So, yesterday we were able to go help out at a daycare that Buckner runs that is for the single mom's who are in their housing program. There were 8 little ones and three of them came from the baby home (orphans) and all had disabilities. After about 4 hours of that, we went to the baby home near by and only stayed for about 30 minutes. It was beautiful to see these kids in such a good home and being taken care of. When we were done there, we went to the Buckner Warehouse to help load some boxes of dried veggies to take to the homeless in the dump. That was the best part of the day. The man Amed who works for Buckner goes to the dump every single Monday to help serve them food but most of all to minister to them. I was so afraid to go because I knew they would be on drugs and it would smell bad and I can't stand any bad smells lately but I was truley blessed to have gone and same with Shawn.
We pulled up and unloaded the food into a small room where all of the people come on Mondays to get their food and here a Pastor minister to them. It started with worship and then the Pastor read the bible. Before any of this started though, the pastor went arond with a plastic bag and collected all of the bottles ofglue, pieces of cloth with glue. and any other drugs. It was exactly like so many movies I have seen that had made me sick to my stomach. More than half of the people who came where high and that is what broke my heart. You could look into their eyes and see nothing...saddness...they are all so lost. We helped pass out trays of food to them, took some pictures with a couple and watched one dance for a while. We also went into one of the "homes" at the dump. It was by far the worst situation I have ever ever seen. Amed is such a special man to minister to these people even when he knows they don't hear him and cannot pay attention to what he is saying...he still goes.
Today...! We got picked up at 7am and didn't get home until 7pm...it was a long but amazing day. We first went to an ADP office in our sponsored children's commmunity. We met some of the board members who are ladies from the community and looked around the office. Then we went to Gilma's house. I was car sick by the time we were there but after walked 15 minutes to get to her actual home, I was fine. The roads weren't even roads...piles of hard dirt I would say.
Her house was beautiful! It was only her mom and her there and then they also invited her aunt to join us. I don't have anough spcae here to tell you all how great it was to be there with them and how sweet they both were. The mom at one point started crying and was thanking us for the last time we gave them money. She said it came at the right time because she had no money to buy clothes or anything for her daughter and she didn't know what to do. It broke my heart, our little gift of maybe $150 was such a huge blessing for their family. Gilma was adorable, asked me quesions like when were we going to come back again! She showed me the dresser they bought with the money I sent and the clothes she was wearing were from that also. We brought gifts for all of them and they were so greatful! I will stop writing about it now because this would go on forever but honestly...it was the best part of this trip so far.
Next we went to Oscar's home. I was able to go last year with Angela as well so it was neat to see his family for the second time! Oscar was much more comfortable with me this time too. Angela, he asked where his "Tia" was! We asked alot of questions about their water, their home, school, what their biggest needs are and so on. It was another great visit and once again, I left feeling that they blessed Shawn and I so much.
Now we are back and both ready for bed at 8pm! Tomorrow we will take a bus to Xela (about 4 hour ride) from 8am-12pm which will leave us time to still visit the orphanage in Xela and the SOS home too! PLease pray for safe traveles!
BY the way...Shawn is amazing!

No Reyna...No Wilber

Well, we did find someone to go with us today, our good friend Laly. She too said it is very dangerous but that she would go anyways so we took a taxi. That part was pretty amazing in itself because I had to remember how to find their house and tell them how. I cannot believe I remembered how to get there but I did. I never felt in danger any of the previous times of going to that area but today I did..a little. There were many guys hanging out in the alley and very loud music and people looking at us...it just didn't feel good today. We asked a lady in the alley if Reyna and Wilber lived here and she said they do not live there anymore but the mother-in-law does and they still visit her. So...we knocked on the door and the mother-in-law answered. She is the same lady who has lied to me two times before about not knwoing who I was asking for or not knowing where they were. She told us that Wilber is doing well and is working in the market but does not live there anymore. She said she has not seen Reyna in one year which would say that when we asked last year, she wasnot telling the truth. She said she thinks she is in a Boarding School which of course costs money which they do not have. Basically we left her with my cell phone number and Laly's as well and I also gave her two photos. One was of Wilber and his mom with me from last year and the other was of Rena and me from 3 years ago. We told her that I have gifts for Wilber and to please have him call me but we did not get a call today and to be honest, I do not expect to get one.
I feel heartbroken in one way but I think I also kinda expected tis as well. All I can hope is that with all of the prayers for this sweet girl and for me to return and look for her year after year, that someone maybe her brother will tell het I have been coming and God will bring someone to help her situation. I feel frustrated because I feel like we have waisted two days waiting to go find them and now we are in the same spot...nowhere. I think Shawn and I will both feel better when we are in Xela at the orphanage.

