Month: November 2017

November 25 was the start of my second sponsor week at Casa Shalom. It was very different but also some of the same as the previous one.

My first sponsor week, I had been living in Guatemala for 3 days, I could comprehend the basics of elementary spanish, and I knew about 30 of 80 kids’ names. This was also my first time actually getting to interact with a group of strangers I have only heard stories of. I wasn’t too much of a help that week, I’m sure of it now!

This time, I am constantly called in different directions to help with translation between kids and their sponsors, I am now able to provide more information about Shalom, and I knew at least 10 of the 18 sponsors who came, either from the previous sponsor week, or a team that came and visited this summer. I was able to greet several at the airport with a great big hug and get to meet family members of a few who decided to tag along this time.

This was a much bigger group as well, with 18 sponsors and 27 kids, compared to 11 and 14 the previous time. Mostly ’cause I did my job promoting it over social media and through email (not to brag!) It was definitely a great group of people, yet it was a challenge to keep 45 people together while walking through the streets of Antigua or finding the restrooms at the airport. I lost track of how many times I had to do a head count in the moving school bus.

The sponsorship program is a blessing to not only the kids and sponsors, but to the volunteers at Casa Shalom as well. These past 5 days, I’ve gotten to see some relationships start and others continue on. I’ve been to the point of watery eyes watching the two interact and share time together. It’s really interesting to share a bond with someone solely over email and then get to put a face and personality to that email address.

Some have also become close friends to me. About 5 of us were playing uno for about an hour and a half together, not focusing on how tired we were nor what all is coming tomorrow. We were enjoying our last night together, competing in a kids’ card game and laughing until our stomachs hurt.

The main event of the week was an extreme park, X Park. It had a rock wall, a ropes course, a zipline, a free fall, high jumps, a mechanical bull, and bounce houses for the little ones. Most of the morning, I was running around, trying to get photos of everyone everywhere, but also being available to help if someone got hurt or needed a translator.

As lunch approached, I got to participate in the fun. My adventure partner for the day? One of the sponsors I got to meet last Easter. The oldest of the group. A high school math teacher who is a little more than 4 decades older than me. She and her husband sponsor a tiny, 40 lb, 8 year-old boy who wasn’t big enough to do everything. Here, I was gaining the courage to go down the zipline or jump from 10+ stories up because a 60 year old was encouraging me and was excited to participate in most of the activities with me. She was my biggest cheerleader for the day and was one of the ones I’m glad I’ve gotten to share some time with this week, along with her husband, who did the 10 story free fall with me!

Sponsorship plays a huge role in the lives of the kids and all of Casa Shalom. Providing school, food, medicine, and the gospel to the kids is a great blessing to all. Sponsor week is a week dedicated to get to not only meet and build a relationship with the sponsored kid, but to take part in activities together (church, movie theater, X Park, meals, etc.), bring gifts for them, and make memories with the kids and fellow sponsors. I’m so glad I could be able to play a tiny role in the sponsorship program, to get to watch these relationships start and continue to built after each visit or emailed letter. Although we constantly have kids (and sponsors) coming and going, each of these relationships are irreplaceable, between kids and sponsors, and myself as well. Thank you to each of the sponsors, whether you were present this week or not!

One of the biggest weeds in my life for a long as I can remember is setting limits. Limits on my own abilities, limits on the things others are capable of doing, limits on my expectations. I guess in a sense, I am setting limits not only on what I can do with my God-given talents and abilities, but also setting limits on what I allow God to do through me.

For instance, before 2017, the last interaction I had with a horse was when I was in 3rd or 4th grade at a girl scouts retreat. My troop and I all started to make our horses run in a gallop around the ring. My horse decided it would leave the track and go full speed out into the open field, leaving me hanging on for my life, only to come to a complete stop, as we were inches from running through the fence. I never pictured myself working with or near horses ever again. And therapy? I’ve had two experiences with therapy in my life, neither of which I chose for myself nor would want to do again. Guess one of my main roles at Casa Shalom? I’m one of a few in charge of leading and enhancing the horse therapy program, and I have also been an assistant in various forms of therapy, including worship, art, and play therapy.

All through my life, I’ve pictured what my future job might be. One of the titles I’ve crossed out early on was the role of a teacher, because of the great teachers I’ve had in my life and my “inability” to fill those shoes in another individual’s life. The last time I sat down to play the piano, I was probably in 4th grade. I viewed the piano as just an early elementary school learning tool, not really something I could continue on with. Today, I am a teacher to 2 piano students all because I followed the instructions from a YouTube video, practiced for a few hours a week, and can play a few worship songs.

