THE GOOD NEWS TRAIN GOES TO AFRICA

The kids had a lot of fun making these African masks. It was unfortunate that quite a few kids from my class were missing this day, due to going to a mandatory school activity. But those who were there really enjoyed the masks.

They got really creative and enjoyed using glitter glue and all kinds of markers.

FUN WITH BANNERS

Each day when students came in, they wrote down some good news on The Good News banner. Some of the kids didn't take this exercise too seriously, but others wrote that the good news was stuff like "coming to VBS", "seeing my friends at VBS", "thank you for my parents", "thank you for another day of life", etc.

The theme for this year's VBS was "THE GOOD NEWS TRAIN", and the train went to five of the continents of the world. The saying in Spanish means "Leaving our prints throughout the whole world", in other words, sharing the Good News throughout the world.

The banner has dolls from foreign countries, and each student decorated a handprint to put on the banner. The title was suggested by Daniela, one of the teachers from the Lutheran School.

Here are David and Luis Roberto (two students from my class).

I didn't take too many pictures this year, and the pictures above were actually taken after I left! My class had a total of 24 kids, so these are just a few of the kids...VBS is a very popular activity at the church, and the kids look forward to having it every November, which is when their two month vacation from school starts.

THE DIVING BOARD ESCAPADE

Yes, the diving board really did break off and then sank just like the Titanic to the bottom of the pool! But never fear, it was retrieved and brought out of the pool! Here's Bitsy, Pastor, and Jim!

THE "SANTOS LUTERANOS" SOCCER TEAM

We had an extra special treat our last night in Guatemala when we saw the "Santos Luteranos" (Lutheran Saints) soccer team from Mighty Fortress Lutheran Church of Guatemala City play a game. They were the only team in the league that had been playing without team shirts. Our Pastor Mueller from Trinity found a donor who donated the team's shirts and the special protective equipment for the goalie. The pastor of Mighty Fortress is in the 2nd row at the left and Pastor Mueller is next to him. He runs a very active youth program and pays for many of their activities out of his own personal funds and feels that through their youth group he is able to keep many of these "at risk" kids away from gangs. He is a true gift from God!

THE DIRTY HAMMOCKS

Here is one of our landmarks on the way back to the Hotel Longarone from Gualan. It's not uncommon to hear a team member say "Did we pass the dirty hammocks yet?" If we have, we know we're getting close to our hotel, which seems like an oasis at the end of our hot days in Gualan! Some day we are going to stop and check these out! The hammocks are actually beautiful and very colorful. This highway is the only road that cuts across Guatemala and goes to the port where all the fruit coming to the U.S. is loaded onto freighters. Dole and Chiquita trucks are driving by all day. So, unfortunately a ton of soot and dust is kicked up by all the vehicles that pass by, so everything gets very dirty. I've always wanted a hammock but don't know where I would put it!

DAMAGE FROM TROPICAL DEPRESSION AGATHA

At the end of May, Tropical Depression Agatha hit the Gualan area very hard. Thirty inches of rain came down in a very short time. Here Pastor Jasinto is explaining to us some of the things that happened. Fortunately the bridge that we see here in the background held up and did not wash away. But at the height of the storm, the water came all the way up to the bridge.

Many squatters were living along the edge of the river, and most of them lost everything and had their possessions and makeshift houses washed away.

MOST ENTERTAINING TEAM MEMBER

Although we didn't give an award for "most entertaining team member", here was the one who would have won the award -- Chris "Bitsy" Engel. He kept us all guessing and wondering what he would do next during the trip! We were at the hotel barely an hour, and he broke the diving board at the pool. It was probably due to a loose bolt, but nonetheless, we got a pretty good laugh out of it, once we realized he wasn't hurt. He definitely added a fun dimension to things. One of our goals is to get more Trinity youth to participate in mission trips. I certainly hope a lot more like Chris decide to participate in trips. He truly was a blessing.

PANAS

These fruits were on the trees at our hotel, the Hotel Longarone. They're called "panas". Looks like they could do serious damage if they hit you in the head! Don't know what they taste like.

A SPECIAL BIRTHDAY FOR ME

What a great way to celebrate a birthday! Our last night in Guatemala, we had dinner at the dining room of the Hotel Posada de Don Rodrigo in Antigua. Here's a delicious dessert that the waiters brought to the table in honor of the occasion. Special dessert...

The waiters sang Happy Birthday and played the maracas (or chinchines as they are called in Guatemala)...Special song...

It was great to be a part of such a

fun and talented team...Special friends...

Special piñata...

A FRIENDLY AFTERNOON AT THE JADE STORE

Ya gotta love this picture in Antigua. This gentleman is a guard at the jade store, and I think the rifle is bigger than him!...We had a chance at the end of our mission trip to spend the afternoon in Antigua. There's so much to see and do there. This was the first visit there for Nancy and Ellen Egerton.

AN AMAZING TRIP!

Hard to believe that the trip we had been planning for our "inaugural" eyeglass trip has come and gone. And what a team we had. We really were able to step up to the plate and hit a home run for God. Some of our numbers for the mission trip were as follows:

--Saw a total of 814 people over the 4 clinic days.
--Dispensed 603 total pairs of glasses.
--293 pairs were the "Harry Potter" style round glasses and 310 were readers.
--On our short work day, we went to 2 tent style camps that had been set up after Tropical Depression Agatha hit the area, and we distributed bags of food to over 150 families. The bags contained rice, beans, sugar, flour, cereal, tuna, sardines, t.p., powdered milk, and many other items. Families with small babies received jars of baby food and extra powdered milk.
--Trinity Roselle donated an amazingly generous $5,000+ to be used for food, shoes, and any other necessities that we saw.
--We paid for new school uniforms for the 18 students at the Lutheran School whose families had lost everything. People cried when Pastor Jasinto announced this at a parent meeting.

I was too busy on this trip to take pictures, but as soon as I get pictures from some of my team-
mates, I will post a few. We are already beginning to work on stuff for the upcoming November trip. That will be a combined group of VBS and Eyeglass.

The blog ticker shows only 111 more days 'til the next trip!

GREETINGS FROM THE EYEGLASS TEAM 6/22/2010

As has become our tradition, at least once during our mission trips we send a greeting where each team member tells a little bit about what he or she has been experiencing. Following is the message we sent from the first eyeglass team.

Weather is warm and very humid, but we are taking care of each other and surviving the heat. We are definitely drinking tons of water! Tomorrow we will pack up food bags for a food distribution at a local shelter for those who lost their homes recently. Here is a little bit of information from all the team members.

MIKE HOMMOWUN - Group has been fantastic and saw over 250 people today. I have been twice blessed with the beautiful effort and cooperation from all.

BRIAN PESCH - This has been an extraordinary experience with a great mission team. I am very thankful to be a part of this and look forward to serving more people the rest of the week.

PASTOR MUELLER - I became fluent in four phrases of Spanish today and know four directions - up, down, right, left, and guess-it's important. I had lots of fun with the old ladies trying to get them to read the chart!

JIM ENGEL - I enjoy the bus rides with the team, the children, and the old men who are exceptionally friendly and respectful. Kids are easily pleased and enjoy simple pleasures like bubbles and ice from the cooler. Great!!

NANCY BLASE - Enjoyed translating all day yesterday for the eye doctor and distributed glasses and helped a little in the eye chart room today. I enjoy distributing glasses and get such a kick out of the people's faces when they put their glasses on! I love seeing how our relationship has grown with the congregation here.

CHRISTINE ALLEN - Today I spent the day translating for the doctor. I am so impressed and touched by the Guatemalan generosity and genuine kindness. Yesterday I fit our patients with glasses and saw a number of people finally see!!

SHANNON STEEN - Spent both days learning how to best interact with all ages of the people to get them the best glasses possible. Greatly enjoying all on the team.

