MISSIONS

Pastor Ken visits Ethiopian Vineyard churches, May 2010.

Guatemala Mission Trip, July 2009

(We send teams of 15-30 people to Guatemala each summer to serve at an orphanage outside Guatemala City)

Notes from the team:

Weds 7/15/09 10:30pm

Hello!

Today the group travelled outside the orphanage to Antigua, Guatemala to experience the culture and do some shopping. Some of the group left at 5 am to climb Mount Pacaya, an active volcano overlooking Antigua. The group actually got within three feet of the flow of lava (Jackson cooked some Skittles in the lava). Everyone returned free of burns, thank goodness!

Projects are still underway.  There are several groups here so we are getting a lot done! The shed for the medical building is almost complete, the inside of the main building and the basketball court have been repainted, the garden is being cleared out (picture a bunch of people with machetes hacking at tall grass, bushes, weeds, small trees, etc), and most importantly, lots of kids are being played with and shown love!

We have one full day left before returning home. Tomorrow, Casa Bernabe is giving us a goodbye party and then we will have our pizza party.

We will see you soon!

Carol Ritz

Monday 7/13/09

Hi everyone,

Here is another update from Casa Bernabe:

We are still having a great time. A few people have come down with colds but overall everyone is staying healthy and happy.

Yesterday (Sunday) we were able to be a part of the church service at the orphanage. Worship was an interesting experience as they were singing familiar songs but all in Spanish. Luckily they had a translator for the teaching, although some of us found it hard to concentrate as we were distracted by the kids fighting for space on our laps!

After church the group spent most of the day relaxing and playing with kids. No construction or cleaning projects on Sunday!

We made up for the time spent relaxing today (Monday). Work started back up on the shed for the medical building. It is now framed and has roof shingles in place. Tomorrow the shingles will be secured and the team will begin putting walls up. Cleaning also started back up and we finished heavy duty cleaning in the last house. The house parents were so grateful to have us there. Can you imagine what a chore it is to change the sheets, blankets and pillowcases when you have 20 kids in a house and only one washer that doesn't always work? Obviously it doesn't get done very often so we were so happy to do it. Cleaning has never been so fun! As we cleaned the toddler house today (yes... 20 toddlers living in two rooms) it was so hard to see that they were using garbage bags as mattress pads, torn sheets and dust ruffles as blankets. They really use every resource they can find! Nothing is wasted.

We decided to throw a pizza party for the orphanage on Thursday. Becca and Brianna made very generous donations and another group that is here (from PA) decided to split the cost with them to provide pizza for all the children, workers and volunteers. It is going to be a lot of fun! The kids will love it and it will give the kitchen staff a night off from cooking for hundreds of people.

The time is flying by. It is hard to believe we will be going home in a few days.

Carol Ritz

Saturday 7/11
Hola!

Here is another update from our group at Casa Bernabe.

We are having a great time at Casa Bernabe. Our group has bonded and is working well together, no one is sick, everyone is having a good time and there is plenty of really good food.
Please pray for the health of the kids at the orphanage. There are so many sick kids! The flu is going around and the kids are spreading it from one to the next. Today, half of our group did heavy duty cleanings in several of the houses. We bleached, scrubbed, disinfected and washed everything!

The other half of the group is working on building a supply shed for the medical building they are constructing. Dan Bollinger and Steve O'neill informed me that they have received their PhDs (post hole digger degree). We have been mixing concrete and sand for a foundation and putting in posts. By the time we leave we should have the walls and roof up.

We have eight kids and teens in the group and they are doing really well. Tonight in our group meeting several talked about being excited to come back next year! Each one has found a place with a certain house and are such a great help. Casa Bernabe has two soccer teams that play other teams from the area on Saturdays. Two of the kids (Jackson and Brianna) became honorary team members and played with the Casa Bernabe team today. Unfortunately, we lost both games but it was a lot of fun!

Tomorrow (Sunday) we are looking forward to church at the orphanage. We won't be doing construction so it will be a relaxing day and we will get to play with the kids!

Hasta luego!

Carol Ritz

Friday, 7/10, 10am:

Hello friends!

Our group is here at Casa Bernabe. We made it safely and everything is going very well. Hopefully I will be able to send out updates later this week.

Carol Ritz

Vineyard Church Plant in Guatemala City
We also partner with three other Vineyard churches to support a Vineyard church plant in Guatemala City, planted in 2004. Below left is a Sunday worship service. Below right photo shows Pastor Emilio Lopez (left) and Adele Lopez (right) with a Vineyard friend from the US in the middle.