Semana Santa

Holy Week is celebrated very differently here in Guatemala. They have fun activities all over the country and the Children's Home has it's own set of traditions for the week. The week started with a soccer tournament all day Monday, and on Tuesday they all went to a water park. We didn't get back from our trip to the States until Wednesday afternoon. We hit the ground running with the start of the annual Semana Santa Olympic Games. We were spilt into four teams that would compete for three days in a row in games, Bible-quizzing, and decorating for different theme nights.

On Wednesday we started the games off with racing and obstacle courses. Later at dinner we had a "Beach Party" theme night, and every team decorated their area and themselves to look beach ready. That same night every house had a slumber party and the older girls stayed at our place. It was a blast, but I didn't get sleep for a full 24 hours!

Beach Party!

On Thursday afternoon we had games like dodge ball and capture the flag. At dinner the theme night was "The Zoo." We had all kinds of kids dressed up as animals and the whole dinning hall turned into a literal Zoo!

Capture the Flag!

The Zoo

On Friday we ended the weeks Olympics with Water games! We all got wet and were freezing. The last event was a tug-o-war in a mud trench! All the kids love to get muddy, and they love to see the adults getting in the muddy water as well. That night's theme was the Galla! Everyone dressed in their best outfits and decorated their tables to look fancy.

Tug-O-War!

We dressed to IMPRESS

Joy's team won the Olympics for the week, and Jared's came in second. All the kids had a fun time celebrating the resurrection of Jesus.

On Saturday all the kids got to decorate and dye Easter-Eggs for the Hunt. That night we had a progressive dinner within the Children’s home, and we ended the night with a bonfire and smores.

Smores!

Sunday morning we had a service on-site and then ate a wonderful breakfast all together. We were so blessed to be here and celebrate this wonderful day with all the kids and staff of NLCH.

Dirty Laundry

So I had just finished up with the fourth load of laundry for the day, and I was a little exhausted. Jared and I have never really appreciated drying machines until we had to live without one. Doing laundry can be a slow process, with having to hang-up four, FULL loads of clothes out on the lines. It usually takes several hours, on a good day, to do laundry. I was walking in the house after getting the first two loads of clothes down from the line when a friend asked me, "So... you got a busy day today?" I responded, "Well, laundry always takes me sooooooo long, that I barely have any time to get anything else done. It takes up my whole morning!" He just smiled and gently said, "At least you don't have to wash it in the pila (a sink that is used to wash clothes, see picture below)."

I just hung my head and realized that so many people here in Guatemala are not blessed with a washer and definitely not a dryer. This simple statement made me realize how I need to stop looking at what I don't have, and start looking at what God has given me. This past weekend the staff here at NLCH had the privilege of attending a missionary conference. The speaker made a statement that gave me chills, he said, "What if the only things we had today, were the things we had given God thanks for yesterday?"

I thank God that he is teaching me to be grateful for what I have, even if that means stretching me and taking me out of my comfort zone. I need to learn to be content whatever the circumstances, and trust Him to give me what I need. Everything else that I have beyond necessities, is an added blessing from God.

Mom came to visit!

So this past week my sweet mommy came to visit us here in Guatemala. We had a great time touring some really cool places. On Monday morning, we went shopping with the missionary ladies of NLCH to buy the week's food for the home. We do this every Monday, and it takes several hours to buy all the food we need for the week. On Tuesday, we headed to Antigua for the day. We started the day by touring an old convent. Then we met up with another missionary family that we met while we were in language school. We had a great lunch at Monoloco (Crazy Monkey). After lunch we went to the local market to shop and see amazing Guatemalan handiwork.

(above: Inside the McDonald's garden in Antigua)

The rest of the week we stayed at the home and did fun activities with the kids. My mom brought things to make bracelets and necklaces as an activity for the kids. This was a big hit, even the boys wanted to make some jewelry.

School is Back in Session!

(This is a shot of our school we have here on site.)

This past week the children started back to school from their "summer" break. The school breaks are set up differently here because of the rainy and dry seasons. Think of it this way, nobody wants to go on summer break when all it is going to do is rain, rain, and rain every day! The kids have been on break since October and now it is back to school!