ELLEN EGERTON - God is good in Guatemala! The Guatemalans are kind and love to laugh. The sun is strong and the glasses are icing on the cake for the people of this beautiful country.

NANCY EGERTON - I am so impressed by the beauty of this country and its people. We have tackled this effort with humor and a positive attitude. Make sure to ask us about the diving board debacle when we return!

CHRIS-BITSY ENGEL - In the past few days I've gotten more attention from the missionaries than all the patients combined. The resort was nice until I destroyed the high dive and started getting bitten by the various flies here. I remembered a phrase IF YOU CAN'T BEAT 'EM, THEN EAT 'EM, and so I did! Helping is fun and I enjoy doing it.

KRISTEN LANGNER - I hate to admit this and know certain people will never let me live this down -- I have thoroughly enjoyed myself and feel privileged to help! God is good ALL the time.

DIANA REESE - Having an interesting time! I know I'm short enough to be an elf, and today I felt like one as I worked on making glasses. It was incredibly rewarding to see the joy and excitement when the people got their glasses and could see like never before. Praise God!

Please pray for us as we continue our work throughout the rest of the week and this coming weekend as we travel back to Guatemala City and then back to the States.

The Team

SEE TO READ - READ TO SEE "BOOTCAMP"

Hard to believe that today while I'm writing this, the little countdown ticker says 36 days until our first eyeglass mission trip! It was months ago that we first started talking about this, and now it's just a few weeks away! Each and every person who comes to the clinic will receive an eyescreening and will hear a short evangelism presentation from the local congregation. We feel that the Gospel is really the most important thing of the whole clinic.

Our leader for the trip and head of Mission Ministry at Trinity (Mike) is welcoming us to our training which is being held at Langner Eyecare. Our optometrist for the trip is Dr. Kristen Langer. Her husband Kevin Weslock has been very instrumental behind the scenes in helping us to get ready for the trip and get our resources organized.

Dr. Langner and Kevin spoke a little about some eye basics, and then we moved on to some hands on practice. Trinity Lutheran Church in Roselle, IL. has formed a new 501(c)3 not for profit organization called See to Read - Read to See. Our first two eye clinics will be held in Guatemala (in 2010), and then we hope to travel to other parts of the world too to bring the gift of seeing. Our eyes are such a precious gift that we should never take for granted!

AUTO REFRACTOR TRAINING

Time to learn how to use the auto refractor. Here Dr. Langner is demonstrating on Mike as Jim looks on. Hmmm. Doesn't seem too hard, right?!

Now I get a chance to try it out on Jim. I'm a little bit uneasy about all of this, even though Dr. Langner is a very good teacher!

Christine is going to give it a try with Nancy as her practice "patient". We'll all need a little more work on this I think. It takes awhile to get the hang of it.

UH OH -- CAN I DO THIS?!

Here we are listening to Kevin explain how we put the lenses in the frames and tighten those teeny, tiny screws. Oh boy! Putting stuff together is not exactly my strong suit! Will I be able to do this? Better start praying now...

It all looks pretty easy when Kevin does it!

No, those aren't bugs -- they're the teeny, tiny screws!

PROCESSIONS IN ANTIGUA

Antigua's Holy Week celebrations are attended by people from all over the world and are very elaborate. Most of the processions have large floats, some weighing as much as 3 tons and requiring 100 men to carry them. A few are carried by women dressed in either white for purity or black for mourning. There are Roman soldiers, mournful music, burning incense, and hundreds of volunteers who make these things happen. I think i got a little out of sequence with my photos, but it gives the idea of how elaborate this particular procession was. It stopped in front of the Cathedral in the main square, and there were many people singing along and taking pictures of the whole thing. Pretty amazing and
truly a once in a lifetime experience.

These are pretty happy looking Roman soldiers. It made me laugh

that some of the participants were taking pictures too!

This shows how many men were carrying this float. I counted 85+, and there were some I couldn't see in the front.

Love this picture with the incense.