Please Join Us On Sunday, December 5

Please join us....

On Sunday, December 5 after the 10:00 a.m. service at Fox Valley Presbyterian Church, there will be a presentation given by some of the team members that went on the recent installation trip to San Andres, Jacaltenango, Guatemala.

Everyone is welcome. See you on Sunday.

10 November 2010

Today was a day of celebration.

We celebrated the gift of clean water in San Andres where we at FVPC installed a water purification and in San Marcos, where Bay Pres installed their system. In spite of all the glitches, both systems were finished on time and produced clean water today. Between the two celebrations, there were speeches, diplomas, gifts, singing, marimbas, fireworks and of course the drinking of clean, healthy water from the systems. It was an emotional day as we received thanks from the communities of San Andres and San Marcos, and we thanked them for the opportunity to serve them and enjoy their gratious hospitality.

¡Jesuchristo es agua viva para nuestros cuerpos y nuestras almas!

Jesus Christ is living water for our bodies and our souls!

Some of the children whose lives will be improved by the gift of clean water

Tomorrow we leave Jacaltenango and travel to Antigua. Then Friday night we return to the US. It has been a wondrous and fulfilling trip.

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

The new San Andres LWW clean water system

We had a very successful day today. San Andres now has clean water! After a simulated rain shower when the feeder pipe to one of the water tanks on the roof of the water house failed, and after finding and fixing two leaks in the system itself, Greg and Tracy produced clean water. They were even confident enough in their results to drink the water without waiting for the results of the final bacteria test. Val, Kayla and Cindy finished up their teaching today as well and will be able to present 19 certificates to students who will now spread the word about how to use their clean water and how to keep it clean. The Bay Pres team had similar successes today. Tomorrow we celebrate and praise the Lord for the gift of friends, new and old, and for the gift of clean water.

The FVPC mission team and some of the newly trained operators

Monday, November 8

We now have two work days under our belt. Sorry we didn´t post anything yesterday but everybody was too tired to stay up. Everything is going really well. Tracy and Greg are almost ready to run water through the system in San Andres. Val, Kayla, and Cindy have 17-18 women in their health and hygiene class. The people of San Andres have been wonderful; very organized and ready to install the system and learn how to use it and the clean water they will soon have. Our friends from Bay Pres got off to a little slower start but things are going very well for them now too. They just need water for their system. Our hosts, the Rojas family, have been warm and welcoming. Their influence reaches far and wide here; we are teaching the spirituality, health and hygiene class in the classroom of Leslie´s nephew´s wife, Rosa. Tomorrow is our final work day so we hope by the end of tomorrow to be producing clean water!

We Made It

We made it safely to Jacaltenango. After our 4 hour flight that left around 3:30 a.m. and our 8.5 hour bus ride, we were welcomed with open arms by the Rojas family. We did stop and have breakfast at the same restaurant we ate at last year. The rickety bridge and beautiful koi pond is gone. It got damaged this year from the severe rains. As we drove through the mountains, we saw the damage that was done by mudslides. A lot of it still needs to be cleaned up. The road makes sudden detours around the huge piles of mud and rock.

After we settled in to our rooms at the pensione, some of us walked the streets while others took a little nap.

We had a delicious meal together with our wonderful friends from Bay Pres and Claudia Caballeros, our in country coordinator. A surprise birthday cake was delivered to our table for Tom Peate and Cathy Nichols.

It´s time to say good night and get ready for our busy days ahead of us. We will begin the installation at 8:00 a.m. tomorrow and the health and hygiene class will begin at 1:00.

Buenas Noches.

The Journey Begins

Val, Greg, Kayla, Tracy and Cindy are leaving for Guatemala Friday night to begin the clean water mission to install Fox Valley Presbyterian Church's second Living Waters for The World system. It's a 4 hour flight to Guatemala City and then we are immediately taking a 9 hour bus ride up the mountains to Jacaltenango.

They system will be installed in a school, Escuela Oficial Mixta Canton San Jose, San Andres Huista, Jacaltenango, Guatemala. This system will bring clean, safe drinking water to over 600 students and many others in the surrounding community.

Please pray that we have a safe and successful journey. Above you will find a prayer calendar that our congregation will be following.

Jacaltenango Installation Trip November 6-13

We are planning and preparing for our next mission trip. Five people will be leaving for San Andres, Jacaltenango, Guatemala November 6-13 to install a water filtration system at the school we signed a covenant with on our February trip.

The system will be put together and displayed at church in the Great Hall at the end of August, just in time for the upcoming rummage sale where you will have an opportunity to purchase a piece of the system. Everyone who fills out a form to make a donation to purchase a piece of the system will have their name displayed on the system board. Look for more information near the display board.

