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Guatemala 2016: August 2

As usual, Miranda and I set up breakfast and started making toast for those who wanted it - the only problem is, the grocery crew forgot to get butter, so for a few days we only had jelly or peanut butter toast. That didn't seem to bother anyone, though.

Our first thing was going to Getsemani, where we split up into small groups to go to different classrooms to do activities with the kids. We were moved around a lot - I was in middle school and high school grades with different youth members. We helped them with their English by asking them questions, having them ask us questions, and doing some songs or activities. After the kids had their recess, we all headed upstairs to the large open area where we presented for five different groups of kids that rotated through - the younger ones. Each time Jodi would open for us, the youth would do the sings skit, then the angels and demons skit, Kyle would do the story of the candy cane (with Jodi translating), Jodi would lead them in a prayer (part of which was for all of us), and as they left we would hand them little candy canes. I was so proud of how well the youth did their skits, even doing them again and again and again, without losing enthusiasm. What really made my day was seeing Madelin! She saw me and I went over and got my hug. :)

The youth doing the signs skit

Ryan talking about the candy cane (courtesy of Kristen)

After the five rotations, Ryan's dad (hereby referred to as "Grandpa") drove me and most of the adult ladies to the compound to get lunch ready while the others played some games at the school. So when they arrived, we had everything nicely laid out for them, since we needed to be ready to leave again pretty quickly.

We drove back to Getsemani to pick up Jodi, Roger, Karen (our translator from last year), and her brother Hugo. We were headed to a school we hadn't been to before, and we were supposed to be there at 4 pm. However, it didn't quite work out that way. There was a major accident with a tractor trailer truck on the highway, so we turned around and went a way back/out of the way way to get there, including some literally straight down, narrow, and in bad condition city streets and a couple dirt roads...but it certainly was interesting, even though we weren't sure if we were ever going to end up somewhere!

But finally, we did - and 4 pm was long gone - it was almost 5 pm! So we had to move quickly to get set up, because we only had a half an hour at most. The youth did their two skits, Kyle explained the candy cane story, Jodi spoke for a bit, and we handed out candy canes. Then their marching band came out to practice and did a little performance for us - they were so good!!

The youth doing the angels and demons skit (courtesy of Kristen)

Thankfully, we returned on the highway! We ate at Pollo Compero, which was recently remodeled. Back at the compound we had debriefing time and some worship.

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