So much for timely posts. We’re home now; we got home around midnight Friday night. Here’s how the rest of the week went:
Wednesday: We got to Myra’s and Kevin split the boys and girls. Boys were to go out and hang plastic on people’s homes, while the girls stayed at Myra’s to do VBS and crafts with the kids. We set out on the back of a flatbed truck to our first house, an adobe hut about 400 yards through a field on the edge of a ravine. After hanging the plastic and hiking back to the truck we had our first adventure of the day: the truck wouldn’t start.
Unfortunately the truck had been turned around and faced up a slight hill, so we tried push starting it in reverse. After pushing the truck about 50 yards down the slight hill, Pastor Lionel popped the clutch and the rear wheels locked-up so the truck skidded to a stop.
After a bunch of milling about by (relatively) clueless men and teens, we decided to give it another go, but since we were at the bottom of the hill (with a steep ravine behind us) we had to push the truck up hill! This time, while the wheels didn’t lock, we didn’t have enough speed to start the truck. So we tried a third time (again, downhill), with the same result: a dead truck at the bottom of a hill.
After checking the battery had water (it did) and that the wires under the dash were connected (they were), the pastor tried the ignition again and, lo, the truck started! We all climbed aboard and drove about 200 yards up the hill where we stopped for a soda.
We did a few more houses, then went back to Myra’s for lunch, picked up the girls, then went back out to do more houses. Eventually we ran out of plastic and could do no more, so we stopped for water and socialized with some locals, handed out candy, and played with kids. 
Here are Emma and I with some of the kids she was playing with. That’s Pastor Lionel in the background with the white shirt and red hat, buying a water.
After finishing up we loaded up in the truck and went into Chiquimula to buy mementos of our trip, then back to Myra’s for a taco dinner. We finished the day with a bible study, then a cool down in the hotel swimming pool.
Thursday: Our final full day in Chiquimula. We started the day at Myra’s with Vacation Bible School. My “team” (Claire, Jacob and Kristin) taught the story of Jonah, then did crafts and played games with the kids.
This being the Thursday before Easter in a predominantly Catholic country, most stores were closed for Holy Thursday, which celebrates the Last Supper. All of the stores and auto repair centers along the little strip between our hotel and Myra’s were closed. Since we had no more plastic, we had the afternoon free, so a soccer game was organized with some of the older kids and their friends/family.
So we took a taxi to a nice park with small astroturf fields and started talking smack with our Guatemalan friends. The men said we’d play first, just the men, for fear of hurting the girls. Some of our party took umbrage, but it was settled: we had the field for an hour, so the men played the first 30 minutes, then co-ed the next.
Tip: Don’t show up in Guatemala never having played much soccer and challenge the Guatemalans to a soccer game. It’s a recipe for disaster. Thankfully we didn’t have enough guys to field our team so three Guatemalans joined the US team. They were amazing. There was one kid of, I’d guess, 15 named Eduardo (aka “Chippy”) who played for us. He was incredible, able to run full speed one direction with the ball, then stop on a dime and take the ball in another direction. He was by far the best player on the field, but the rest of us were so bad – and out of shape – that we ended up losing 4-1.
We got back to the hotel, then went out for a nice dinner with Myra, her support staff, Pastor Lionel and his family. The meal was excellent and everyone had a good time. Afterwards everyone spoke briefly about what they’d experienced during the week, then Pastor Lionel spoke to all of us (translated by Myra’s daughter, Amy). He spoke of “inner clothing” and quoted Colossians 3:12, hoping our hearts were clothed with compassion, kindness, humility, etc. I won’t try to quote him entirely, but only say it was very moving.
All-in-all a great day with the kids and teens, topped by a good dinner, and moving words. Here is a picture of our whole group on the stairs of the restaurant.
