Children's Day & Neon

This past weekend was such a blast! Because of David & Debbie's incredible connection with the local churches here in Guatemala, we get to be a part of some great activities. On Saturday, we were invited to participate in Neon, a children's conference hosted by Vida Cristiana.

Group Photo!

During this conference, children got to attend workshops on a variety of skills aimed towards the ministry. There were many classes including, drama, choreography, shadow theater, face painting, ballooning, and drawing, just to name a few.

Face Painting with the Girls

The kids spent all morning in their workshops and then were able to present their talents in a talent show that afternoon. To wrap up the day, the children's worship team  hosted a stellar concert.

Robot Michael

I was able to sit in on the class for drama. During the two hour session, nearly thirty kids learned two different dramas. They were taught elements of drama including facial expressions, body movement and how to use drama to transition into an alter call. The children had tons of fun and sucked in all the information quickly.
Michael operated the video camera and floated for much of the day until it was time for his big debut! He was asked to be a dancing robot during the presentation for choreography. He was such a hit. All the kids wanted a picture with him after he got off the stage. It was as if he was dressed as Mickey Mouse at Disney World!

Petting Zoo

On October 1st, Guatemala celebrates Children's Day. It is a very important holiday here in Guatemala. There are parades and festivals and special prizes and discounts at stores and restaurants. Its just a day to celebrate children. Last Sunday, we got to celebrate Children's Day with Manantial De Vida church.

One of my favorite little girls!

They hosted a huge festival at a local school. They had food, inflatables, prizes and rides for the children. All of it was completely free to the kids and an opportunity for the church to connect with the local community. More than 1,000 children came through the festival that day.
Michael and I got the opportunity to spend time hanging out with the children and helping them navigate the festival. It was a great day of ministry. It was a joy to stand beside the church as they ministered to children of their neighborhood.

Crazy Corn, a Guatemalan favorite that includes ketchup, mayonnaise and cheese

Both churches that we work with on a regular basis are incredibly passionate for the children of Guatemala. They have incredible leaders and a faithful support staff consisting mostly of teenagers.

Prayer Time

These folks are committed to their children and work tirelessly to serve them. It has been a huge example to Michael and I as we watch them and learn how children's ministry is done effectively in Guatemala.

Missions while doing missions

It's hard to believe that we have been in Guatemala more than a month already. Starting on Friday, One Way will  receive our first team from the US. We have three teams coming back to back during the month of July. Each of the teams will focus on evangelism in the schools. We will also host a medical clinic and work on a construction project to build a children's wing of a church. Michael and I are excited to work with these teams from the US. The last team in July is coming from Alabama and they have 65 people in their team! Wow! God is going to do great things through these teams!

When there are no teams coming, the focus of OW is support local children's ministry. Last Sunday at Vida Kids (the Sunday School program at our church), they were learning about missions. In fact, Vida Kids will host a 4 part series on missions. On Sunday, we were focusing on Africa. Wow. It was unbelievable to watch the children of Guatemala become inspired for missions. The children learned about the food and people and culture of Africa.

They also learned about how important it is that we make disciples of every nation. I learned that, for the first time in history, there are more missionaries sent out from Latin America than from North America! How exciting to see God working across the globe to reach his people! It was an awesome opportunity to inspire the children. I believe that God was sparking missions in the hearts of children on Sunday. I am excited as the kids will learn about Asia next week!

What a great opportunity the Lord has given us all to talk about missions no matter where we live in the world. God cares about everyone and desires that every tribe, tongue and nation comes to know him.
Please pray for the children of Guatemala to be raised up by the Spirit of God so that they can spread the gospel around the world!

Settling In

Posted by : Shannon

Much of our time since we have arrived has been spent just getting settled in. There is a lot of "housekeeping" to do when you move to a new country! David and Debbie have helped us tremendously by showing us the ropes and getting us set up.
This week were able to get start digging into some of our work.  On Monday and Tuesday, we visited an area called Xela (pronounced Shela). This is the second largest city in Guatemala after the capital. We have have a missions team coming in July that will do evangelism work in this area. So, the One Way team was scouting out logistics for the trip and visiting local schools. When the group comes from the US, One Way will take the team into different public and private schools around Xela.

 We will be taking a team to this school to minister to over 200 kids!

