Last Day of Camp

  It is 5:30 and we've finished our last day of camp.  It is bittersweet.  Half of us have combatted stomach issues for the last day and we've all been really tired.  Playing with kids for 5 hours a day will wear you out!!  This morning a part of me just wanted to "get 'er done"; but a larger part of my heart wanted to press in and enjoy every moment.  It is so hard to lay down control and just embrace the chaos.  As a team, we've all worked hard and had the satisfaction of seeing many kids' respond with exuberance and excitement!  In the morning camp we have consistently had about 32 kids from Eagle's Nest.  In the afternoon we've had 28 kids. . . but today we ended with 50!!  I guess they told their friends!  We took some pictures of the village kids that we handed out to them today and it was so amazing to see their excitement! 
   One of the ways we have had to lay down control is in sharing the facilities with lots of other teams.  On Sunday a 40-person team came and led an eye clinic; Tuesday - Friday there have been 35 college students here doing a sports camp in Solala; a group of Guatemalans are here meeting about forming a political party for Mayans; and today a group of 10 came to visit the Manna Feeding Center.  It has been a little overstimulating for some of us, but one of the sweet outcomes is hearing about different ministries and seeing how God is caring for Guatemalans through many, many people and organizations.  It has felt good to be a part of a larger whole.
  Tomorrow is our "fun day".  We'll go to market in Solala, zipline and have lunch in Panajhel.  I think we are all ready for a break, but I am missing the kids already!

Waiting for the Magic

   Yesterday it occurred to me that no matter how much we plan, when we go on a short term missions trip, we are basically waiting for those magical moments of connection that only the Holy Spirit can bring about.  Our team has wrestled with the language barrier and been frustrated at not being able to communicate without an interpreter.  So it is extra amazing when we get to really engage with a child despite the difference in language.  Yesterday, however, was full of magical moments and here are a few:
    *  Jared having an impromptu afternoon "session" with Ever, Nahum and one other boy who are all learning guitar.
*  Mark and I teaching some kids to play UNO.  Now even some of the kids are grabbing my Spanish-English dictionary so we can communicate!
*  Diana, Maria and Cecelia helping make bean bags.
*  All the guys playing basketball, including some of the Eagle's Nest boys
*  Audrey, Madeline and Caleb playing Cops and Robbers with a bunch of kids.
*  And always there is magic when we go to hold babies!
*  Seeing village kids not want to leave the art rotation.  All the kids loved making paper beads!!
*  Seeing some of the older village girls engage in games and laugh so hard!
*  Having lunch in the home of Estella and Javier and experiencing their Guatemalan hospitality!
   We are very thankful for the relationships we are forging and continuing and are just praying that our small gestures of love would combine with the efforts of others and convey to these kids how much God loves them!

Day 1 of Camp

      The first day of camp and it was CRAZY!  We're doing two camps:  one in the morning for the kids at Eagle's Nest and one in the afternoon for the kids from the village who come to the Manna Feeding program.   This morning we knew roughly how many kids we had, which helped us divide them into 3 groups to rotate through music, games and crafts.  Probably the highlight of the morning was starting with worship.  Jared did an amazing job leading in Spanish, Caleb played guitar and Tammy gave a beautiful devotion.  It was very stirring to worship in Spanish.  The first day is hard, because you figure out who you have, what their ability and attention span is and if you have planned enough to keep them occupied.  So we all had to bend and flex. . . but the kids had a great time.  The older kids especially loved learning percussion with Jared.  In God's providence, there is a wonderful family here for the week and the father and son are drummers. . . so they were very helpful! 
    We finished by 12, had lunch at 12:30 and then had to re-group for our afternoon camp at 2:00.  The tricky part was not knowing how many kids would come.  All schools are closed this week, so that means that many of the village kids are needed to help their parents during the week.  While they usually have 60 kids attend, today there were just 30. . . but they were a great group.  We  just divided them into two groups and mixed the ages so family groups could stay together.  It worked beautifully and those kids LOVED every activity we did with them.  Many of them had come to the CCG camp last year and remembered us, which was sweet!  Because the village kids have fewer cultural opportunities, they were super receptive and enthusiastic and our entire team loved working with them.
   By 4:00 we were finished and ready for siestas. . . although some of us (i.e. the teenagers) had the energy to keep going.  Beth went and held babies in the orphanage for 3 hours!  Caleb, Audrey and Madeline played cops and robbers with the Patlan kids and the orphanage kids all over the grounds.  I loved seeing the spontaneous interactions!