Another update

Well, the first ministry weekend is over. My team is working with a church in Chimal called Su Gracia. The pastor there has been really nice, letting us get involved with whatever we want. Last weekend we did a lot of watching, but this weekend we'll be doing more actual ministry.

The weekend started Saturday morning with our host families picking us up. Shorr, Helen, and I were picked up by Mardoqueo Valasquez Gomez. On our way to his house, we picked up his three sons who work and study at university in Guatemala City during the week. At the house, we met his wife, Carmen, and daughter, Elisa. Then we ate breakfast together.

After breakfast we went to the market with Carmen and the oldest son, Josue. It was pretty fun, since it was a market in Chimal that I hadn't been to before. When we got back, we went for a long walk around the chicken farm that they live on. Unlike many chicken farms in the U.S. where it's basically a bunch of massive barns, this farm had 5 sections, separated by tree-covered land. There were a few random cows and horses, as well as a few vegetable gardens. It was really neat being out in nature a little, rather than in a noisy city.

Getting back from the walk, we ate lunch and then rested for a little while. Youth group was that afternoon/evening, so we headed into town for that. The youth group at Su Gracia is really neat. We worshipped, played some games, shared testimonies, and listened to a lesson. The second oldest son in my family, Luis, translated a lot of it for the people in our group, which was pretty cool. After youth group we ate dinner, visited for awhile, and then went to bed.

Sunday morning was church. It was pretty typical for the Ladino churches I've been to in Guatemala. The pastor preached a great sermon on (I think it was) 1 Thes. 4, talking about our need for holiness. In the afternoon we went to an outdoor church service in an empty lot a little bit outside of Chimal. At the end of things we led a little activity for the kids... they seemed to enjoy it quite a bit. Then it was back to our home to rest a little, visit with our host family, bid the sons goodbye, and head to bed.

And thus ended the ministry weekend. Monday we returned to the seminary and spent the day in different meetings, debriefing, briefing, debriefing, planning, etc.

On Tuesday I went to Antigua to work a little on a project that I have for my Christianity and Culture class. For the project I have been interviewing vendors and shoppers in the markets in Chimal and Antigua as well as inventorying the products in their shops, seeing the effects of globalization on local markets. I'll be posting the results from my project on here in a few days. =)

The process of choosing interns to join the staff team for next year has begun, and I can tell that the decision will be difficult. You can be praying for wisdom as we work on interviewing applicants.

Oh, and another note: my computer's fan quit working, so I'm using a program computer right now. I have the files I need from my computer, but no pictures. So if I want to upload pictures, I'll have to use someone else's computer. Yet another opportunity to practice rejoicing in everything. =)