GUATEMALA: Days 3-4

     I wish I had made time to write during the last three days.  The days are incredibly full and we all fall into bed exhausted!  The CCG team arrived in Guatemala City on Saturday afternoon and we made a 3 hour bus ride (school buses are THE main form of transportation here!) to Eagle's Nest:  Nido de Aguilar in Spanish..  Safe to say we were unprepared for the breath-taking beauty!  Eagle's Nest is perched on a mountain (about 7000 ft.) overlooking Lake Atitilan which is surrounded by mountains, many of which are volcanoes.  We look out at the mountains, the lake and small communities.  We can hear church bells and the sound of music  from town.  And the air is so cool and dry!  Esta muy bonita aqui!!
    Most of us have felt the effects of high altitude -- i.e. tiredness -- and were thankful for an easy start on Sunday.  We worshipped in a Spanish evangelical church that meets in the Eagle's Nest School.  It was so beautiful to sing worship songs in Spanish with Guatemalan brothers and sisters.  Most were songs that we knew and thankfully they had the Spanish words on a projector.  The family of God was so big to us that morning!  I think most of the team, including us, felt compelled to honor the Latin tradition of afternoon siesta on Sunday. . . and we needed it!  Later in the afternoon a group of us walked through the nearby community to invite people to the sports camp we will be conducting Monday-Friday.  We walked through fields of maize, green onions, brocoli, bean and cilantra.  We saw incredibly humble homes, but beautiful flowers and kind , welcoming people.  We walked past a home where a family was having a funeral for their adult son who had died in a motorcycle accident.  We were invited in to pay our respects and pray with the mother.  Another family invited us into their home and shared their testimonies with us.  We watched a bunch of men and boys playing soccer.  Women and children walked past us in traditional Guatemalan dress.  It was an incredibly beautiful time and gave us such a picture of village life in Guatemala!  Here there were no tourists and we were told that the community has intentionally left road unpaved so to discourage people from moving to their community! 

The view from our room

     The family who runs Eagle's Nest is Pedro and Felis Patlan.  They have three children:  Audrianna, Dorian and Anika.  They are a dynamic family who have been amazingly gracious to us and incredibly helpful!  Felis' parents Claire and Larry Boggs started planting churches in this area of Guatemala 35 years ago!!  Felis grew up here, but only returned 2 years ago with her husband and kids to take over the administration of Eagle's Nest.  Eagle's Nest is an orphanage for about sixty children.  It also houses a school, grades pre-school through 7th, for both the orphans and children from nearby communities.  We will helping in the school most mornings and running a sports/art camp for children in the afternoon. 

Mi amiga, Maria