So we are heading to Guatemala again...

It's hard to believe but it has been about four years since we all went to Guatemala for Christmas in 2009.    That trip was also the prompt to start this blog.

It was an exciting and emotional trip. Before leaving for Guatemala, there were also fears and concerns. Fears about leaving the things we are accustomed to, fears about the somewhat unsafe roads of Central America, fears about the warnings of violence in developing countries, fears about getting sick from contaminated water or food not properly cleaned, fears of earthquakes too... 

As I prepare for this new trip, I don't feel completely excited.  Those fears are coming back now.  

It means it is time to go back. 

It means I am getting too comfortable with our lifestyle or super fast internet, clean water from the faucet, ice-maker, clean roads, a warm house in a safe neighborhood to walk in at nights, innumerable cereal choices at Super-Walmart and free continental breakfast at La Quinta Hotels.

We will be spending two weeks visiting some of the ministries that we try to support and meeting our two sponsored children. We will spend the first weekend in Guatemala City, then travel with our friend David Alvarez to Monterico, on the Pacific coast to visit some remote villages near the jungle. We will then spend Thanksgiving at the San Lucas Toliman Catholic Mission Parish and learn about the different projects that Fr. Greg Schafer worked on with the locals for over 40 years. Father passed away last year. We will meet his successor and the volunteers that are helping carry these projects along. 

Finally, we will spend 6 days in San Lucas Sacatepéquez with our nurse, friend Anita. We will visit her clinic, the Amor del Nino orphanage and one of our sponsored children.

There will be also some time for some exciting activities, like releasing turtles on the beach.

We have arranged for a safe place to sleep in every night and good people to spend our days with, but it will still be an adjustment.

We ask for your prayers for safety and health during our trip.

I will try to post pictures and stories daily, if the internet allows. If you have not already done that, you can sign up to receive automated updates from our blog by entering your email in the box at the top left.

For now, you can look at our blog entries from December 2009, to get an idea of where we will be for the last week of November and the first week of December.