Teen Girls/Boys visit

Today we had the pleasure of being a part of the opening of a new facility for teen girls here in the city. A very sweet man named Amed who works for Buckner International picked us up at about 3:30pm and took us to the new home. We walked in and saw two girls, Maggie and Vilma who I have known for the past 5 years! Also, two boys Angel and Carlos who are new to the home but I have knwon them for years as well. They all used to live in the orphanage that I went on my first mission trip. It was so good to not only see them but see them all in such a great situation. Buckner is an organization who helps children all over the world and other than just bring mission teams into homes, they have built their own homes for some of the older kids as well. They teach them about God, give them good food and a nice place to live, love them, and give them an education also. The kids are all doing so well. I think it was nice also for Shawn to first see kids in a "better" situation than what we may see next week in Xela. One of the best parts of today though was that I asked Amed if we could get another teen boy into one of these good homes here in the city. The boy is Juan and he lives in Xela. He turned 18 this year and will have to leave the orphanage he is in. I have known him for 5 years and he is a very sweet boy. He only has his mother and I think some siblings also but has only seen them one time in the past at least 5 years. Juan is a very special boy with a good heart...all I did was asked Amed and he said Yes! He needs to talk to other people about it but we are meeting again this week to talk about it further. This will give Juan and chance for a future and to live a good life learning about God.
Please pray for us to find Reyna and Wilber. We have one friend who said he would take us to go look for them and he is not giving a straight answer as to when. We really want to go tomorrow and we need someone to go with us because it is a dangerous area.
I am going to try to post pics tomorrow but I cannot find my cord right now for the camera!

We're finally here!

Well, we made it to Guatemala City yesterday at 11:15am! Our flight was great other than not sleeping at all and a good friend Romeo came to pick us up from the airport. First we got into our hotel and then Romeo took us to buy a cell phone and to eat. We came back and tried to sleep but I had a hr\ard time still...Sahwn got some sleep though. It's really hard because I wanted to get right out there and look for Reyna and Wilber but we have to wait for someone to take us because it is a dangerous area. So...while we are waiting we will go grocery shopping today for the families that we sponsor and then later this afternoon, we get to go visit the Teen Boys and Teen Girls homes in the City that Buckner has put together. A friend who works for them, Amed, will come get us and take us to a devotional that they are having at 4:30pm. He said they are having it in celebration of a new facility for them so it is exciting to be able to be a part of that! Plus, there are a couple girls and a few boys who I knew from the orphanage that are now living there we will get to see. I am really praying that we can look for Reyan and Wilber though also...we are praying about to to see if we feel that it would be OK to go alone if Romeo does not have time to take us yet. Please pray for our safety and just to be able to do God's work today!

Three more days...!

Well, only three more days until we leave for Guatemala! We are all packed and ready to go.
When we get back...actually 5 days after we get back from our trip, we will have a 13-year-old boy named Javier come stay with us for two months. Javier is from Guatemala and we will get to meet him and his family while we are on our trip. This is kinda like an exchange student program but he will not be going to school here for credits and it is a very short trip. Our whole family is very excited for this. It will be much different from what I am used to because he comes from a loving family and I only know orphans from Guatemala really, he won't be starving for my love and attention! And Diego is happy to have someone from his country come to our house.
I am so stinkin excited to leave on Thursday...but at the same time, I have been very sad thinking about leaving my boys. I don't know if I have ever felt so sad about it but I feel that our family has gotten so much closer since Shawn and I got married. The first day we will arrive in Guatemala City around 11:30am which is great because it leaves us the entire day! A good friend from Guatemala is going to pick us up from the airport and we will have dinner with a few friends that night. I am hoping that after dropping out bags off at the hotel, that Romeo will be ready to go look for Reyna and Wilber. My thought is that we need to do that first thing in-case there are things that we need to do in the time we have there to help them.
It is really hard to plan this trip because we just don't know what will happen. If we don't find those two siblings, it will change our whole trip and if we do find them and the mother allows us to help them, that will change our whole trip.
I guess thats the great things about knowing God...it is not up to Shawn and I and God already knows what will happen and He is preparing us for it.

Last fundraiser...

This weekend we are having a HUGE yard sale for our very last fundraiser before our trip. It was supposed to rain all day but we only got rained on as we were starting to set up and the it was clear the rest of the day...thank you God! And the weather didn't stop anyone from coming, we had people coming all day long and were very busy! Shawn's wonderful Aunts Lisa and Rachelle came to help and also his cousin Kyle. We had items donated from so many people but most came from Lisa and Rachelle...and we had a ton of stuff! The sale was a success with a total of $380 for the first day! Half of everything we raise is going to support Shawn's Aunt Lisa's Breast Cancer Walk next weekend so we are praying that we make that amount tomorrow as well...