Day 8

La última día. I had a really great day today. I got to tour a coffee plantation and sample some great coffee. We traveled to the top of this hill overlooking Antigua with a large cross on it. We had some fun exploring the shops. We had dinner in an amazing restaurant. I laughed harder at dinner than I have in a seriously long time. It's good to be with people who can do that to you. I'm so thankful for this trip. God has been so good to me I feel stupid for all the times that I complained to Him, but he always listened and He always cared. Someone turned the router off so ill have to post this on Saturday from America. Thanks for the prayers. Until next time.

Day 7

Well, the well is well. We finished it today. Then we had an extremely long dedication ceremony and of coarse the dreaded goodbyes. Most of the relationships I built were with the staff so I don't have to say goodbye to them just yet. I've made a mistake in the past with things like these. I have too often focused on the pain of a lost connection instead of focusing on what I got from that connection in the first place. I'm really blessed to have met these people and they have deepened my understanding of God. I'm also blessed to have a great team to share all of this with, and caring people at home for a fresh perspective on it all. I can't let myself forget the power to change that God can have.

Day 6

Big day today. We were developing the well which at one point meant lowering 200 feet of hose down the well that was connected to an air compressor. That forced a ton of water out of the well but it helped to clean the pipes and helped us gauge how many gallons per minute the well could supply.(600 gal/min! By the way.)  While we were doing this the hose became blocked in some way. We weren't sure if there was a kink in the hose somewhere down in the well or what so we began to pull the hose out. As we pulled the hose it got harder and harder to pull until eventually we couldn't pull it at all. We tried everything we could think of to free the hose but nothing worked. Manolo, one of the Living Water International in country staff, made the wise suggestion that we pray over the well, so our muddy exhausted drill team huddled around this hole in the ground and prayed for Gods help. We then tried a few more things with no luck. Manuel, another LWI staff member, was standing over the well after we had all given up hope and began to pull on the hose. We watched as he pulled expecting the hose to eventually become too much for him to pull up, since it was stuck and all we were doing was stretching the hose, but it kept coming. The hose was free! Caleb had actually just finished praying for the well just as Manuel started pulling. God showed us once again that we absolutely need Him if we ever plan on accomplishing anything worth while. Our visit to the school ended with a widow in the community asking for our prayers. We of course prayed for her, but please pray for her as well. We are asking God if there's anything else He would have us do for her. The well is just about finished. 45 minutes of work in the morning and then a ceremony to dedicate the well. Then back to Antigua where I will have the Internet back so I can actually post these. Until next time. 

Day 5

Well they said today would be the worst day and it really was. Well, it was the most exhausting and the muddiest by far but it was also really fun. Most of the work is actually done. We finished drilling and we put the casing in. We pumped bleach water into the pipes to clean them out. By the end of the day we were pumping out clean water. They said tomorrow we would be developing the well, whatever that means. The team was really positive at dinner tonight. Everyone is working hard and having fun. Tomorrow will be more about relationship building than menial labor which for me is a welcome change. Here's a quote my mentor showed me that has changed the way I think about a lot of things. “It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.” -C. S. Lewis 

Day 4

Monday! Woke up bright and early this morning at 4:30 for breakfast before heading out to the school where we're drilling the well. When we arrived at the school their courtyard was full of kids. There are about 200 kids at this school and they've been waiting for this well for 5 years. We did so much work today. We drilled a small hole 180 feet to explore the ground and find an aquifer that was suitable. We have to drill 5 feet at a time and then add another length of pipe. That's 36 lengths of heavy pipe. Once we got 180 feet we had to pull all the pipe back out. One at a time. We worked until about 5:30. The drill team was completely covered in mud. I hosed off all my clothes and left them outside to dry but it just started raining so they won't be dry anytime soon. We've all had an amazingly long day. We're told tomorrow is the hardest/dirtiest day. Should be fun. Here are some pictures from the roof of the house we stayed at in Antigua.   

Day 2

Well we made it. I was in Houston Texas this morning and now I'm soaking wet in the rainforest that is Antigua Guatemala. We were shown around the local shops and stores today. We were packed into a van laughing about whatever when I saw this lady. She was probably 70 years old sitting against a wall with a cup in her hand. She was begging for change. My reaction was to look away. I couldn't even look at her. And the King will answer them, "Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me." Matthew 25:40. I saw Jesus today begging for change and I couldn't even look at Him. 

Brand New Adventure

A year and a half ago I got an internship at Brea Olinda Friends Church. In two days, myself and nine others from the church are flying to Guatemala. We're working with an organization called Living Water International to drill a water well in a small village on the west coast of Guatemala. The trip will take only one week. Ill do my best to post each days happenings as they happen. Keep us in your prayers and thanks for the support. Here's a quote like the good old days "Never look for right in the other man, but never cease to be right yourself." Oswald Chambers