Making Life Better in Guatemala

We have had a great time this week in the village of Agua Zarca! One of our goals at The Connection Church is simply this: MAKING LIFE BETTER! This is what Jesus said in John 10:10 when He said that He came to give real and eternal life, more and better than you’ve ever dreamed! We are seeing the fulfillment of this through our investment in Guatemala.

Just over a year ago, I visited this village for the first time. Where there was once a schoolroom made of black plastic sheeting and branches as tent stakes, now there is a solid schoolhouse, complete with 2 rooms, a kitchen where the daily school meals for children will be prepared, and boys and girls bathrooms. The difference is unbelievable!

Let me tell you just a few of the highlights of the trip:

• The Go! Team on this adventure included: Charity Estrada, Javier Castillo, Dennis Wilson, Paul Rocha, Trey Williams, Isay Cruz, Makenzie Phillips, Tiana Hull, and myself. Our team bonded together and worked as one body and their attitude of joy and love was contagious! Not only that, but everyone remained fairly healthy through the whole trip.
• It was so good to see the familiar faces from the village waiting for our arrival and welcoming us back! We presented the kids with school supplies in new backpacks and gave them other needed materials.
• Our construction project involved building a drainage trench along the back of the school to prevent the water run-off from washing the new school away. This meant hauling rocks and sand up the (seemingly) insurmountable hill. Fortunately, we were able to use a truck for a lot of this work, but there was that one time when it got stuck in a ditch. No problem for the team though because, together with the local people, we were able to pull it out with a rope. By the end of the week, the whole stretch of drainage had been completed, with the sidewalls still needing to be done.
• Of course, soccer was a big part of our time together with the kids. And I must say, I even managed to squeeze in a few goals myself. We brought new soccer balls and jerseys for them to use in the future.
• Trey, who was a complete rockstar all week, led the kids through the same kids of lessons we use in KonnectionKidz using the Spanish version. It was amazing to see how much they caught on and got involved. Our purpose in doing this was to teach them God’s Word and ultimately raise up leaders among the kids for the future of the village. We provided a tv and dvd player and lessons for them to use for many months to come.
• The lesson ended today with 12 of the children making an eternity-changing decision to give their lives to Jesus! It was the most beautiful thing you could ever see!
• We had a big Fiesta to wrap up our time with 2 pinatas filled with goodies. It was so much fun to get to celebrate with the people all that good that God has done this week!
• Javier presented a farewell message where he presented the Good News of Jesus to the people. Once again, we believe that many lives were impacted and will continue to be changed through our future work in Agua Zarca.

Many more stories are yet to be told from the team members and I can’t wait for you to hear them. In the meantime, check out these pics on our flickr page, the videos on Vimeo, and here’s a little something to give you a front row seat to the action: