A Day in La Esmerelda

Our group worshiped in the village yesterday with Paul preaching and Janet and John Metcalfe renewing their wedding vows along with four other couples. They celebrated with the hotdogs and Coca Cola that our delegation brought with them for the party!

There was a time for the high school youth from our delegation and youth from the village to talk together about their lives. They also played soccer together with Guatemalans and Americans mixed up on the teams. Salem brought some good soccer players along on the trip - sounds like everyone had a good time playing together.

This afternoon, the women will be introduced to a sewing project put together by Norma Johanssen from Salem - she is anxious to hear how that goes. There will be puppet plays on the fruits of the spirit and activities for the kids led by our group.

Paul reports that everyone is doing very well. Please keep them in your prayers.

Safe Arrival and a Day of Travel

Paul called this morning with an update from our group. I could hear him but had to shout to be heard, so the conversation was mostly one-way.
Our group arrived safely in Guatemala last night, made it quickly and smoothly through customs, and slept for a few hours at the Lutheran Center.
This morning they had a wonderful breakfast at what he said was a beautiful restaurant.
They are traveling by bus for most of the day to the village of La Esmerelda, which is in the northern part of Guatemala. On the bus they will be sleeping (my guess) and working on the puppet plays and other activities they plan to do in the village.
Augustana has a partner relationship with the Lutheran Church in La Esmerelda, San Augustin. Janet, one of the leaders from Augustana, has visited La Esmerelda many, many times and Paul has been there as well so they know the pastor, leaders and many families there.
Everyone is doing well. They will be in the village until Thursday and will be back in touch on Thursday or Friday.

Pastor Lynn

Getting ready to go!

Our Guatemala delegation of 7 youth and 3 adults will leave tomorrow morning after worship to meet up with a group from Augustana at the airport. Their flight arrives in Guatemala City tomorrow night around 10 pm. After a short night at the Lutheran Center, they will leave bright and early Monday morning for the 8-10 hour trip to visit the village of La Esmeralda (means "emerald") and the Lutheran church, San Augustin.

Please keep this group in your prayers - for safe travels, healthy bodies, joyous reunions, new relationships, learning from and about each other and about our common faith, and for those family members and friends who await their safe return.

The group will likely not have access to the internet until they return from the village on Thursday. So stay tuned to read and learn about their adventures.

Last day in San Lucas

Today is our last day in San Lucas.  We have been busy since our last blog post!

First, something we didn't write about on Friday: Meeting all of the students that Salem sponsors!  We met with 15 students at a restaurant in town.  They were all so polite and quiet.  They each told us a little bit about themselves and the things they like to study.  It was very impressive that they all showed up to meet us, because it is summer break here.  A few of the students gave us weavings they have made for our church as a thank you gift.

Yesterday was also an important day.  We sang in church at the early mass (and even got applause), and because they song we sang (Shall We Gather at the River) is appropriate for baptisms, we also sang it later at the baptism service.  Julie, a member of our group was a stand-in Madrina (God Mother) for Salem member Betty B.  After the baptism, we were invited back to the home of Toribio's family for a celebration lunch.  The lunch was amazing, and traditional soup called 'Pepian' which is chicken, rice, and corn in a tomoato based gravy.  It was very wonderful to be invited into this family's home to share the day with them.

Today we went back to the community where we were building stoves to finish the job.  The families warmed up a little more to us today because it was our second time visiting.  The kids at one of the houses were very interested in taking photos with our cameras, and based on the photos below we think they did a pretty good job!

We finished two of the stoves today!  The money that we sent for two more stoves, will be used by local stove builders to build the other two stoves for two more families that need them this month.


Tomorrow we will head to Antigua for some sightseeing (there are very interesting church ruins in the town) and a final meal before we head back on Wednesday.  This has been a fun trip, and we have learned and experienced a lot, but we miss our home congregations and are ready to be home!

By land and by sea

This morning we walked to the mission's reforestation project and worked on a variety of jobs. The people here are full of ideas about how to use and reuse resources to make a better life. Instead of burning old trees, they are cut into spoons and other implements. Young people in the community are given jobs making and smoothing the spoons. This is not an easy task - several of us spent the morning sanding spoons. Others moved dirt to create a compost heap under the watchful eye of our young supervisors, Eduardo and Ober, both age 13.

After lunch we took a boat across Lake Atitlan to a nearby community, San Antonio Palopo. This is a country of great contrasts - many live in great poverty but we passed elaborate lakeside mansions on our way. San Antonio Palopo is known for colorful weaving and distinctive pottery.  We hiked up to the church on the hill to enjoy the view of the lake.

This afternoon we learned more about the history of the mission from Chona, the long-time head of the kitchen and some of the challenges this community has faced since the death of Father Greg Schaeffer.

After a dinner of hamburgers and pasta, we celebrated Jack and Shirley's birthdays with a huge chocolate cake. We just rehearsed our two songs for tomorrow's very early mass. At the 11 am service we celebrate the baptism of Everth with Julie as madrina (godmother) and are invited to join the family for lunch afterward.

We remember the communities of Gloria Dei and Salem as loved ones are named and celebrated.

More pictures tomorrow.

Finally Getting to Work

Another busy day in Guatemala!

First, we will talk a little bit about yesterday, Day of the Dead.  We followed a processional from the church to the cemetary.  The cemetary was filled with people, and vendors selling things.  Right outside Father Greg's tomb, an alter was set up.  Throughout the service, the names of deceased loved ones were read.  It was an honor to hear the names of members of Gloria Dei and Salem alongside names of local people who have died.

After the service we walked to the Lake to watch the kite festival.  Kites are a big part of Day of the Dead in Guatemala.  They symbolize the connection between the living and the dead.  People made these huge kites (bigger than a person) and flew them over the lake!

Lunch was a traditional salad called Fiambra (pickeled vegetables and meats) that everyone eats on Day of the Dead.  In the afternoon we drove to another town on the Lake, Santiago.  In Santiago we visited the site where Father Stan Rother was murdered then did a little shopping.

After dinner, singing practice and devotions, a family came to visit us.  Abilino, his wife Manuela and their two daughters came to visit.  Abilino is the god son of a Salem member who has visited Guatemala many times.



Today was our first work day!  We drove in the back of a pick up truck to the town were we built stoves-the view on the drive was amazing.  Our two work sites were far away from each other.  The first task was to carry all of the stove bricks up many hills, which was a hard task....or so we thought, until we were passed by kids, and mothers with babies carrying bricks.

Building the stoves was fun, hard, but fun.  On Monday we will return to build more stoves at different houses in the same community.

First Day in San Lucas

Yesterday we made the 3-hour drive from Guatemala City to San Lucas!  San Lucas is located in the highlands on the shores of Lake Atitlan.

The mission volunteer coordinator, Lauren and Julio gave us a tour of the mission projects.  We visited the women's center, the hospital and the coffee center.  It is great for those of us that have returned many times to San Lucas to see progress at the women's center...and also women using the center!    The hospital also had a fresh coat of paint and looked really great.  Surgeons visited last month, and performed over 80 surgeries a week while they were here.

After dinner we watched a video about Father Stan Rother, who was a priest in the neighboring town of Santiago.  Rother was murdered in 1981 by a death squad.  Today we will visit the site where he was killed.

Yesterday was very rainy, the Salem crew took a walk down to the lake in the rain.  Today is sunny, which is great!  Today is Day of the Dead (Dia de los Muertos).  We are off to the cemetery soon for worship, then it's time for the kite festival!