I’ve often considered myself a creative an artistic person, yet I don’t share too many of my art projects with others due to my lack of confidence in my work and talent. In the coming months, I will be helping decorate the new library and have put myself in charge of painting a mural on the wall, also throwing in some of my ideas for color/design.

Going to a small Christian college for four years, I doubted in myself that taking up God’s missionary calling would be a long time coming, with paying back school loans. I’ve made it through 8 months of living life in Guatemala, and I see no end in the near future thanks to all of my friends, family, and supporters.

It’s been challenging for me to put a definition to the word love, being surrounded by broken relationships. Some of those, I’ve watched from afar, while others I have been a part of. I’ve been hesitant to jump into strong relationships quickly, fearing that an end might soon follow. Now, I am in a position where relationships come and go day after day. Short term missions team members. Interns. Volunteers. Guatemalan children. Whether the relationship lasts only a few weeks or comes to an unforeseen halt after several years, I am quick to show others the love I have for them.

This past weekend, a couple of the volunteers and interns were planning a hike up to an active volcano (Pacaya). I was so excited to take part in this adventure, until it hit me. I am not in any sense fit to hike uphill. I get overheated really easily, and hiking around a smokey volcano doesn’t sound like it would be chilly at all. Nonetheless, I said I’d take part, not knowing if I’d be spending a few hours waiting at the car while the others were exploring.

It was one of the neatest experiences I have had since I’ve been in Guatemala. Yes, it was a tiring hike, but it was worth it when we made it to the top. Being surrounded with volcano rock is unlike anything I’ve seen before. It weighs almost nothing, yet I couldn’t manage to break it. It was almost like being on another planet. Passing by piles of rocks, we stuck our hands in what felt like a sauna, as the heat of the volcano rose. Along the way, while we were still surrounded by many plants and trees, our tour guide clipped some branches off the trees. At the top, he pulled out a bag of marshmallows, and we all got to roast them over a crater. I’m not sure if it was just mental, because I was hungry, or all part of the experience, but it was one of the best toasted marshmallows I’ve eaten.

The hike up was tough, but the way down was a blast! A sandy hill, we all slid down with sand reaching up above our ankles. Each step we took equalled about 3 or 4 with our feet sliding with the sand. I kinda felt like I was skiing. All to say, I didn’t place limits on my abilities that day, allowing me to partake in a once in a lifetime, fulfilled, exciting adventure.

I am constantly surprising myself with the Spanish words I can comprehend and repeat back. I am astounded by the little instances that come along my way where I can get involved or make a difference, if only for a few seconds. I am trying to notice more and more of where I can strengthen my abilities, let go of setting limits, and let God work through me for others’ needs- no matter my previous experience (or lack thereof)!

The last few years, I recognized this day with a photo of a cute orphan who I got to share a week of my summer with. This year, Orphan Sunday is a little different. Today at church, I attended one in the capital city that one of the orphanage’s previous residents attends. I got to hear a sermon about Christians being doers of the word, not just listeners. This is when the pastor pointed us to the verse James 1:27, that we should look after orphans and widows in their distress. We were reminded of the 40+ girls who lost their lives early this year in the capital’s biggest orphanage, solely because no one was there to meet their need of being heard.

Later in the service, 2 couples and a younger gentleman (about my age) took the stage. One couple works at a children’s home. Another couple had adopted two orphans. The gentleman in the middle in the gray shirt lived at Casa Shalom for nearly 15 years and opened up to the congregation, sharing some of his testimony, the difficulties of living in an orphanage, and how he’s succeeding now due to the care that was shown to him. (Side note: I wasn’t sure what outfit to wear to a new church today- casual or dressy- so I chose a skirt and a nice top, the same I wore when I shared a bit of my testimony and my volunteer work in front of my congregation this past January. Parents, don’t be mad at me for not telling you until almost 10 months later!)

Orphan Sunday is more than a day on the calendar. It’s a day to recognize those who don’t have families who love and care for them, for those who feel lost without a purpose, who have faced challenges in life most of us in the US rarely give a thought to. Living in an orphanage is more than playing with kids all day. It’s hearing questions like, “Do you have a family? A mother? A father?” as a normal conversation starter. It’s seeing the physical scars of abuse, whether it’s skin deep or had become a handicap in a way. It’s assisting in therapy with those kids who are mentally scarred due to lack of care or support. It’s watching a life transform from scared and hopeless to one full of purpose and hope. It’s loving and caring for those that have never felt either.

I am hoping orphans are thought of and prayed for more than one Sunday out of the year. That the homeless and abandoned are a part of the church family. That orphans are recognized as people too. That they have a purpose. That they come to know of their adoption from the greatest Father.

“A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling. God sets the lonely in families…” ‭‭Psalm‬ ‭68:5-6‬

I am loved. I am adopted. I belong.