We will teach the group different choreographs and songs . We will then do a presentation and an alter call. God has given One Way a lot of favor in the schools. When we visited the school pictured, the principal actually asked us to bring a bible to give to each of the children. WoW! What an awesome opportunity. Each time we ask permission to enter a school, we have to trust that God is going to open the door. The schools in Guatemala are particular and protective so it can be very difficult to gain access. David and Debbie have established wonderful relationships with local people in the churches around Guatemala. The people of the church then help us gain entry into the schools in their areas. These relationships have proven so valuable. The church body is Guatemala is thriving and hungry to see salvation come to the rest of their country. We are lucky to have such partners in the ministry.

Today (Sunday) we were back at our local church in the capitol. We will be working in the children's ministry there, called Vida Kids. Today was our first Sunday to participate.

Michael's attention has been captured by a little one.

At Vida Kids, when you are a visitor, you are taken up on stage and the kids sing a welcome song to you. We were ushered on stage today for our welcome song. Afterwards, the kids all came up and greeted us with a hug. Imagine over 100 beautiful, Guatemalan babies coming to give you hugs and welcome you. The sincerity of the children was overwhelming. I could feel their love pouring out. It was so astounding, it nearly took my breath away.
Michael and I each got to be in charge of a small group of kids. The kids are divided into "pods" by colors. We had such a wonderful time getting to know the kids. Our Spanish is struggling as we work to figure out what the kids are saying to us. But they were very forgiving to the new gringos in their Sunday School class. We are looking forward to pouring into these kids more and more as time goes by.

We feel so blessed to be in Guatemala and getting to participate in what He is doing here. The Lord has much ahead of us. We are grateful to all our supporters who have made it possible for us to minister the children of Guatemala. There are many kids waiting to hear the gospel and we are able to be here because of your support! Thank you!

We have arrived in Guatemala!!!!

Posted by :Michael Skyles

Well everyone, we are here after almost 2 years of prayer and preparation! Praise God we are in Guatemala!Thank You, Thank You, GRACIAS! for all of your help and support to make this day possible! We arrived in Guatemala City Very late on Friday night, we where welcomed with open arms and the customary kiss on the cheek by probably 20 people from vida christiana. (our new home church). we are SOO grateful to have the support of such wonderful families here in Guatemala city. It truly makes this adventure all the more rich knowing we have such great friends and family here.
     After we loaded up all of Dave and Debbie Amslers luggage,the luggage of  Another great young lady named Kaylee from Illinois who will be interning with Dave and Debbie(D&D) for 2 months while she is on break from college. and then our own luggage, we hit the road and headed to the town of naranja ( or Orange in English ). This is where our new house is. We walked into our new house (I will post pictures later ) where adella vargas and some friends from the church had covered the house in balloons and streamers for yet another warn welcome and celebration!
      Yesterday we all slept in late after our long journey.When we woke up we headed to the Walmart here. since the last time we where here 3 years ago, Walmart has built a ton of stores here in Guate. They truly are taking over the world LoL. anyways, we got some essentials and headed to the mall to get our phones situated and grab some much needed lunch, it was a great day and a productive one, but I have to admit my brain is fried from operating in Spanish speaking mode!
     Today was our first Sunday back at Vida Christiana. Wow, what a wonderful presence of God and what a warm and wonderful group of people. while the  service was starting we had the opportunity to make a visit to the upstairs part of the church where they have childrens church. and this service ( 1 of the 4 services) had about 70 kids in it. Marvin the youth director brought us up on stage and gave us the opportunity to say thank you to the kids for all of their prayers. and Gave us the chance to tell them how much we love them and that we are so excited to be a part of their lives. then all the kids came up on stage and  everyone of them hugged us and greeted us, wow what a special moment. This is what it is all about, building relationships with these beautiful kids and their families and having the opportunity to be a part of God pouring into their lives.
    Tonight we will be visiting another church just down the street from our house in zona 7. This is a church that we will be spending a great deal of time with as we all partner together to make a difference in Guatemala. We are very excited to visit and get to know our new friends there.
      Please continue to keep us in your thoughts and prayers, and we will definitely keep you in ours. also, please be sure to follow our blog as we head out on this year long journey. We will be adding stories often and I hope that you will enjoy reading about our adventures here in Guatemala! Thank You!

Simple Pleasures

In September Michael and I celebrated 6 wonderful years of marriage. We took a long weekend in the slow moving Amish country of Illinois. We had a wonderful time of rest and enjoyed each other. 

