Pastor Mateo
Decorating Pastor Mateo's daughter's hair
Time to leave! Back on the safari mobile on our way out of Chel
Our trip back to Guatemala city, a loooong way to hike to meet the bus.
And a couple of obstacles on the way
This is what we did to pass the time while we waited for our bus to arrive. We found this branch overlooking the cliff and decided it would be fun to climb out there for pictures. Good thing no one fell...
After traveling out of Chel, we spent the last day at the Volcanic Lakes- the tourist attraction in Guatemala. It felt like a vacation to have good food and be able to relax. We went on this awesome boat ride through the volcanic lakes- ranked the third most beautiful lake in the world. It was definitley the prettiest thing I'd ever seen.
Us girls
Picture of Justin- almost looks like a postcard
Our whole Wesley team
Me and Luis reenact Titanic
We actually got to shop- and it was so much fun! By the end of the day we had become the world's best bargainers.
Our last dinner and night together as a team. What a great time!
Alison gets her hair stuck in the street fence for about 10 minutes- never a dull moment.
Visit Kirk's Page to see some more pictures from Guatemala
The road to Chel
By Jolene
Riding on our bus, we didn't put up a fuss
Even when it got stuck three times
"Quick! Get out!" "Women up the hill, men start to push!"
We waited and waited, our brains turning to mush
From lack of sleep and continual bouncing on our beloved bus
A school bus, that's right, from the good ole U.S.
Thanks a lot bluebird, your buses are tough!
At one in the morning when we finally arrived
Pastor Mateo and his crew were not longer in sight
So off set our men with packs on their back
To make the trek Chel, we could only hope they'd be back
We tried to sleep on the bus, we tossed and turned
Till the sun came up and pastor Mateo's crew emerged
Without the donkeys we longed for, we set out undaunted
We were hiking to Chel, we were not to be stopped!
Crossed the rope bridge, and jumped on a truck
Crammed like cattle, we couldn't believe our luck
We rode into town, greeted by everyone we passed
Finally arriving at pastor Mateo's house, we're here at last!
As we sat down to rest, we found ourselves surrounded
By hundreds of children, eyes curious and dumbfounded
This is pretty much how we passed the rest of the week in Chel
Like some kind of zoo exhibit, too strange to tell
Undaunted yet again, we set out in our ministry
We knew it would be a while before we could go free
With our friends from El Shaddai at our hand
We set out to spread the love of God to that land
We made some great friendships, spoke way too much Spanish
And learned words in Ixil like "nisash" and "tantish"
The church services were long, and full of much waiting
We seriously thought we would die from all the translating
Then one night it rained, and just wouldn't stop
Our tents were soaking wet, and we sure had no mop
So it was up again, men to the roof
"Women stay there, throw us some food!"
The days were hard and the nights were long
But we'd do it all again, for much less than a song
We learned a lot, were genuinely touched
By these villagers in Chel, who would have thought as much?
We bade them farewell, hearts heavy with love
All those screaming children, and all that mud
Back on our school bus, the return to civilization
But as we all know, this was no ordinary vacation
A day on a volcanic lake, a night in hotel
A place so sketch it leaves nothing to tell
But through all the hard times, the sleepless nights and the
rain
We fell in love with that country, leaving caused us much pain
We saw the Lord work in amazing ways
We made some great friends, some of us wanted to stay!
But we left that dear country, a story to impart,
Of the Lord and His love, and his never ending heart
Thanks again everybody for all your support!
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