After school is done, Jared and I get to help the kids with homework and then play games for the rest of the afternoon. We are two, highly sought-after English teachers. I have English lessons with two of the older girls here once a week for several hours, and I am starting to have English lessons with some of the younger kids. I mostly try and make a game out of it to keep their attention. Today I drew out pictures of the different parts of the body with chalk and then I would say the word in Spanish and the kids would race to the spot. The first one to get there had the chance to tell me the word in English. It was hilarious what kind of words would come out of their mouths when in a rush to get it right. One little girl, named Iza, had just been watching the game for a minute and didn't really know how to play, but she joined in anyway. A couple turns before she had heard one of the little girls run to the foot I had drawn and when I asked her what it was she said "Fút..." (This is also the shortened name for Fútbol here) When Iza had reached this spot first and I asked her how to say it in English she screamed "Soccer!" I laughed really hard when I realized why she had thought that.

(These are some of my sweet English students, Iza is the one on the right!)

Jared is also teaching English to several of the kids and even some of the employees here. This is a great opportunity to spend one-on-one time and it shows the kids that we care about them.

Christmas Fun!

Well, Christmas came and went in a blur! It was so much fun to be in another culture and experience how others celebrate the same holiday. The week preparing for Christmas was so busy for all the staff members. It was a full time job to get the gifts ready for our 50 kids. It got even more complicated that our local church donated several gifts for each of our kids. It was our job to go through and open up all the gifts and make sure they were going to fit the kids. It was a huge process but so worth it.

Getting to watch the kids open their gifts was so much fun, especially if it was their first Christmas living here at the Home. The kids didn't know what to do with themselves! We opened up the gifts on Christmas Eve at 10:30 after a beautiful Christmas program, communion, and a traditional meal of grapes, cheese, punch, apples, meat, and cookies!

At midnight all of Central America set of fireworks... A LOT of fireworks! It was insane, and I thought I was going to get sick from breathing in all the smoke. Our kids had a blast playing with sparklers as we watched the firework show from ALL of our neighbors and even some from our own yard.

Christmas morning we had a traditional breakfast of pancakes and grapes. After breakfast the kids got to open their stockings and some bigger gifts for each house. The little boys' and girls' houses received scooters that they have been riding ever since! For lunch we ate tamales, another tradition throughout Central America.

Jared and I rested for the afternoon and later we had dinner and played games with another missionary couple that lives on site with us. All in all it was an awesome Christmas experience for our first Christmas together. Here is a link to watch an awesome video of our time here at NLCH http://nlch.net/#/photos-videos then just click on the button that says Christmas Video!

Merry Christmas Yalu!

Today a group from NLCH led a day of activities for the people of a small Mayan Village high in the mountains. Four of our youngest girls performed a dance that they had prepared during the week. Other activities during the day were crafts, kite making (which is a REALLY big deal here), games, and best of all a ~*PiÑaTa*~

After all the activities, there was a LARGE meal served to all the people that came for the day.

The Mayan people are so precious! It was cute to watch how shy they were at the beginning and then see them come out of their shells a little as the day progressed.

Jared and I were blessed to see the kids of the Children's Home going to serve others in need.

For more Photos visit NLCH website's gallery at: http://gallery.me.com/kendonw

~Santa Clause~

As you can tell by the pictures I took of the kids, we had the wonderful opportunity to go to a special event with Santa Clause! The kids were so excited about seeing Santa and they even sang Christmas songs on the way to the event. A man had donated 10 tickets to the event for our kids. It was held at a shop called Pintemos (Let's Paint). All we knew about the event was that the kids were going to get to see Santa, but when we arrived we realized it was going to be so much more.

The women of the shop started dressing the kids in aprons and gave them all paint supplies. They got to paint their very own Ginger Bread Man. They also served cookies, pizza, and punch while the kids painted. Later Santa arrived and handed out Candy Canes and took pictures with all the kids. Needless to say they had a blast. A little boy named Kevin (yellow shirt in the picture with Santa) got in line three times to go get his picture taken with Santa, it was too cute.