Guatemala 2024 Day Three
Written by: Olivia
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. As the program continued, we were able to worship and praise God together which was followed by a Bible character study. The study taught us about God’s loyal love. During the study, the students all wrote down their thoughts and shared them with us in the end! I loved being able to hear all of their different takeaways. After they shared, we were able to read the Bible together and GET THIS… it was in both Spanish and English! Isn’t that so cool!? Our Guatemalan friends would read the left side of the page first (the Spanish side) and then we (along with their amazing help) would read the right side in English. God is the same God in Canada as he is in Guatemala and it was oh so refreshing to be reminded of that this morning.
Then came basketball!! We headed through Sumpango to the local indoor basketball court to have a great showdown. In the midst of the passing, dribbling, shooting, and Kathryn occasionaly jumping on my (Olivia’s) back as her player defence mechanism, we were geneuniely able to feel the goodness of God within and around the PILAS students. Their encouragement and affirmation throughout the game was such a blessing. Oh and can I just say the students rocked the game! There were very few of us Compass members that were able to keep up with them!
Second to our fantastic morning, was our fantastic afternoon! We gathered in community and ate a delicious spaghetti lunch with one another. We learned all about each others favourite foods and colours and so much more, but along with that came great laughs as we mispronounced MANY Spanish words in the process. After lunch, Kathryn, Jacob and I (Olivia) went to a neighbouring village to help with ‘club connections’ while Cody, Troy and Adeleecia helped teachers at the PILAS house. Club connection was so much fun! We did everything from play baseball to learn about The Armour of God. The kiddos learned about the importance of their holy armour and then as a reflecting activity, they made both Jacob and I some armour of our own. From head to toe we were covered. We had a shield, a vest, a sword, special shoes…welllllll shoes in Jacob’s case but only one shoe in mine…, but hey all is good because I had a rocking belt of truth on. And don’t let me forget about our helmets of salvation, funny story about that actually. A team member who I will leave unnamed for embarrassment purposes, but starts with a ‘J’, ends in a ‘B’ and has ‘ACO’ as the letters in the middle, forgot his tinfoil helmet was on and left the classroom confidently with it on until I broke the hard news to him. In the silliness of it all, this visual was a wonderful image for both us and the children. After this came a super cute Mother’s Day craft. There was a rose and a little bouquet holder for it. Sooo super sweet.
Meanwhile, Cody, Troy, and Adeleecia were acting out Little Red Riding Hood. Yeah you heard that right! To help the students visualize the message of today: be wary of strangers. Adeleecia played Red Riding Hood magnificently, but Troy’s role as the hunter was even more amusing for the kids. He most definitely swept (literally) that BIG old BAD wolf away (aka Cody). However…Gerry might take the crown of the most hilarious actor, or should I say ‘actress’, as he played the grandmother beautifully. After the skit, they all were paired with a PILAS teacher to assist in the craft. The students, Compass members and teachers all enjoyed making the cardboard chicken egg holders togegther!
Oh and I can’t forget our DELICIOUS dinner. Nothing better than Barb’s homemade cabbage roles. Yum yum yum. The night was full of laughter. As Barb and Gerry lead their weekly Alpha group, our team did our daily devotionals and had some great conversations come of it! Some craft prep was also done for tomorrow! Wow, what a day. It was filled with, love, grace and peace. I am so excited for what tomorrow has in store and I pray that we don’t grow wary and that God’s strength will carry us.
Buenas Noches!
