Day 3- Blessings at the market

Day number 3 of our wonderful trip to Guatemala started with us leaving at 4:45...before the sun was even up. After picking up two amazing teenagers, we headed to the market to collect the food donations that will feed the children at the ministry, their families, and two other local ministries for a week.

Jose has been coming to this same market since the beginning of the ministry, and has therefore built strong relationships with all the farmers at the market. Before collecting food, we engaged in conversation and sometimes prayer with each vendor. Through this, we were able to learn about each individual farmer and their lives and needs. It was only after engaging in conversation with each person that we received the food donations. Through these conversations, we were able to learn a lot about the Mayan culture, as most of the farmers are indigenous Mayan indians. Clark learned how to say "you're welcome" in one of the (many) Mayan languages, and he repeated it over and over no matter what the context of the conversation!

At the market, we met up with Rolando, who helped translate on our first trip to Hope for Guatemala and also on our first trip to Costa Rica. It was great to see him!!

After the market, we returned to Hope for Guatemala to sort and organize the food. We also saw the teenagers recycling projects where they took recyclable objects and turned them into a new creation. These children are so creative! The child who came in first place in the contest turned an ordinary lamp into a rabbit figure in order to add decoration to her house.

Once all the food was sorted, the families of the children arrived at the mission to receive their weekly gift of vegetables and fruits. The mission has also adopted 3 elderly ladies. As we were serving these "abuelitas" we were reminded of the verse in James 1:27

"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."

Please continue to pray for us as we continue to minister to the children!
~Alisha

Day 2 in Guatemala

So today was our first day to serve at the ministry Hope For Guatemala! After today, I'm already dreading our last day here . . .I don't want to leave!! My heart has been touched in ways that I can't find words to describe. We helped feed over 200 children today. We took 50+ kids to a really cool park in Guatemala city. The laughter, screams of delight, and smiles were heart warming to the core! Cristian and Johann lead a devotional for the kids which they loved. I wish I could have had at least 15+ hands today, as the kids were fighting over taking turns to just walk with me and hold my hand. I have hugged, kissed, smiled, & laughed my way through this day . . .what a way to live!!! While on the bus this morning on the way to the park, two girls took hair clips out of their hair and insisted that Cierra have them. It was all they had to give, but it was so important to them that Cierra except their gift. I think we will frame the hair clips upon returning home!

Alisha led a devotional this afternoon with the teenagers that involved them trying to put a puzzle together without any instructions or a picture to look at. The moral of the devotional was that life is like this when we don't allow God to lead our lives and we don't follow His instruction book for us the Bible. At the end, she invited the kids to pray and invite Jesus into their hearts. 1 boy did so!!! It was truly an amazing moment for us all!!

After the last group was fed and all dishes were washed and put away, Jose took us to one of the kids homes that is apart of the ministry to take them a 25 lb. bag of powdered milk. No words can describe the conditions that a family of 11 lives in. Yet the smiles on the faces of the kids and the joy they had in showing us their home was so amazing! They hugged and kissed us before leaving and were literally screaming for joy that we had come by!

We have another busy day ahead of us in the morning as our day starts at 4:45am.

Experiencing God one moment at a time!
Marie Groves and Team

Day 1 in Guatemala

Wow, where do we begin . . .we woke up to a beautiful day! It is cooler here than what we expected it to be. No humitity, just gorgeous 70+ degrees. We went to church this morning with Jose, and the presence of God was so very real! It is wonderful to feel God so close when you are so far out of your comfort zone, yet worshipping with beautiful people in another language you don't even understand. We serve an amazing God!!

The one request that Cristian had before coming on this trip, was to go back and visit the orphanage he was adopted from. Today after church Jose took us back to that location. The orphanage is no longer there, and the current owners of the building were not home but we were able to take pictures outside.

Jose took us down to the market where we walked around experiencing all the sights, sounds, and smells of a typical Sunday in Guatemala. It was so very interesting, and the kids were amazed to enjoy some Guatemalan culture! There was a juggler on the street entertaining people, so as we walked by him he immediately picked me out of the crowd and came over and asked me to marry him. It has been our joke all day long!! Obviously, I couldn't speak spanish (which he didn't know at first) so Jose had to translate for me which made the whole situation even funnier! We then went to this very nice resturant in a beautiful hotel which had so much history. The food was amazing!

After scouting out the park where we are taking the kids from the ministry tomorrow, we came home for a much needed nap! :>) We took some time this evening to plan our day for tomorrow. Cristian and Johann (Jose's brother who is 12 yrs. old) are leading the devotional time with the kids at the park in the morning. Cristian is sharing a devotional that God has placed on his heart, while Johann is translating for him. Cristian and Johann have become very good friends and it is so awesome to watch God bond these two boys together!

Good-night from Guatemala and a team that can't wait to see what God is going to do tomorrow!
Marie Groves

We made it safely to Guatemala!

We arrived safely to Guatemala this afternoon after what was the easiest day of travel imaginable! We continuously experienced the Favor of God as we were able to skip long lines and board the airplane first. Additionally, there was no line at customs upon our arrival in Guatemala, which is unheard of! We landed in Guatemala during a rainstorm, but quickly met up with Jose who took us to dinner at Pizza Hut in an upscale mall in Zone 10. We got a chance to experience a different (and much nicer) part of Guatemala City than we will be working in for the rest of the week.

After dinner we headed to Jose's house where Cristian met Jose's little brother Johann. They became instant best friends. Cristian and Cierra are super excited to be back in Guatemala for the first time since their adoption as babies, and we are all really excited to see what amazing things are in store for us.

Please continue to pray for us! Pray for a hedge of protection around our team as well as continued favor and that God will soften and prepare the hearts of all those we will come in contact with.

There is not much to update about tonight. We are headed to bed now for some must needed rest in preparation for the busy yet exciting week that is to come!

~Alisha

Guatemala 2011 Team Safely Enroute

Guatemala 2011 Team Safely Enroute
God has once again formed an amazing team to accomplish his work at Hope for Guatemala this week.
Life to Life Missions sent Alisha Ziner along with the Groves family from Charlotte this morning with much favor and anticipation!

They will arrive late afternoon in Guatemala and begin the journey. Jose Armas, Director of Hope 4 Guatemala eagerly awaits their arrival.  Please continue to pray for protection and for changed lives. The Groves' two children Cristian, 11 and Cierra, 10 were both adopted from Guatemala and are returning for the first time. This time, they are giving back!! God bless the team!