Days 18, 19 & 20

It is actually hard to remember when we left Kamloops; it feels as though we have been travelling around for a very long time. Yet, it has only been 20 days. It is funny how a person can actually get used to living out of a car and suitcase.
Well, on Sunday we travelled from Copan Ruinas, Honduras to Chiquimulilla, Guatemala. This time our border experience was amazingly easy. All our paper work was in order and we breezed through in about 15 minutes without having to pay a thing! Yipee!
Rocky decided we should take a route we had never travelled on before, and I was a little unsure if this was a good idea. I googled the route (what did we ever do before the internet?) and it showed the same route Rocky wanted to take, so away we went. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. The road was actually in great condition and it was a very enjoyable day.
We arrived in Chiquimulilla around 3:30pm and met our hosts, Matt and Kerry from Fe Viva. We hadn't actually planned, originally, to visit Fe Viva, but about a month before we left on this vision trip, we had coffee with our pastor and his wife. They had met the founders of Fe Viva - Kim and Lynne Weeler - on a writer's cruise, and they strongly encouraged us to stop in and see this ministry. So, we did.
Once again, we were amazed at how the Lord is working throughout the world. This ministry is quite varied and yet had a strong feeling of community. They are involved in the following: hosting teams; they have a children's home; they have a Bible school for Guatemalans, training pastors; they have a Missionary Training school, training North Americans to go out onto the field; they have a dance school; they also have Village of Faith, a housing complex for families in crisis/transition; they have a ministry for prostitutes and one for alcoholics called House of Refuge; and they are involved in prison ministry. This is not an exhaustive list, but rather a smattering of what they are all involved in.
At their heart is the desire to impact the community for Christ. We were able to spend the night at their complex and had the chance to speak with a number of the full-time missionaries about their roles as well as how they thought we could fit in.
Incredible! As we shared a communial supper, we learned that we knew many people in common. One family visiting was from Saskatchewan and knew Doug Wiebe, a man I used to teach with at KCS. The compound managers, Matt and Kerry, are friends with Joshi & Myrna Mukli! My parents are good friends with Joshi's parents and Joshi and I knew each other as kids. The couple in charge of teams new Harry and Mary McCullough - well my nephew married Mary's grand-daughter, Christa! What a small world! We enjoyed an evening of visiting and sharing and it was a big blessing.
Then, on Monday mid-morning, we left for San Cristobal Verapaz and Arryn! We arrived around 5:30pm and were able to hang out at the youth center with her and then enjoyed Churrascos at the park! Yummy!
The founders of the ministry she works with - Cross Commission - opened up their home to us and so we are able to spend a week here with Arryn. We are so thankful for this time. We hope to connect with Les and Rita Peters, as well as some others involved in Impact Ministries, while we are here.
Tonight, they are having their weekly Bible study at the youth center, so that is where we are going. We are hoping to connect with Hector, Arryn's fiance, tonight as well.
Then, next week, we will be off to visit Mano Con Mano, about 20 minutes outside of the capital. This will be the last ministry that we will be visiting before flying home on the 10th of March.
Thank you for your continued prayers. We have, many times, known without a shadow of a doubt that we are being covered by the prayers of the saints. It really is pretty amazing.
Anyway, I am off to the youth center to see Arryn.
Blessings,
Karren