Guatemala: Day 2 Reflections

Written by CTS Student Timothy Deweerd

Today went a little later than expected, so please forgive me if things seem a little disjointed or is similar to the ramblings of a madman.

The first acknowledgment needed is an answer to prayers as the final members of the team, Curtis and Shelly, were able to join us this morning – this is after two days of transit time, with flight cancelations, flight transfers and delays. We are thankful the Lord has brought us all together and Curtis and Shelly are happy to be here, even if they will be docked marks for being late – that’s a joke I think.

After devotion led by Candace, Ivan whisked the group (dubbed lovingly as “Spicy Guatemole”) to Centro De Alcanca Santa Catirina Pinula. A sort of Christian after school program, for children 5+ to keep them safe and off the streets.

Comparing it to yesterday at the dump with Hector and Hector, our introduction to this program seemed lighthearted. We met with some of the older children, we played a few ice breaker games, (ask us when we return about Super Gallina – super chicken) before tossing around a roll of toilet paper to each other making a web where we explained what we loved about the center and what our dreams are. (picture included) Many of these children talked about the plans as adults, becoming bakers, doctors, or psychologists – similar dreams my kids have expressed to me. It wasn’t until we met with the leaders, (Mimi, William, Andrea and Marielos) how significant it is for these kids to have dreams of the future. William repeatedly pointed to this program starting at God’s Heart.

As a deeper explanation of this program, schooling for these children are either in the morning or in the afternoon, and not the entire day as we experience in Canada in the United States. (This program runs all day, with children in the morning leaving for school in the afternoon and a new group of children coming after school in the morning to the program for the afternoon) Children are often left to be watched by ailing grand-parents, or teenagers, or worse left to their own devices for most of the day. The mission of the program is to show the love of God to these children to provide a hot meal of them and to keep them off the streets – preventing children as young as 10 years old from being recruited gangs. With this program, these children are walked alongside, are given love and support from the community of Christ and shown the love of Christ through actions.  There is genuine hope and acknowledgement from the leaders of Centro De Alcanca Santa Catarina Pinula that Jesus leads in transformative work.

In the afternoon, Ivan, gave us a tour of the city and through that a deeper understanding of the background Guatemala. What historical Guatemala was before colonization, how the Spanish conquered Guatemala, conquering its people and then the aftermath that followed. As we toured through Zone 1 of the city, the governmental buildings built during the tumultuous history of this country, a deeper understanding of the context of where Guatemala came from and the beginnings of understanding how Guatemala became what it is.

I look forward to following days on how the Holy Spirit will lead us.