Thursday, March 11, 2010

Day two in Guatemala

Our second day in Guatemala was just as beautiful as the first! As if our short walk down our hotel courtyard path, lined with flowers of every color wasn’t enough to remind us of God’s Creative hand, the poetic words from Proverbs reminded us this morning of the God-given wellspring of life in each of us. And as we arrived at the center this morning, we were only affirmed by little faces that recognized our own, that God is using our hearts and minds to communicate the love of Christ!
The morning entertainment today was a lesson on teeth brushing. Imagine a bunch of toddlers all standing around half a dozen miniature sinks, all brushing, and smiling, and spitting, and rinsing their teeth! I’ve never seen so many children, so excited about such a task. We had to coerce several of them to finally put down their brushes and proceed to the next activity. Thank you Dr. Abbott!
The dentist work continued and progressed from the children’s check-ups and cleanings, to the adult and staff cleanings. Such patience!
Work on the back pump house continued by our strong men in the group. But today, sun burns set in, and the mixing of concrete in a wheel barrel intensified the work!
Perhaps the most exciting moments in our day, however, were when Ron returned to the center with a van filled with supplies. The children lined up to help carry in the goods. Not only did they patiently wait their turn to be handed an item, but they would then run down the hall with grinning smiles, giggling as they passed each other—to the kitchen, to the supply room! The long process was so worth it. It illustrated much more than a bunch of adults quickly hauling the items to their designated places. Instead we witnessed the faithfulness of God and the patience and joy He calls us to embody in the mean time!
Our evening ended with cultural music at a local restaurant. There were hints of dancing in the claps and sways of our group as they sat and enjoyed the music and food. However the exhaustion from a day’s work left the real dancing in our minds and hearts. We’ll save that for tomorrow with the children and their maracas!

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