If I could, I would give an endless list of moments but one of those would be when we went to church. From before you could even see the church, you could hear the pastor worshiping and praying. When I say that it was so loud, I really mean it.

We want to start off by thanking all of you for reading our blogs and the continuous support and prayers that you have been sending our way. We can really feel that God is working throughout this team and the work we are doing here in the Dominican Republic.

Today we stared off like normal. This included our morning devos on the roof with our reflection time. We also had a debate of who would win in a fight: a chicken or a tarantula.

First and foremost, an update on Pedro (the tarantula), he survived being in the pool for over 30 minutes. We went back to check on him and he was still kickin, so we scooped him out of the pool and put him back safely. We’ll let you decide if that is good news or bad news!

After devotions, one of our leaders was spooked by the biggest tarantula any of us have ever seen in our lives just a few feet where we ended off our devotional.

Mitch (on the paint team) found a massive spider crawling on the wall…

Today we started by waking up, going back to sleep, then waking up again. After 10 minutes of fighting the urge to go back to sleep one more time, I finally decided to get up only to find my back was bonded to the sheets (like a mouse in one of those sticky traps).

Today we started our Day off with our morning devos on the roof, followed by an absolutely outstanding, out of this world, bomb of a breakfast. After breakfast we dressed to the nine’s and walked three and a half hours in dog years (aka 15mins) to the sound of worship coming from the church since it was a thousand decibels.

Constructing Relationships

We did our first devotion today on the roof, reading Psalm 105:1-11 and filling out our daily devotional. Afterwards was breakfast which consisted of oatmeal, boiled eggs, meat and cheese, toast, and fruit. It was quite the smorgasbord!

Dear family and friends, today was a busy day. Our day started at 4:30 AM if you can believe it.

The Dominican Republic Missions Experience Team is looking to put together some donations to bring next week! In this blog you will see the list of items we are trying to gather before we leave next Friday.

Well everyone, this concludes the 2024 Guatemala YA trip! Thank you so so much for all of your prayers and support. Our team truly had a blessed week learning about God and His love of the people of Sumpango.

Can’t believe this is our last full day in Guatemala! It has been a very blessed week. We were able to sleep in a little bit, however we did wake up to quaking as there was an earthquake between Mexico and Guatemala. Or it could’ve been Kathryn shaking our beds. Once we fully woke up, we had breakfast on the roof, enjoying our view for a final time. 

This morning began a little earlier than most but for good reason, we had a three hour bus ride to Panajachel to see the famous lake, peruse the shops, and go out for lunch with all the kids! The bus ride took a bit longer than expected with an impromptu visit to the closest Mcdonalds (which was nicer than most in Ontario), we all filled up on coffee then hit the road again.

Hey! Let me tell you all about the in’s and out’s of our day. We started off preparing for another Mother’s day event. This event is for the Mother’s who often don’t have anyone to celebrate this special day with. Many of these women are widdowed, abandoned by their kids, homeless, or all of the above.

Good morning, we all are getting more tired as the week goes on. This seems to be having a good effect on our mood however, as we are being more silly and laughing WAY more than normal! Team bonding is at an all time high!

Welcome to day 5 of the trip! The days have been both very long, and very short. It’s hard to believe that it is already Wednesday! Again, we had an early start at 6am (don’t worry, Kathryn didn’t wake Olivia and I). This time, we enjoyed our breakfast and coffee on the roof. It is quite surreal looking at the surrounding town and to see the mountains/volcanoes in the background. 

The morning began with the sound of motorcycles, the occasional horse clopping, and Jacob rummaging through his bag. Kathryn awoke hours before everyone else and ended up chatting with Barb and Gerry. A bunch of the kids slept over last night since they all were here late doing Alpha (it was a big slumber party of sorts). We ask for prayer that their desire to learn will continue to grow.

Today was fabulous! We began our morning with a wonderful start at 7:45 A.M. when the PILAS students arrived and greeted us with warm hugs and big smiles. They then introduced themselves in English and gave us some fun facts about themselves. Along with that, we also had the privilege to listen to them present their weekly schedules.

The Second day begins! It started quite early for most of us as we all got up surprisingly early. The guys woke up due to an alarm not set in the right time zone so we woke up all around 6:00am, thinking it was 8:00am and Kathryn was the early bird for the girls. So we all ended up meeting Barb and Gerry for coffee on the roof and had a great time if just a little tired.