From Scott

Its day 5, so to speak, on our mission trip and we are making progress in many ways. Our conduit for the communications system is nearly complete from the top house to the baby house at the bottom, our ditches for conduit we'll install on Friday are getting longer, the toddler house (Casa de David) has some fresh paint, and we are nearly ready to paint Tony's lower house wall by the sports field; between Francis and Lindsay babies have been changed and fed many times, and with Natalie's help, beans have been sorted and vegetables pealed and readied for dinner. Each member of the team is working hard and willingly - it is a wonderful sight. And we have a good sense of team, including joining together for morning devotion, Compline at the end of the day, and we are each reading 1 Peter as part of a daily discipline of prayer and study (click here to see our devotions in the Mission Trip Booklet). I'm truly pleased and thankful.

Here's Jeff Wilson after he broke a pick being such a he-man while digging ditches. He's been a real trooper, doing whatever is necessary and carrying the weight today since Bill Clewe and I are a bit under the weather (or is that, under our stomachs'?).

And here is Sidney doing some painting in the toddler room. Wonderful to have her and Meredith here - back from College and have their experience on missions among us.

Others may have mentioned the Casa Bernabe Ministry of Performing Artists - a group of 5 children and their adult leaders who have just returned from a month of traveling. When they perform, they juggle, do skits, have muppet-like puppet shows, and perform instrumental pieces of well known worship music. On Monday they performed for the Casa Bernabe kids and all us missionaries. When it began I it struck me as one of those awful but wonderful performances by elementary school students to which grandparents get invited - off key music, forgotten lines, and the like - though it improved much by the end. But when each child shared their testimony of God's work in their life I had to withdraw any critique. Each shared not just a history of abuse or abandonment, but how through the ministry of Casa Bernabe they came to know Jesus Christ personally and had experienced Him in their hearts - healing, loving, and redeeming them. On their last performance trip 36 individuals received Christ as their Lord and Savior. I think the whole mission team was effected.

For me one thing has been a bit frustrating - I feel more spiritually "dry" than I expected to. My Daily Time with God isn't as lively as I normally experience, and so I'm having to really quiet my mind and heart to listen - which is good and God is speaking, but its harder than I like. And, today I've got an upset stomach, along with Bill Clewe (we've had a few more, unfortunately).

As you can see we are spending time with the children and youth between projects. The youth with us are truly gifted at interacting despite some language barrier - which doesn't even phase the Guatemalan children. John Linquist and I spend an hour with the oldest boys - 11 of them 14 - 18, as the top photo shows. They were jumping on the "Trampolina de Muerte" - a tramp they had tied to a number of trees so it didn't move off its support picnic table and hillside. The tramp must have been at a 25 degree angle, making jumping a challenge. Though, with 8 of them on at once the angle wasn't the most dangerous thing. Fortunately they adhered to John's suggestion that they limit it to 4, and that is when the wrestling began. Great fun!

Well, I"ll sign off in just a moment. I hope you are reading all the posts, as they are terrific. And tomorrow we go to meet Juan and Elisa, students sponsored by St. Matthias and parishioners at the William Cornelius Vocational School where our 2006 team helped with the library and more. Finally, if you want to know more about Casa Bernabe, click here. 

Yours, in Christ,

Scott+