On May 28 at 2:45 in the morning, there was a 7.1 Richter scale earthquake in the Caribbean off the coast of Honduras, near Roatan Island. We were all very concerned, since the town of Gualan (where we are building the school) is located very near to Honduras. I sent an e-mail to Pastor Jasinto to try to find out if they felt anything of a similar intensity near them. Here was his answer:
"Thank you for your concern. The earthquake in Honduras was a 7.1 on the Richter scale. In Gualan the intensity was 4.1. All the beds in our house moved, but there was no physical or structural damage to our house or to others in the area. In our area there was no loss of life. Mainly there was just fear at what might have happened! Thank you again for your concern."
All of Central America is very earthquake prone, and Guatemala has had its own share of devastating earthquakes, including the one of 1976. That one was a whopper and was 7.6 on the Richter scale and caused extensive damage all over the country.
Praise God this recent one was just a pretty good shake!
Saturday, May 30, 2009
COUNTDOWN TO THE SCHOOL DEDICATION!
The excitement is building as we begin the countdown to the dedication of the school we have been building in Gualan, Guatemala since January of '07. This will be quite an event for the town of Gualan, and from what I understand, Pastor Jasinto is planning quite a celebration. There will attendees from the Lutheran National Church as well as the local mayor, and music will be provided by their town's marimba band.
Mike (the head of our missions board) will be the leader of our group for this trip. There will be eight of us heading down to Gualan, including the senior pastor of our church, Pastor Mueller Jr. Three of us (including me, unfortunately!), have to return early. But five people will stay for the entire week and will be painting, installing ceiling fans, and putting on some of the cosmetic touches.
I am leaving for Guatemala on July 23, and the actual day of the school dedication is July 26. So stay tuned for lots of pictures! Fun, fun, fun!
Mike (the head of our missions board) will be the leader of our group for this trip. There will be eight of us heading down to Gualan, including the senior pastor of our church, Pastor Mueller Jr. Three of us (including me, unfortunately!), have to return early. But five people will stay for the entire week and will be painting, installing ceiling fans, and putting on some of the cosmetic touches.
I am leaving for Guatemala on July 23, and the actual day of the school dedication is July 26. So stay tuned for lots of pictures! Fun, fun, fun!
Sunday, March 8, 2009
MISSIONS WEEKEND
Trinity held its annual Missions Weekend the weekend of Feb. 22nd. Here was another opportunity to share our story through putting up a display. As you can see, we are already beginning to publicize our Nov. '09 trip to Gualan, Guatemala. We will again assist the congregation at Resurrection Lutheran Church with their annual VBS. We had many people stop by and check things out and ask questions.
We also continue to display our board that shows the school construction in Gualan. It has come a long way in two years, and we are so excited that it is getting close to being completed.
We also continue to display our board that shows the school construction in Gualan. It has come a long way in two years, and we are so excited that it is getting close to being completed.
WHEN YOU GET BACK HOME...
One of the most important things when you get back home is to find opportunities to tell the story of your trip -- whether that means sending out thank yous to your supporters, speaking at church events, or maybe something as simple as doing a bulletin board with pictures. We used this bulletin board at Trinity to tell our story and posted more than 100 pictures. Many people have stopped to have a look and have asked questions about the trip.
We wanted to post our attendance figures on the bulletin board. We started with 57 kids at the church and ended with 75 in attendance.
This reminds me of Acts 2:47 which says the Lord added daily to the number of people that were being saved. At Los Limones we started with 85 kids and by the last day had 136 kids, plus 19 adults! Praise God!
We wanted to post our attendance figures on the bulletin board. We started with 57 kids at the church and ended with 75 in attendance.
This reminds me of Acts 2:47 which says the Lord added daily to the number of people that were being saved. At Los Limones we started with 85 kids and by the last day had 136 kids, plus 19 adults! Praise God!
SAYING GOOD BYE...
Time for a few team pictures -- left to right: Karen, Karla (translator), Cheryl, Ilse (translator), Dolores, Nancy, Gary (missing in action -- Mike; probably behind the camera)
Looks like orange is today's color! Here's Karla & Ilse (our angels/translators), Mike
This is pretty much the whole team--including youth helpers from Resurrection Church.
Adios!
Good byes, hugs, a few tears, a thank you from Pastor Jasinto,a blessing, and an invitation to the team to come back next year. Thank you to Pastor Jasinto and Resurrection Church for everything you did for us, and for giving us this opportunity.
Looks like orange is today's color! Here's Karla & Ilse (our angels/translators), Mike
This is pretty much the whole team--including youth helpers from Resurrection Church.
Adios!
Good byes, hugs, a few tears, a thank you from Pastor Jasinto,a blessing, and an invitation to the team to come back next year. Thank you to Pastor Jasinto and Resurrection Church for everything you did for us, and for giving us this opportunity.
OUR LAST VBS DAY...
Here we are passing out snacks on the last day. We felt a little bit sad, as we realized that the trip we had been planning for so long was coming to an end.
One thing I noticed about all of the pictures is that my team mates and I all have VERY red faces (yes, it definitely was warm!), but we are all smiling a lot too! What a blessing this trip was for us! It was also a great learning experience.
Wow, I am red. I was enjoying talking with this lady. Notice how she brought her baby to the VBS session all dressed up, in her Sunday best!
The kids are sad it's over too, I think! We hope it was a great learning experience for them, and we hope that because of our visit and the hard work of Resurrection Church (and our team) that there will be more people in heaven with us!
One thing I noticed about all of the pictures is that my team mates and I all have VERY red faces (yes, it definitely was warm!), but we are all smiling a lot too! What a blessing this trip was for us! It was also a great learning experience.
Wow, I am red. I was enjoying talking with this lady. Notice how she brought her baby to the VBS session all dressed up, in her Sunday best!
The kids are sad it's over too, I think! We hope it was a great learning experience for them, and we hope that because of our visit and the hard work of Resurrection Church (and our team) that there will be more people in heaven with us!
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