This weekend was planned by Michael and was a complete surprise to me. Michael booked a bed and breakfast for us, which is a little out of the ordinary because we have such great discounts with Marriott. As it turns out, in Amish country, there are no Marriott's! So Michael opted for a little B&B in the middle of a corn field called Simple Pleasures. When we arrived our hosts, Bob & Bernice, were more than gracious in welcoming us.  As they gave us a tour of their lovely home, I immediately began to spy Bob's copy of Breakfast with Jesus laying on the coffee table. I was set at ease knowing we would be staying with a Christian couple and supporting their business. We connected with Bob and Bernice as they shared their story of retirement and how they began the proprietors of Simple Pleasures. We began sharing with them our story about Guatemala and how we would be leaving the comforts of home to minister to the children of Guatemala that so desperately need to know Jesus. The also share a mission field at the Bed and Breakfast where the get the opportunity to minister rest to many weary individuals, mostly couples. Each morning Bernice set a beautiful table for us with three courses including pie for dessert! At the breakfast table, we relaxed and had wonderful conversation with Bob, Bernice and the other patrons. It was very nice to not be in a hurry and just rest in good company. At the end of our two nights stay at Simple Pleasures, Bob and Bernice blessed us greatly. When it was time to pay, they decided to donate one nights stay to our missions trip. The said they just wanted to bless us and be a part of what was happening in Guatemala. I was so encouraged. Here we are on our anniversary and God is providing for our needs even through a vacation. What a great God we serve. Our God is so big and yet so interested in the small moments of our lives. He was working while we were resting! How awesome!

Has there been a time when God surprised you with a blessing that you were not expecting? Share in the comments section.

Psa 68:35

You are awesome, O God, in your sanctuary; the God of Israel gives power and strength to his people. Praise be to God!

Finish Line Kids

As you may know, while we are Guatemala, we will be working primarily with kids. The organization, One Way Guatemala, focuses on outreach to young children in the schools, streets and neighborhoods.
It has been a while since Michael and I have done full time ministry with children so we thought we should blow the dust off our kid skills and put them to work right where we are. So we have started volunteering in our children's church at Lakeview Church. It is called Finish Line Kids. We have been assigned to work with the 5th grade class. Fifth graders are an adventure! Last weeks lesson was focused on love. One activity the lesson suggested was for the students to write a letter to a loved one to tell them how much they cared for them. I learned a very quick lesson: use the word LOVE loosely when talking to fifth grade boys! Out of ten boys, ten boys wrote love letters to their girlfriends! Yep, its good to get back in the practice! Yesterday, we got to lead the class by ourselves and had a really good time. Our lesson was on Surrender and the kids did a really good job understanding the concept. We are excited to get to know this group of kids and be able to pour into their lives. It will be neat to share the next six months with them until we leave. Kids are kids, in the US or in Guatemala!
An update on fundraising: we are currently at 36% and still holding. Our goal was to be at 40% by the end of July so we are just a little behind. We are hoping to have an outstanding month in August. We have several large donors that have committed to give but we are waiting to hear an amount back this month. We are also working on meeting with a couple churches this month as well which could be a great addition to the support team. Pray with us. We are hoping to be at 60% by the end of August. All things are possible with Christ Jesus!

A Community of Prayer

Since I have started documenting our experience via the web, I have been posting for prayer requests. I have been amazed at the responses I have received. Often, as I read over Facebook profiles, I only see happy pictures and life going along as normal. Then, when Pray Day comes, people will start posting that they need a job or they are dealing with some pain in their bodies. It reminds me, all of us have our every day struggles and those things God is able and willing to touch. I have been honored as people have shared their prayers with us and allowed us to lift them up to the Lord. I plan on continuing to ask if anyone needs prayer because we are all encouraged to bare one another's burdens. Galatians 6:2 says,  Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. A simple way we can do this is by praying for each other. 

When we tell people about our ministry to Guatemala, one thing we promise to do is pray for them and we ask that they pray for us and the children of Guatemala. This way, we are creating a community of prayer. 

I have listed below some of the prayers that have been shared with us. Will you join our community of prayer by praying for one of these needs? 

Angel - Back pain

Becky - family issues

Tina - needing guidance for future

Aerial - asking for favor in finances

Mary Jo - chest pains

Andy - fundraising for ministry

Ciera - family health 

How can we pray for you today?

Books, Makeup & Tea time, Oh My!

