Last week!

For some reason, the last week of every trip that I take is always the best. This has been the case for my last week in Guatemala as well. The two main goals that Nueva Vida had for me was: test the hearing of the students/teachers and organize the medical documents into separate folders for each kid. I completed both tasks one week in advance. I didn't want Jennifer to have to think of random busy work for me to do to fill my schedule for the last week and felt that my work at Nueva Vida was done. I called the church that I attend on Sundays in Antigua and asked their staff if they had any work for me to do. They said that there was a group of students from the states coming in that I could join who was doing work around Antigua. On Monday/Tuesday we built a house and on Friday we fed over 400 students at a feeding center in Santa Maria de Jesus and delivered a water filter to a needy family in Santa Maria. The group that I joined was very accepting of me and I now have new friends from various states around the U.S. I am thankful that God gave me this opportunity to continue to serve and the friendships that he brought into my life.

The entire house (a shack in US standards) is the space where we are leveling the ground in this picture. 

Carrying buckets of cement gets you a little dirty...

Thankful for such a fun group and great friends!

This is the first feeding house that we went to. A woman and her husband felt the need to build on a large room on their house and to start a feeding ministry in her town. They learned that many of the children were only receiving a tortilla and a cup of coffee for every meal. The children of this town can now come to this Guatemalan couple's house and be nourished with a meal and the gospel.

This is the woman whom we delivered a water filter to. She was living in Santa Maria de Jesus. She said that she would have not been able to afford a filter (meaning she and her family was drinking the tap water which is very unsanitary in Guatemala). She asked us to pray for her since she is a Christian and her husband is not. Please pray for her family and her living situation!

Her adorable daughter, Dolce-Maria,  giving her puppy some of the filtered water

Dolce-Maria's first drink of filtered water at home!

This is at the large feeding center we went to in Santa Maria de Jesus. Over 400 children get fed on wed/fri. Some of the special needs students from Nueva Vida made an appearance and immediately found me and "gave me some lovin'"