The Journey Continues ... From Colorado to Guatemala

Today marks a month that we have been on the road and what a journey it has been! We had a wonderful time visiting family and friends in Texas and New Mexico as we made our way to Colorado. Cross cultural training at MTI was everything we had hoped it would be and more. It was challenging, stretching, heart-wrenching, and fun all wrapped up together. It caused us to dig deep inside to become more aware of our core beliefs and who we are in Christ so that we will be compassionate toward those we minister to and along-side of. We left MTI feeling better prepared, or at least better equipped to handle the stresses and challenges that will surely come as we cross cultures and learn to minister on foreign ground.

We are now in Antigua, Guatemala to attend language school until the 3rd of June. We arrived here on Friday night and were immediately challenged by our lack of knowledge of the Spanish language. We are looking forward to learning to do more than stare blankly at people as they ask us questions in Español, such as "Can I please see your luggage tags," or "What do you have in your bags?"

Fortunately, we were met by a driver from the language school who spoke a little bit of English and with our little bit of Spanish we were able to get loaded into the van and get to our hotel where we spent the weekend catching up on sleep and trying to acquaint ourselves with this beautiful colonial community. Our first challenge on Saturday morning was finding the language school so we could meet with the director and discuss our host family and the program itself. It's a good thing we left a little early because we made a few wrong turns along the way! Saturday ended with us feeling like we had accomplished much. We were able to: exchange money at the bank, order Burger King, buy a cell phone, pick up a few groceries, get an ice cream cone, and order dinner that was actually something edible! We were so exhausted from walking what felt like hundreds of miles! The streets in Antigua are challenging - you have to watch where you are stepping because the sidewalks are uneven and have holes in them and there are also wide cement window ledges that stick out onto the sidewalk so we have had to master the art of looking up and down at the same time! The streets are not much easier to navigate as they are cobblestone so it's easy to twist an ankle!

We attended a bilingual church this morning and appreciated being able to actually worship rather than spending the whole time trying to translate things in our head. We will have enough of that beginning tomorrow. Please keep us in your prayers as we begin language school. Pray also that we can settle in with our host family (a 75 year old woman and her maid), and that our tutors will be the best ones for us. Please let us know how to pray for you. We love you and we miss you!