It has been a hard day, but a good day

A little girl died today. She was two years old. I didn't know her, but I have met her sister, Catalina. This girl was hit by a car in Antigua Guatemala near the market that her family works at. Catalina, this little girl's sister, was one of the first to discover the body, and directly after she realized that her sister was dead she ran to the school we are working at. Catalina did not run to her mom who was there at the scene, and she did not run to her grandmother who she technically lives with. Catalina ran to a school. This is the school that has loved and cared for Catalina more than her own family. This is a school that has never hung Catalina up by her feet and beaten her with a hose. God has put this school in Guatemala for children like Catalina. I am sad for the whole family but mostly I am sad for Catalina, whose entire world was her sister, and that world has ended very abruptly and much much too soon. Tonight I am praying that God will protect Catalina, and that he will continue to show her that he has a plan for her life. I don't think that her sister's death was a part of God's plan but I believe that He can make even this tragic event become something positive.

The savior of humanity

Mission Discovery Update
Today at language school I met a man who is studying Spanish so that he can teach in a local seminary. His name?... John Connor!

That's right the savior of the human race is studying Spanish in Antigua, Guatemala. He looks a little different that what I remember though. I was expecting one or all of the attached images, but was surprised to find that the real John Connor is actually a nice gentleman with a "Tilly hat" (Maury informs me that tilly hats are a kind of safari hat)

Anyway things here in Guatemala are going quite well. Yesterday was our first work/study day. We delivered food and supplies to families in an area called Vista Hermosa (translation: Beautiful View) It is always amazing to see where the children who attend the Escuela Integrada actually live. They have a very hard live and have to do so much just to get an education. I am so thankful for organizations like L.A.C.E.S. who are working hard to help these kids out. I will include more about L.A.C.E.S. later, for now I will just say Hasta La Vista!

Here in Guatemala

I am sitting here at the Villa del Marques waiting for the last 6 members of the group to arrive. They were supposed to be here in the afternoon, but they missed their flight. I believe it was probably due to the same fog in Houston that caused my plane to be late last week. (Who ever heard of fog problems in Houston?) Including myself there will be 39 participants here in Antigua this week. We are going to Spanish school in the mornings and working with the Escuela Integrada in the afternoons. So far everything has gone smoothly except of course for the delayed flight. Tomorrow we begin the week of learning and serving. I am very excited to see what the week has in store for us. Sorry if this post is a little on the bland side but I have been quite busy since about 7 this morning and it is rounding on 9 in the evening. Hopefully I will be able to post an update on our first day tomorrow. mk

Here is a picture I took of the Arch Street aptly named for the beautiful Arch that is prominently displayed in this shot.

South Dakota and the Rez

It has been awhile...

I always have high hopes posting regularly... but it does not happen.

I am, however, making plans to post during my up coming trip to Guatemala (March 19th-April 5th). I will be in Antigua for 2 weeks. During the first week, I will be leading a team of 40 on a missions project. During the second week I will be on my own, studying Spanish and enjoying all that Central America has to offer. More on this subject when I am in country.

As the title of this post suggests I was in South Dakota last week. Coming up in June I will be leading 3 weeks of missions projects. Mission Discovery has been working in the Rapid City area for the past three years, and this will be our 4th summer of projects. Due to the border violence in Mexico more and more church groups want to stay in the United States to do missions projects. Although this is sad news for my friends in Mexico it means that I have more work available to do in South Dakota. So it is a good news bad news situation. My hope is that God will use this opportunity to spread grace and peace in South Dakota.
So last week I was scouting out project locations for our teams to work on. One notable location was a small village called Red Shirt. Located on the Pine Ridge reservation, Red Shirt consists of about 30 houses, a school, and a very messy trash dump. At the foot of the Badlands, wind whips through the vast treeless landscape and passes through Red Shirt in surprisingly strong gusts. After doing a little wikipedia research, I found that Red Shirt is located in Shannon County, which is the second poorest county in the United States. As if that simple fact doesn't make life hard enough, uranium mining in the area has left water virtually undrinkable and toxic. There are a string of cancer deaths that are most likely linked to the uranium mining but they are unconfirmed.
I look forward to this summer, and the possible good work to be done in Red Shirt and other locations near Rapid City.