Lana & Marta

Practicando Espanol

After dinner one night Emily and Iris had Larry and I read Spanish children's books to them to practice our spanish.

Now that the Boys and girls are in their new home units, we alternate eating dinner each night with the boys and girls. After dinner one night Willie did some dancing with Emily. Also while we were here, we got to celebrate Sheila's birthday!

Spending time wit the children

A typical sceen this trip was hanging out in the gym with the kids. We played some basketball and soccer and sat on these steps alot. I was the suprise recipient of and Edgar head massage. felt pretty good!

At Elmer's

Willie, Jose, Larry, Elmer & me sitting at the dinner table at Elmer's House. It is such a blessing to get invited into one of the homes of the workers here at the home. Elmer lives about a quarter mile from the home and one night Larry, Willie, Lana and I got invited for dinner. I can't sufficiently describe what a humbling experience it is to go into their home. Size and appearance wize it is like a shed in the USA, but what it lacks in the material world it more than makes up for with love. This is their home even if it is 20x12 feet. It doesn't matter that the walls and roof are tin and that the floor is rough concrete. They were so happy that we would come and bless their home! We had a great meal but more importantly the time of true fellowship was priceless.

Lee came with us to Elmer & Sara's house to help translate. That is Sara in the doorway of their home. You can see that the exterior wall is corrugated metal and the door is also corrugated metal on a wood frame. To Willie's right is a small propane camp stove that Saa uses to cook.

Willie, Sara , Lana & Elmer

When we visited Elmer and his family at their house, Elmer told us that his wife was so excited that the four of us were coming this trip that she had been counting down the days till we arrived in Guatemala!

Adolfo

Adolfo is the newest child at the Home. He is actually Sammy's younger brother. He is very happy to be with Sammy and his other 3 brothers and sisters.

Elias & Ruben washing their clothes in a pila

Iris

This is Iris she is 10 and the older sister of Michelle. Before they came to the home when Iris was 9 and Michelle just a couple months old, Iris took care of Michelle all day while her grandmother went to work.

Each trip we try to do something super special that the kids have either never had the opportunity to do or they don't get to do very often. This year we took about 20 of the younger kids to the beach. It was an inexpensive but high impact opportunity. The drive was about 1 1/2 hours to the Pacific side of Guatemala.

You'll notice in the picture that the sand was black! Very cool but actually very hot! you can imagine how hot black sand can get.

It was great to see the children's reaction as they saw the ocean, for most of them it was the first time. These "side trips" are very heartwarming when we think of where these kids came from. As we were leaving the newest boy Adolfo said to Stacey, "Can this team come back again next month?"

Church

We always enjoy our time at worship on Sundays. It is a special experience to worship in another culture.

New tile in the Clinic! Last trip were did alot of painting in the clinic but noticed the floor was still just concrete. Since there is a dentist and a doctor that does surgery there we thought tile would sure be an improvement if not a necessity! We did a fundraiser and paid to have a new tile floor installed. It looks great! We can't beleive it was already done! Praise be to God for the generosity of his people!

The kids were working too!

The kids got into the work as well. A few weeks ago a rather large Ficus tree fell down on the property. The may have been easier ways to get rid of the stump but that would build more character in the teens than to chop it apart by hand. In these photos you can see Rony, Edgar and Brenda... but you can't see their blisters!

Getting to work!

After we rested a little on Thursday we got right to work. Jeff and Willie really got into tearing down a wall in the dining room to make more room for the children and the growing ministry. Of course they had to clean up the mess they made!

What the world looks like when you are 22 inches tall!

Here ae two pictures that Michelle took on Lana's camera!

Knee high Michelle

Little Michelle was one of the first to greet us when we arrived at the home. As you can see she is quite little. She hasn't gained any weight since we were here in July so she is still just over 8 pounds and stands only 22 inches tall. Not bad for a newborn but Michelle is 20 months old! The unofficial diagnosis is some form of primordial dwarfism but Kendon and Wendy are still waiting for official results from the doctors in the USA. It really is quite amazing to see a child so small walk and talk and blow kisses and play with other children.

Lee & Staci

Lee and Staci Jarvis are a missionary couple here from Texas. They were nice enough to get up at 5 in the morning and pick us up at the airport. We are very glad they are here with us and help us with our projects day to day. Lee & Staci are serving a 2 year committment which ends in August. They are now praying for the Lord's guidance on where and what they should do next. Please join us as we pray with them!

Waiting for our flight

Here is the team hanging out at Dulles for our flight. The good news: there were no lines at the airport. The bad news: it was 2:45 in the morning! We had fun with it and it made the trip seem fast because most of us slept the whole way there.

Hola! Hello from Guatemala!

Hello everyone! After an all night trip to Guatemala, we arrived at the New Life Children's Home in Villa Nueva, Guatemala. our flight was from 2:45am - 6am so we arrived at the Home around 8am on Thursday. Needless to say we were all a little worn out but after a quick siesta, we jumped in to some projects and started serving God! The weather down here is great, a little hot actually but who would complain when it is snowing back home. We are already getting lots accomplished and enjoying the kids.

Angie Dietz, who is our only rookie to Guatemala, is already making friends with the children and have a great experience.

Keep checking in for more photos and updates. You'll really want to see the videos we have of Michelle!

Peace,

Trent Davis