The last two days of the week at the orphanage were filled with time spent with the children finishing vacation bible school, crafts, and just having fun with the children. The kids went crazy when we presented them with a snack of peanut butter and chocolate. In this country, peanut butter is so expensive and hardly available. The kids literally hung on Rebekah to get more and more. When the jar was empty, Rebekah had it caked on her hands and left to wash them. She never made it to the sink since all the kids followed her and literally licked her fingers until every last bit was gone.

When Rebekah finally made it to the bathroom, in the kids school, she realized the lock on the stall didn't work. She used a toothpick from the craft we were doing to slide the latch closed. After doing so, she lifted up the toilet seat and found distgusting unmentionables. When deciding to try another stall, she realized the reason the lock was broken was because it didn't have a handle to slide it. She then realized she was stuck behind a 15 foot tall concrete door which ran from floor to 2 feet below the ceeling. She was truly stuck. She screamed for me. I came with a whole group of kids behind me and we tried to figure out a way to get her out. There wasn't one. Finally, she climbed on top of the toilet and, since she has years of gymnastics lessons, she leaped to the top of the stall wall and balanced herself on top of a six inch wide wall with only 2 feet of clearance between the top of the wall and the ceiling. From there, she hung over the door and we were able to lower her down! Never a dull moment with Rebekah.

Josh had the opportunity to help in the kitchen with food prep and then got a lesson in making homemade tortillas. It is a skill God gave to the Central Americans inherently since they can make perfect circles every time!

We never before realized how isolated we were up at the orphanage until we spent a week there. We hadn't seen moving cars, or markets or light in the evening for that matter. It gets dark at 7pm so after dark there is nothing to do but go to bed. You get up and work with dawn and go to sleep at dusk. The children are such a blessing despite battling with scabies and lice. They are always smiling and wanting more hugs.

In retrospect, we think we were sucessful helping the children to learn a little about God. They have memorized
God is real- Dios es real
God is with us always- Dios esta con nosotros siempre
God is strong-Dios es fuerte
God is awesome-Dios es grandioso
God is in control-Dios tiene el control

I guess if nothing else, they have these verses to rely on during their lives. We also have wonderful memories with them.
Thank you for praying for us.
Love,
The Ziners

In and Out of Our Comfort Zone


Comfortable:


Well, the last two days of our time at the orphanage have proved to be some of the most enjoyable and hardest ever!






Yesterday, after bible school, we were needed in the babies room due to a shortage of staff. We fed, bathed, changed and played with the 6 babies. This was very comfortable for us since we are very used to that.

Not Comfortable

However, today after bible school it was time for us to do what the older kids wanted. Here is where things got tough! The orphanage is located a short way up a mountain but the kids wanted to go on a hike to the top of the mountain. They have done this before and assured us it was so beautiful at the top, it would be worth it. Our climb began through beautiful fruit vineyards, under beautiful foliage but got steep very quickly. The orphans ran ahead and literally could run to the top.



While I struggled for my life since the most I have walked in the past years is once around the mall. My heart beat out of my chest, I rested at times and kept on going. Some of the orphans who had made it to the top already, ran down to see if I was ok. One of the kids at the top said "Michelle se murio" and "Michelle esta perdir" which means "Michelle died" and "Michelle is lost" in Spanish, and several came to help. Needless to say, I pressed on with help from Jackie and Rebekah and about 2 minutes from the top.......

This came......

Immediately, we were filled with fear as the clouds rolled in and thunder began to boom. In Guatemala, it is the rainy season and when it rains they could get about 12 inches in 1/2 hour. Being at the top of a mountain means that the water would cause a mudslide. We had to call the kids and Alisha from the top, and head down, "quickly". I realized as we were coming down that God (with his sense of humor) allowed this so I had a way to reinforce our bible lesson from today which was "Dios es fuerte" God is strong. I had the opportunity to tell the kids (mostly myself) that God was stronger than the thunder storm and we would make it back before the rain.
Make it we did, and although it was very uncomfortable for me, the little kids cheered when I got down and said you are a "super madre" (super mom) bshoom.


Seing that the mountain was about 2 miles tall it took about 2 hours going up hill and about 30 min back down. (We slid down the mountain, the kids on purpose, me not so willingly)




It was a great experience but it is true that you must be flexible and be out of your comfort zone while away on a mission trip. Our kids found this out too, when they had to wash our clothes and hang them on the line to dry. I doubt they will forget that when they use the dryer at home!! We were even more humbled when after dark we walked by the laundry room and there were two 8 year-olds washing all of the kids socks who went to the mountain with us. The girls spent hours washing them on a washboard and hanging them up, all with a smile.


