We finally have our vehicle. It took nearly a month to get to us but it was well worth the wait! Ewald, Pat, our friend Erick, and I all drove out to the coast and back to pick it up, a total of about 14 hours! It is a beautiful drive and great scenery but it isn't something I want to do again anytime soon.
Bethany and I have begun language school. After being here almost a month I was beginning to feel pretty good about my comprehension of the language (relatively speaking). After a day in language school I was thoroughly reminded how much work was ahead of me to learn Spanish well. Bethany is picking it up faster than I am and will probably be translating for me well before I can understand myself!
Our Executive Director, Mike Parker, was in last week with a preliminary construction crew to look over our new school.
Another missionary here in Guatemala started building a school a couple of years ago and ran out of funds before he could complete it. He listed it on what is essentially Guatemala Missionary craigslist earlier below cost and we purchased it from him and are picking up where he left off. The school is located between two extremely poor areas. Most of the kids in this area do not get a good education and a lot of them end up joining gangs. We are hoping that with the school we can keep this from happening. Also the school has a high capacity water well (non-functioning at this time) that will allow us to supply clean water to the villages and teach the kids at the school business principles.
I was able to go with Mike to take pictures and video. Here are some of the photos (you can find the rest here):
To get the school and well back in working condition it is going to take about $50,000. If you would be interested in helping us with this project send me or Mike an email. This project weights heavy on my heart, the kids in these villages that surround the school are the poorest I have ever been around, but have some of the biggest and sweetest smiles!
Thank you all for your continued prayers! We are about to get into our busy season with multiple teams coming in for close to 10 straight weeks! I have also been given some of the administrative responsibilities here on the field and am trying to get organized to take care of all of those. We are all doing well and continuing to adjust to daily life here. We are going to our partner church here, which is a Spanish speaking church. Some Sundays there is a translator some Sundays there is not haha. But we love the people there and you can truly feel the spirit of God!
We miss all of you and are excited to return for a few months this fall to share, in person what God is doing in Guatemala!
Love,
JD, Bethany, and Karis
