Guatemala, Day 1 (Dec 26, 2010)

December 26th, 2010
Well…we are almost to our destination…the town of Antigua, Guatemala. We have finally realized a dream that we had to go on a mission trip as a family and it’s so exciting! Our check- in at Orlando International airport went much more smoothly than we had anticipated given the fact that we checked 8 bags for the four of us. This is our first time flying internationally as a family and the first time out of the country for the kids. It will be interesting being in a country where the primary language is Spanish and we only speak English. Nathan has a slight advantage over the rest of us as he has had a couple of years of high school Spanish. I’m excited for him to give it a try in a realistic setting. We are, however, fortunate that our fearless leader, Howie Hooper and his wife Marvina are fluent in Spanish so we plan on sticking close to them.
We are filled with excitement and anticipation about setting foot in Guatemala and especially about seeing the malnutrition center in San Juan, Guatemala tomorrow and meeting all of the children. I only hope we can be of some help to the workers there and that we can spread the love of Jesus around to all of those 70+ kids.
Kari and I are planning on being in the toddler room and also leading the older children in some crafts. I hope the crafts I have chosen will work out as I have been told that it’s quite chaotic at that particular time. Oh, well, if nothing else the kids will have fun and enjoy getting a little messy.
I’m so happy that Nathan and Eric will be able to work together at the home construction site…it should be an experience they will never forget. Never have any of us been to a country with so much poverty and hopefully all of us will return to the U.S. with a renewed appreciation for what we have there.
We are on this flight with several other families who will be on the mission team as well as Dr. Jerry Haag, the president of the Florida Baptist Children’s Homes. It is always fun to meet and interact with Christians from other cities and states. There just happen to be a lot of teenagers on this trip so it should be lots of fun for them to work together and make new friends.
That’s it for now…see you in Guatemala!