Speaking of rummage, this year all profits from the rummage sale are being given to the Living Waters Mission Team! So come out and buy some rummage September 10 and 11 at Fox Valley Presbyterian Church to support our mission.

Guatemala Hit Hard By Tropical Storms & Volcano

Claudia Caballeros, our Living Waters for the World contact, lives in Guatemala City and has been affected by the tropical storms and the erupting volcano. I recently e-mailed her to make sure she was okay and asked her how our friends in Jacaltenango were doing. Here is what she had to say....

Thanks to God my family and I are ok, the last Thursday Pacaya volcano entered a phase of lava fountaining reaching a height of about 1 km, drifting towards the City, so my house is complete cover with volcano sand and ash in addition the last Saturday the tropical storm Agatha slammed into Guatemala.

My house was a little hammered for the rain and sand, the water came into my house through the windows and doors also we had water infiltration through the walls and the roof, and a plastic roof over the laundry broke by the weight the sand; however we just needed move the furniture in my house and drain the water and shoveled the sand volcano.

I can say that I am blessed because there are buried houses, the rain triggered mudslides that cut off roads, rains brought traffic to a standstill and knocked out power in many neighbourhoods, and the government evacuated many families from at-risk areas.

I called to Gilberto and Rojas’ family, they are ok, and also they have small damages, and they appreciate your concern.

Gilberto say that he hopes e-mail to you this week, he is looking for a camera to send you pictures of the construction, they only have the foundations, the support of the construction, and also have some material to build; but they are raising money to finish the building, but he said that the construction will be finish at the end of July. Also we are looking for a new O.P. for your next visit.

Thank for your prayers

Blessings!!!

Claudia Caballeros

Please pray for our friends and all the people in Guatemala.

Fallen Bridges Hamper Guatemalan Rescue Efforts


Pictures of Storm

Tikal - March 7 & 8

Val and Paula went to Tikal to visit the Mayan Ruins. They stayed overnight in the Jungle Lodge and had a tour the morning they arrived and then had a sunrise tour the next morning where they hiked in the dark with flashlights to Temple #5 which is the second tallest temple in Tikal. Once they climbed the ladder to get to the top of the temple, they enjoyed the beautiful sunrise above the jungle canopy and could hear the monkeys and birds waking up. Did you know that the Howler Monkey is the second loudest animal on the planet? And Tikal has them. The elephant is the loudest animal on the planet. It was quite an adventure. Natives still use the ruins. Before Tikal became a park, the natives who were already living in the area were allowed to stay. Val saw a native in the early morning in the residential area.

You are Invited!

The LWW mission team is having their monthly meeting on Wednesday, March 17 at 7:00 p.m. at the church and everyone is invited. We will be talking about our trip and would love to share our experience with you. If you are interested in hearing about our trip, please come to the meeting!

Also, I am going to try and post slideshows of pictures from each of the days we were on our mission trip. To view the slideshow, go back to each daily post. The slideshow will appear at the beginning of each post.

Saturday, March 6, 2010

We left early this morning for Antigua to begin our journey home, arriving at about 3:30 pm. After some time shopping, we went out for a nice dinner, and reflected on this past week. Through your prayers and hard work, we accomplished a lot in our short stay here. We helped to build a home, repaired several water systems, signed new covenants, and made new friends.

We have been truly blessed to be here, and could not have done this important work without your support, and the support of our families. Thank you all, and we'll see you soon. God Bless.... We're coming home!

Friday, March 5

Today we took a long bus ride up the mountains to visit two schools in Tsizba to make two minor repairs to two Living Water Systems that Bay Presbyterian installed in January. The kids were happy to see the Gringos and the director welcomed us with open arms. We had some suckers for the kids and once the word got out that we had suckers, the kids all came running and it was quite a scene.

Tom, Ellen and Chris from Bay Presbyterian Church went back to the Habitat house. They poured two more columns and continued to level the floors with dirt by hauling buckets of dirt up from behind the house.

Our work ended at noon and Eliazar and the construction crew picked us up with Elvira and little Jose. They took us up the mountain to a look out point to view Jacaltenango from above. We could also see San Marcos and San Andres and the hills of Mexico.

After a few sodas, Eliazar took us to a church that had a beautiful large white cross in front of the church overlooking Jacal. Then we headed home.

We ate our last dinner together with Eliazar and after dinner, it was time for a celebration put on by Eliazar from Habitat and the committee. We danced the night away and each of us was given a hat as a thank you for all of our hard work. The people thanked us over and over and over again. They appreciate everything that we have done and everything we are planning on doing. Mr. and Mrs. Rojas joined the festivities also and we danced many dances together and laughed the night away.

Once the music was done playing, we said our good-byes to the Rojas family and a few tears were shed. They invited us back again to stay with them and continued to say...."Mi casa es su casa."