Orphan Sunday

In Guatemala, the school year runs from January to October. Some schools finished mid October, while others aren’t out until the end of November. To say this first week of vacation (for most) was jam packed of activity would be an understatement.

A little over a week ago (27th), one of our teens boys had an emergency removal of his appendix. He spent the weekend recovering in the hospital and returned to the orphanage Sunday afternoon, while a few of us were in the next town over for church and lunch.

I checked in on him right after dinner to see how he was feeling, only to walk into the house to see him crying, freezing, huddled underneath a thick blanket. 4 of us American stayed by his side for 15 minutes, praying over him and getting anything he might’ve requested.

Later that evening, I wanted to check on him again. Knowing that there were a couple of boys in his house with a fever, we were all worried for him, that catching a fever wouldn’t be the best thing while recovering from surgery. We passed around the thermometer, washing between each use, the highest fever being at 104 who was also sharing a bunk bed with the one who had his appendix removed. I sat outside the house for almost an hour, waiting to see if the prescriptions were filled and the antibiotics were being taken. At about 10:30, 3 of us headed to the pharmacy to pick up the meds needed for tomorrow.

Monday and Tuesday were normal office days, only a bit busier than usual. Every other month, the child sponsorship program send out worksheets from the child to their sponsor. That means handing the sheets to each house, fighting them to get it back completed, looking through the stack to see who’s missing (and hunting them down), translating each sheet, scanning and renaming each one by one (for 100+ kids), and go child by child down an excel sheet, making sure each sponsor receives a worksheet from their sponsored child, changing the email template with the child’s name each time. All to say, it is a lot of work, and it just so happened to fall on the first week of vacation.

Wednesday, a few of us went to a kite festival a few towns over, maybe a half hour’s drive without traffic. Since this is one of the main places the kites are celebrated, it took over an hour and a half to get into the town and meet up with our coworkers who live there. The traffic was of no importance to us when we saw 100+ foot tall kites decorated solely using tissue paper and glue. Some of the 30 standing high took 6 months to make, surrounded by regular kites flying in the breeze through the crowds of people. The 6 of us managed to all keep together by joining arms and grabbing purse straps through tight crowded streets. Open fire grills cooking snacks for visitors and street vendors selling overpriced Guatemalan souvenirs to tourists lined each side of the road. We managed to find our way to a small cafe for lunch, before starting our 25 minute drive home.

That night, we heard that the kids from the orphanage were headed to Antigua the next day to fly kites over the city, so I was getting excited for that… until our oldest resident walked up to me and hand me an invitation to his ring ceremony for the following day and his graduation on Sunday night. So excited for him and proud of him that there was no way I was going to decline the invite!

9:45 the next morning, I piled into the van with a few of his house mates, some of the orphanage’s employees/volunteers he is close to, and his brother headed to the ring ceremony. It was a beautiful few hours filled with lunch, a speaker, the placing of the rings, a singing quartet, and some previous alum sharing their experience through school and where they are today because of their education. I’m glad I got to share a part in his special day.

Friday was also a busy day in the office, sending out the last few worksheets and responding back to those sponsor who responded to our original emails. As I was leaving the office a little after 5 ready to rest for almost an hour before dinner, about 30 kids were out playing on the court. They saw me walk past and wanted me to come play with them. I quickly ran to my room, changed into comfy clothes to run around the court giving a piggy back ride! I was nonstop from 7 am until about 9 pm!

Saturday I was able to rest for some of the afternoon. The morning was full of reading and playing cards with the younger boys, climbing a tree with the preschoolers, and working with the roommate to clean our house and her new classroom. Night came, and I found myself busy again helping with translation at a youth game night and devotional.

Most Sundays, I am either with the kids enjoying a visitation or off to church in Antigua. Not this week! We headed out to the theatre to enjoy a show with the 4-10 year olds. At times chaotic, but we had many volunteers to help. One was a little scared, but overall everyone loved the show and the meet and greet that followed!

Back to the orphanage we went, and I had about an hour and a half to make myself lunch and get dressed up before we took off to the graduation. We packed into the van and headed back to the school. We arrived at about 5:15 to grab good seats before the ceremony started at 6. In total, we filled almost 3 rows of 6 with roommates, Casa Shalom employees/volunteers, and the graduate’s family members. Honestly, I felt like a proud big sister! All was done a little after 8, and we took about a half hour to make our way through the crowds, each getting our photo taken with the new graduate. The night wasn’t as late as I’d expect it to go, including a Guatemalan school ceremony, but 9:30 felt like midnight by the time the night was over.

 

All in all, a great, fun-filled, tiring start to vacation. I’m excited to share these next 2 months with the kids being out of school!