My son Jack and I went to Guatemala in June for a mission trip with Medical Missions Ministries. I was one of the team bloggers and I'm reposting from that trip. This is my entry from June 18.
Usually I am the type of person whose eyes pop open just moments before my alarm goes off. However, this morning I awoke at 2:45 am and had a hard time going back to sleep because of my excitement about the trip. In addition, I was irrationally concerned that the alarm would not go off as planned at 5:10 am. After a few snippets of sleep with a lot of thinking and praying in between, the alarm indeed sounded and I hopped in the shower right on time.
Our team met in the church parking lot at 6 am and managed the small details of tagging all our luggage with our names and tying on bold, red ribbon with white polka-dots for easy bag identification. Melissa acted as luggage captain, providing the ribbons and getting an accurate bag count (18 bags plus 10 carry-ons). Bags of donated items were opened and checked by their new “owners” so that they could satisfy airport security if later asked what was inside. We had donated clothes, shoes, batteries, detergent, and a limited amount of medical equipment to take down in addition to our personal belongings.
Our team of 10 represents 6 families--Lori is aunt to 15yo Haley, Maia is mom to 10yo identical twins Bren and Jace, Jack is my 11yo son, and Melissa, Samantha (17yo), and Susan are traveling solo. Many of the families accompanied us to the airport so that we wouldn’t have to incur the expense and inconvenience of parking (I’m sure they also wanted to see us safely off on our trip). Before we left the parking lot at Perimeter, all of us joined hands in a circle and prayed. While all the prayers were precious, I was particularly touched by the prayers of Melissa’s 5yo daughter Becca, who prayed that we would be respectful to the people of Guatemala, and Lori’s prayer that we would all remember the words of 1 Corinthians 13 and serve in all the people with a Biblical kind of love.
Here is 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a:
Love is patient. Love is kind. It does not want what belongs to others. It does not brag. It is not proud. It is not rude. It does not look out for its own interests. It does not easily become angry. It does not keep track of other people’s wrongs. Love is not happy with evil. But it is full of joy when the truth is spoken. It always protects. It always trusts. It always hopes. It never gives up. Love never fails. (New International Reader‘s Version).
Susan closed out the prayer time with a great reminder that God has chosen us for this time and place, and to be on this trip. I can’t wait to see how God works through our team and in our own hearts, as well.
After praying we enjoyed the Dunkin Donuts coffee and bagels provided by Melissa’s husband Chris. (At this point one of my children who is not traveling with me began to cry. Though one may have assumed it was tears over my departure, it actually had to do with not getting the preferred flavor bagel.)
Four car-loads caravanned to Atlanta-Hartsfield International Airport, and we met up curbside at Delta’s International ticketing and check-in area. Though a few of the bags were within 1 or 2 pounds of the 50 lb. weight limit, we seemingly checked in without incident.
We split up as some of us wanted to use the bathrooms, and when we reconvened we couldn’t find Susan. We later found out that when we checked in with the boarding passes we printed at home, some of us received new boarding passes with seat assignments. The agent who printed Susan’s new boarding pass inadvertently checked the wrong box and Susan now held a boarding pass with Lori’s name on it. This caused numerous problems for Susan! Eventually it all worked out but it certainly added a little drama to the morning. Unfortunately, due to the mix-up Susan was on of the last to receive a seat assignment and she had to sit in the very back of the plane, and closely seated to at least one crying baby. As they say back home in Georgia, “Bless her heart!”
When Jack and I attempted to board, the gate agent alerted us that we were seated together in an exit row, but that only those 17 and older could sit there. Jack is 11, so they let us on the plane and told us to switch seats with someone. A woman one row behind offered to take Jack’s seat so that we could still be close to one another.
While I would have liked to sit by Jack, I really enjoyed conversing with my new seat-mate about her work with an orphanage in Guatemala. I found out that in 2007 new government took office and in 2009 the international adoption of Guatemalan children was halted. Prior to this new law about 4000 children were adopted out of Guatemala annually. According to my new acquaintance, the government did not make any provisions for what to do with and for the children who would have normally been adopted. To help with this crisis, she works at fundraising through a U.S. 501-c3 organization in order to shelter, educate, and feed 100-200 children from infancy through early adulthood. Her program sounded well thought-out. Rather than simply releasing the children at age 18, residents are able to be educated at the university or in a trade. As a side-note, she told me that groups of “feral children” roam area garbage dump in search of food, and that the death rate has escalated over the years since this new law was enacted. I don’t know much about Guatemalan government and I’m not trying to make a political statement, but orphan children roaming the streets sounds like a horrible scenario. Apparently it takes $3500/year to support each child in this particular orphanage.
I was writing that last paragraph as the flight attendant was announcing that we needed to put away all portable electronic devices. I thought you’d like to know that we are now safely in the ministry center.
When we claimed all the luggage on the turnstile, we were missing one bag. This caused us some hassle but in the end the bag was found.
We picked up McDonalds on the way to the ministry center so that we could have some lunch. We are now awaiting the team from Fellowship Bible Church to arrive so that we can go food shopping for the week.
I look forward to worshiping at church tomorrow! Lori and I will try to do at least one more post before we depart on Monday for rural Guatemala where we will likely be without internet connectivity until our return on Wednesday night.
Your prayers are appreciated!
No comments:
Post a Comment