Rebekah decided to try cleaning our socks and found it to be alot of fun. We'll see when we get back!

We miss you all,

The Ziners

Just a Reminder

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Thanks for reading and keep us in your prayers as we will you.

UP AND RUNNING!!

Fundaninos, the orphanage we are working at, is located in the mountains of Guatemala. Although it is warm during the day, the nights are very cold. However, the birds, foliage and view are beautiful.



After a "very camp-like" night in our sleeping quarters, we were up and working with the kids bright and early. They were so excited to see us and greeted us with hugs, hugs and more hugs. We spent time getting to know the children outside sitting under trees and playing, before we began our first day of bible school. We attempted to teach them (in Spanish with a Southern accent) that "God is real!" They were very excited to have the crafts, music, candy and games that we brought.

There were two horses here today from somewhere in the mountains and the kids got to ride them. Rebekah took a child for a ride but the horse went backwards down a hill and Rebekah and the little girl fell off sideways!! I'm sure that little girl will not grow up to be cowgirl!.


The kids do not have many toys or "things" here but they entertain themselves in very creative ways. It is very strange to see 48 kids and no toys. Yet, they are always smiling. Most of them have skin conditions from bites or mites and they itch alot. We were able to get some creme on some of them to make them more comfortable.

We will serve again early in the morning and look forward to seeing God work in these children.
Love,
The Ziners

First Day in Guatemala

WE HAVE ARRIVED IN GUATEMALA! WE HAVE BEEN HERE FOR ABOUT,
Well I don't know how long because there is a 2 hour difference. When we arrived we went through the immigration center, got our passports stamped, got luggage, and very smoothly we left the airport. On our way to Fundaninos, the orphanage, we traveled through dirt rocky roads. When we finally arrived we unloaded and went to meet the kids. We met the babies, 6 to be exact, they are SOO cute! Now we are at another american missionary's house. And we are having a delicioso tortilla dinner. Tonight we are staying here and tomorrow we are going to church and back to the orphanage.
We haven't really begun anything big with the kids yet but Monday we are starting Escuela de Biblia, (VBS to you).

We thank God for every opportunity he has given us. And we are fully putting our faith in Him to provide for us. Because it is only through God that we could be here with the opportunity to minister His will THROUGH US to the children of Fundaninos. We pray that everything we do and everything we say is a God's Word through us, to the kids.

Jackie Ziner

Te Amo Mucho!
We love you tons!

We're On Our Way

Thanks to the generous donations from so many, we are packed and prepared to leave for Guatemala on Saturday, June 21st for two weeks. As we've told you, we will spend the two weeks at an orphanage in the mountains outside of Guatemala City.

We were made aware of a desperate need for pajamas for the children of the orphanage. Because of your huge hearts, we are bringing 90 pair of pajamas with us tomorrow to surprise the children. We got a lot of them from the Disney store for a "steal" and we are bringing Disney movies in Spanish to play during a pajama party we will give the children, complete with popcorn and candy. (and you thought our house was loud!!)

Through contact with the directors of the past few weeks, it came to my attention that there was a building under construction to house the infants of the orphanage which was 90% complete but has been sitting for the past year, due to lack of $3,000 necessary to complete it. Motivated by compassion, and a desire to see God's plan complete, Larry contacted many of his subcontractors in the construction field to see if any had a desire to help. I am ecstatic to say, we raised the $3,000 in less than a day!!! The Charlotte Construction Industry rocks!!! Now, Larry is coming for the second week to personally do the work to complete the building.

So, now we had new pajamas and a building complete! How much more could we ask.
Despite our overjoy at the provisions we were bringing, support keeps coming in!! Just this morning I was able to purchase 48 pair of children's jeans for the kids with a check we received from a neighbor who we have never even met!! They put the check on our doorstep and now the kids have jeans too!

We will have access to a computer while we are there but we understand the internet service is not usually up to par. Please click on the button below to receive emails when we post on the blog during the trip. We will update regularly and you will be along for the ride with us.
We love you!
Pray for our safety and for God to accomplish his will in the lives of these children.
Thanks for reading.
Michelle, Larry, Alisha, Josh, Jackie & Rebekah Ziner


Because of the build