We’ve been enjoying seeing the progress being made in construction this week. The final concrete layer in one of the rooms has already been completed – and in only a couple of days! It’e been amazing seeing all the work coming along, and it has given us the energy for a final push at making progress before we leave.
On Tuesday we had a good turnout for English class, with a couple of new faces as well which was amazing! That evening we walked to a basketball court (stopping at a cake shop
on the way, of course!) and played a few ball games with the local kids who happened to be there.
We were invited to take Saraí (the little girl of the family we’re staying with) to school one morning, and she excitedly showed us around. We got a lot of stares from the kids, and many came to talk to us – we took the opportunity to tell them about the activities we were holding that week. We loved seeing her school – particularly her classroom as it was full of colour and all the crafts they had made.
That evening we organised another football match with our usual local opponents and, unfortunately, our two-match winning streak was lost! We are keen to turn it around and finish our time in Pamézabal with one more win before we go.
On Thursday we welcomed Maddie (our Short-Term Coordinator) with our best attempt at recreating a homely spaghetti bolognese. It was such a joy to have her visit us after a tricky time with team illnesses and some uncertainty with the construction. We had the opportunity to reflect on our favourite things about our time here in Pamezabal and also talk about the things we’ve found more challenging, working through them together as a team, which was really productive. Sara then showed us how to make an authentic Guatemalan dish 
– dobladas – for dinner, using tortillas, potatoes, salsa and cheese. Hopefully we can recreate this back in the UK!
Maddie joined us at the construction site on Friday, and lived a day in our shoes sifting sand to help mix cement for the walls in the room we’re working on. The team were in high spirits after seeing quick progress in what has been a productive week, where the guidance and clear communication from the new constructors has been a big success.
We then headed to the field for another action-packed sports afternoon for the kids in our community. It was another great turnout, with many faces we hadn’t seen before, and we had just as much fun as the kids. We did our best to teach them rounders, which went down a treat despite a little confusion as to when you should stop running to avoid getting caught out every time!
On Saturday, we travelled to the lake in San Juan to meet the whole Latin Link Guatemala team, and began our weekend adventure over pizza and fresh lemonade in a café overlooking the beautiful mountains. We then walked up the tourist strip, with an array of colourful umbrellas suspended overhead, and headed for a newly-opened medical clinic to hold a prayer meeting together. We were given a tour of the clinic and learnt about how they were passionate about promoting a low-cost service where people from disadvantaged backgrounds could access healthcare without personal finances being a barrier. We enjoyed a time of worship, prayer, and devotion, and got to hear about the amazing work of the charity which founded the clinic – AMI San Lucas (https://en.amisanlucas.org). We prayed into the work they are doing with women, young people, and families, and were inspired by the success of their sustainable workshops and desire to equip church members and ministry leaders with the tools to educate their local communities.
On Sunday we woke up just after sunrise to have a short time of worship followed by an early-morning swim in the lake. It was colder than we thought, but still warmer than the English sea! We then headed our for coffee and crêpes in a scenic breakfast café, and bought some delicious banana bread from a local seller on the way back.
We had the privilege of being invited to the two-year anniversary of a church planted by the Impacto Ministry, which seeks to end food poverty. We enjoyed lively worship, including a Spanish rendition of “How Great Thou Art”, and Pastor Moisés and some of the leadership team from our host church were also able to join us. The church were then kind enought to invite us for a big sit-down lunch outside, followed by football with some of the kids from the church.
It was a really fun weekend, where God reminded us of his beauty in creation, the joy he promises us, and how powerfully he is at work in Guatemala!
Answers to prayer and things we’re grateful for:
- We’ve enjoyed working with the new people overseeing the construction.
- Seeing progress made with the construction.
- The Latin Link prayer meeting went well, and it was great to meet the members and volunteers of the Latin Link Guatemala team.
- Good turnouts to this week’s activities.
Prayer requests:
- That the activities in our final week would go well.
- That we would be able to say goodbye well to all the people we have met.
- That we would find people to take over some of the activities we’ve started (eg, Sunday school).
- For good health before our rest week.
Thank you for everyone’s prayers and support!
Emily, Theo, Carrie, Hannah, Ben, Ella H, Ella S, Charlie F, Charlie P, Charlotte (written by Theo and Ella S).
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