ them carbs!


We went for a walk around Santa Maria to acquaint the rest of the team with this small, curious village. Our tour guide is Margarito (Lito for short), and he shared with us his testimony and the cultural norms we can expect to encounter while we are here. It is so wonderful to be surrounded by the gorgeous textures, smells and smiles of the people here again.


We are exhausted, but excited to be here to take on the challenges ahead of us. There will be lots to do over the next few days with building the water cistern for a coffee farming family, painting and other construction around the girls school, and the activities planned with the girls who attend here and the mothers who come for a weekly Bible study. All of us wanted to let all of you that we are doing well, and we are looking forward to sharing with you the rest of our journey through this blog.


Blessings to all of you at home, and continue to pray for our safety and health as we are on this adventure!

They Have Arrived!

We just heard from the team and they have arrived safely (but a little tired) in Santa Maria de Jesus. They will rest for a few hours before they start their day. Look forward to their first post sometime tonight.

Blessings,

The Ministry Office

And They're Off...

The GO Guatemala 2009 Team left CBC for LAX at 9:55 P.M. tonight. Their flight leaves L.A. at 1:45 A.M. and they will arrive in Guatemala around 8 A.M. As soon as we hear from them we will let you know! Check back on Monday night for their first team post!

Remember to keep them all in prayer.

GO Guatemala 2009 Team

From top left to right: Joey Nigg, Daniel Pryde, Jon Nigg, Courtney Sibell, Elsa Johnson, Katie Hade, Megan Johnson, Sarah Calderon, Jamie Curtis and Jolene Holzhauer.

This will be CBC's (http://www.visitcbc.com/) 3rd mission trip to Guatemala as a part of our annual GO Campaign. We're all excitedly preparing to leave again in just 9 short days! It's amazing how quickly the last 5 months of planning have gone!

While in Guatemala, we're staying at Proximos Pasos, which is a girl's school in the small village/town of Santa Maria de Jesus. We will be serving alongside of the Mission Impact team (http://www.missionimpact.com/). Just to give you an idea of what we'll be doing while we're gone...

We will be:

• building a water cistern for a group of local coffee farmers, which will take about 7 days to complete
• leading a mom's group for about 70 women which will include a Bible study, craft, game, and coffee/bread snack time
• leading a youth service for about 100 girls that attend Proximos Pasos
• and many small construction projects at Proximos Pasos

The team will be busy! Please keep us in prayer as we continue to prepare for our trip. Also, be praying for safety as we travel June 28th- July 9th.

Check back for daily updates from the team starting June 29th.

Guatemala 2008 Video

Check out LAST YEAR'S video at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFQEe-qetDc

Guatemala 2008

We thought we would post some pictures from last year's mission trip to give you an idea of what is to come...enjoy.