Thursday, March 4

We apologize for not blogging yesterday. But some of Jacal was without power for most of the day and the internet cafes happen to be on the grid that was without power. We had power at the hotel, but no internet. Then around 1:00 a.m. the power in the hotel went out. It was so peaceful. Then around 3:00 it came back on and it looks like the elctrical problems around town have been fixed.

So yesterday we spent our day back at the Habitat house shoveling and dumping buckets of dirt for the floor in the other bedroom. Some of us mixed concrete and poured it down the walls. We also made an attempt to tie u hooks onto rebar with wire. Kind of tricky, but we gave it a go. The house is coming along nicely and although there is a lot that needs to be done on the inside yet, the outside structure is almost done!

After dinner, Kristina from the Peace Corp, lead us on a walk to her house in the dark with only flashlights and headlights from passing cars helping us see where we were going. Kristina has a studio apartment in Jacal that is cheerfully decorated. It was nice of her to open her door to us. Kristina will be leaving the Peace Corp in a couple of months.

Once we returned to the hotel, we sat around the table and ate fresh mangos from Mexico that Johanna had prepared for us and microwave popcorn that took about 15 minutes to pop in the microwave. Johanna cooked the mangos in a sweet nutmeg sauce. Mangos from Mexico can make people sick if not prepared this way. You are not supposed to eat them "raw". So we had a wonderful night sitting around the table talking about our day and laughing.

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Today was incredible. We got to sleep in an extra half hour, which Fred REALLY needed after his adventure as chief stone smasher, had devotions and then breakfast. Then both teams - Fox Valley Pres and Bay Pres - loaded into the bus and went to Des Rivera (of course I am only guessing at the spelling... will follow up if this is wrong) and San Andres to sign covenants for new installations. The first stop was in San Marcos to view the installed system there because those of us who have been working at the Habitat home had not had a chance to view the installed system. Again, we felt the "love" from the crowds of school children who treated us like we were celebrities (or maybe animals at the zoo???) Anyway, it is an amazing feeling to see how many lives are being touched by clean water. After this stop we drove about 10 minutes to the next school in Des Rivera. The economic conditions here are about the worse we have seen. This is the village that Bay Pres. is doing their next install. Once on the school grounds we were led into a class room to meet with their committee, parents and teachers. Their covenant was finally signed after Claudia had to read and have translated from English to Spanish to Popti the 8 or so pages of legal jargon on the covenant. (YAWN!!!) Anyway, it was eventually understood by all and signed. The seed money was exchanged and even though we couldn't understand the language you could understand the gratefulness and excitement of this village to have clean water in their future. Wait until you see the pictures from this stop, again the children surrounded us, poked us, laughed with (at??) us, and just thoroughly enjoyed seeing Gringos! (We will upload photos later, the internet connections are just too poor here to post photos)

Next stop, lunch along the roadside in the bus. Yummy sandwhiches, bananas and oranges.

After lunch we continued our ride up the mountainside to the small village of San Andres. When we arrived we were greeted by Gilberto, the head of the school there and welcomed. Again, we were lead into a classroom where we had greetings, thank-you's, and explanations of what the system is supposed to mean. Both Claudia and Leslie Rojas (our host at the pencione) gave wonderful explanations of the partnership by us with the eventual ownership of the system by them. The contract was then read aloud so all could understand and then signed. We were SO impressed with Gilberto's preparation and planning for this system. Although the location of the system is not built yet it is planned and located. The building should be complete in May and is located on the school grounds. The atmosphere in this small town was completely different from what we encountered in the previous two towns. It is kind of hard to explain, but it seemed much more peaceful. Again, you could feel the greatfulness from those surrounding us that they were going to have a system like the other near by villages that would supply them with clean water. I think we are all feeling very optimistic about our relationship with San Andres and are looking forward to a successful project here.

We then returned to Jacaltanego with a quick stop at the BEAUTIFUL Rio de Azul (it truly is Azule). When we returned we re-tested the water from the samples we had taken at San Andres and found them to be consitent with what had been previously done.

The day was finished with a fried chicken, french fries, rice, soup, veggies, and cheesecake dinner. If anyone thought they would lose weight in Guatemala I think they will find it a challenge with Joanna Roja's preparing our meals!

Thanks to our wonderful Saviour for this opportunity to serve in his name. Thanks for protection and blessings on our journey. In his glorious name we look forward to our adventures tomorrow.

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

What a great day it was today for both Bay and Fox Valley churches! We signed covenants with San Marcos and San Andreas schools, respectively. After a quick stop at the existing LWW system at the first school in San Marcos, we went to the second San Marcos school (about a 30 minute drive from Jacal). After a few opening remarks, Bay Pres signed the covenant with San Marcos. It was remarkable at how well prepared the school officials were... Claudia (the incountry LWW representative) did a great job on the front end, and has been with us every step of the way in Jacal.

After a lunch stop along the road, with some PB&J sandwiches, and some ham sandwiches that Joanna made for us, we arrived at San Andres, at around 1:30pm. San Andres is a very isolated community, where Popti (Mayan) is the main language, and students learn Spanish as a second language. There is great need for clean water here as one in 10 children die before the age of 5 from waterbourne disease.

We were welcomed by the principal, Gilberto, and another school official (who will be in charge of operating the LWW system)to a classroom with teachers and parent organization. An emotional speach was given by Leslie Rojas, and gratitudes from school officials. Val presented the FVPC monitary contribution (seed money), and the coventant was read and signed. It was very emotional, and the feeling of joy filled the air.

The school officials took us to the area where a water house will be built, and afterwards we spent time with the children outside. They offered us peanuts and high 5´s, and enjoyed the attention. It is very rare that outsiders (let alone Gringos) visit San Andres.

Tomorrow we had back to the Habitat house to put on the roof and finish filling in the dirt floors... Yes, back to the hard labor! Keep us in your prayers... Your Gringo frends.

Tuesday March 2, 2010

Whew! Another day hard at work at the Habitat house for Tracy, Fred and Paula. Christina the Peace Corps volunteer accompanied us to help with the language barrier. Paula and Christina started the day bending and cutting wire to tie the re-bar and Tracy and Fred were given a large pile of big rocks to break into small rocks. The tools given were small mallets ... later Christina and Paula joined in with a large sledge hammer. It took all of us all day to get this task accomplished. We sure could have used a jack hammer.

Alvira and Jose were working along side us all day. Christina commented that it was unusual to see a Guatemalan women working so hard at such hard physical labor. Alvira must be very exceited to get into her new home.

All of the block walls were pretty much completed by the end of the day. Eleazar (the Habitat Representative) thinks that they will be ready to put the roof on Thursday or Friday. That will be exciting and rewarding to see!

Val accompanied the group from Bay Pres to the school located at San Marcos. There they retrofitted a three year old Livinng Water ozone system. Three valves needed to be replaced which ended up requiring the dis-assembling of the system and included an audience of hundreds (?) of precious Guatemalan children. When they were finished the system was back up and running and the children had a good fill of "Gringo" entertainment.

Monday, March 1

Today was a very productive work day for all of us!!

Val, Fred and Paula went with Tom from Bay Pres to work on a Habitat for Humanity house that is within a (steep) walking distance from our hotel. There was a lot of shoveling of dirt to level one room in the 20x20 house and mixing of concrete and carrying buckets of concrete to pour down into the walls for support.

We also met Jose, the son of Elvira who is the owner of the house. Elvira was hard at work alongside the block layers building her house. Her son Jose watched as we worked and offered much needed relief for us because we had the opportunity to teach him how to play baseball with a ball that Fred brought and a bat we made out of a banana stalk. (Fruit is very plentiful here....mango, and bananas grow alongside the roadways and so do oranges and papya. All very delicious!) Jose enjoyed learning about baseball and we had a chance to all laugh together as we played.

The other half of our group which included Tracy, took a bus ride to Tsibaj to check on two Living Waters for the World systems located at two schools to make minor repairs and adjustments. They also performed some water tests and will be returning later in the week to tweak the systems a little bit more. The systems are being fully utilized by the people. And other people have mentioned that they would also like to get a system installed. The need is great and the people know that we are here to help.

We met Christina who is from the Peace Corp this evening. She is going to be our translator for the group that will be returning to the Habitat house tomorrow.

Buenos Noches.

Sunday, February 28

Up at 5:00am and on the road at 6:00am for a 9 hour drive to Jacal. The road was windy and steep, with beautiful scenery. Mountains and volcanos, crops growing on hill seemingly too steep. We stopped for a delicious breakfast early, which included scrambled eggs and a local jam, with fresh made tortillas. Stops along the way allowed for some shopping of the local wares. Peanut butter sandwiches refreshed us at noon with banana and raisin breads bought the night before at the bakery next to the hotel in Antigua.

We arrive at the Rojas home to a warm welcome from Jesus and Leslie. What a wonderful family they are. We are being treated like royalty. Special music and dance from the Mayan tradition were presented in an elaborate ceremony. We joined in dance and celebration. Don´t worry, we have pictures too!

Tomorrow we roll up our sleaves to begin the work we were sent to do. Half of us are going to make repairs to an existing Living Waters site, and the other half will be working on a Habitat house for a wonderful family we met tonight. We will be working on their roof this week, and hopefully if completed, there will be a ceremony to celebrate the completion of the house on Friday. We are so excited to help this family living here in Jacal.

Continue to pray for us, as we feel your presence as you follow along with us on this journey. Buenos Noches.