Have you every been to a purse auction? I went to my first one a couple of years ago and I was hooked! Ladies donate purses filled with various items and then they are auctioned off to raise money for a given cause. I had so much fun that it was the first fundraising idea that came to mind for our trip to Guatemala. I have been asking everyone to donate their purses filled with any type of items to the auction. So far, I have collected purses filled with christian books, jewelry, beach gear, assorted teas, scrapbooking items, etc. There are some really creative ones in there! I have had a hard time not going through every single one. We will be holding our auction in the fall, the date is still to be determined. I am still, however, collecting purses, and wallets as well. The men do not have to feel left out. I need about 25 more purses to be donated. If you are a lady who does not carry a purse or carries them til they fall apart, you can help by filling a purse. I have several purses that have been donated but are empty.  If you  have a purse or item you would like to donate, just let me know. 

I am looking very forward to the auction. Mr. Michael Skyles is going to fulfill his dream of being an auctioneer for the evening. We are going to serve snacks and it will be a great time of fun and fellowship as we let the bidding wars begin for a great cause. 

Have you ever won an item at an auction? Or have you ever been outbid on something you really wanted? Share your story.

Where will the Skyles' be living?

In Guatemala, many many people live in poverty. Guatemala is one of the top countries in Central American that suffers from malnutrition due to poor living conditions, lack of education and resources. Pictured to the left is a common home for a family of 8 who experience a life of poverty. As you can see, its a one room home. The roof is made of tin and the walls are typically made with corn stalks. This house does have a "stove", you can see the chimney coming out the top. A "stove" is usually a stone  setup that uses firewood to cook with. And obviously, the floors are just dirt. There is no running water, there is no bathroom. Likely the family has one mattress that everyone shares or they have hammocks that tie up at night. The Guatemalans are industrious people who creatively use the resources that they do have at their disposal. However, those resources are usually limited.
When we were in Guatemala in 2010, our host family lived in a house like this.

This is taken from the back yard looking into the house. It is very common to have an open construction type dwelling. To the left, behind the clothes is the kitchen, open to the air. Next to the kitchen, on the left, is a small bathroom and then two bedrooms. There is a small living room area straight ahead of the open porch. All the floors are tile and there is a tin roof covering the entire house. The house is constructed entirely of cement block. This is a nice home in Guatemala and we were privileged to stay at such a place.


If you are wealthy, you have some more options. Like this lovely colonial house is near Antigua, Guatemala. It's selling price is a mere $270,000 USD. This is for rich American retirees.

Back to the original question, where will we be staying? We will be living in a home somewhere between these two. We do not know our housing exactly yet. We will be staying Guatemala City, Guatemala. Guatemala City is more developed than the rural areas of Guatemala. We will not be living on dirt floors and we will have running water. I cannot be sure of having a hot water heater, but I do know there will be indoor plumbing. The Assemblies of God prefers we live in a gated community where there are armed guards. This is for our safety. Guatemala can be a dangerous place and have a gated community helps slow down unwanted visitors to the neighborhood. We are praying even now that God will prepare the perfect home, situated exactly in the perfect location so that we may do his will. 

Have you ever lodged in an interesting place? Share with us your experience. 

Love your enemies

When Michael and I returned from Guatemala in 2010, we did not know what direction God was leading us. However, we did have a strong feeling that we needed to stay flexible in our employment in order to be available for whatever God had for the future. In that vain, we found ourselves working in the Italian restaurant in downtown Indianapolis. Delicious.  


It has proven to be a good job for us. The schedule is indeed flexible and the money is sufficient to meet our needs.  We understood that becoming servers would not be glorious. "What do you do?" someone asks innocently at a gathering. My response, "I make $2.50 an hour delivering eggs and bacon every morning at 6 am to people that have not had their first cup of coffee". I repeat, not glorious.  


The real difficult part of the job is being managed by inexperienced youngsters that have no regard for you as a person. Whomever is managing you on a given day gets to decide your fate for the day. Will you be standing around for an extra two hours when there are no guests in the restaurant? Maybe, depends on the mood of your manager. Will you be put in the worst possible section where no guests ever come to sit? Maybe, depends on the manager. 


Yesterday, Michael and I had a difficult day because we were stuck in one of those situations where you are helpless and only the manager can make a difference. In yesterday's case, the manager chose to disregard our needs. It was very difficult. We were being clearly mistreated. I was so very angry. It was a simple fix. The manager only had to make a simple logical change and she chose not to do it. At the end of the day, Michael had only earned $11 when everyone else had made over $100. So frustrating. I will tell you, I did not handle the situation like a christian should. I was angry. I was mad that she cared so little about Michael. When Michael tried to make his case, she stared blankly at him and then walked away. How could she treat someone this way? Why would she not make the necessary changes to help Michael increase his earnings? It would have been simple, but she chose not to. So, I did the thing I should not have done. I went to my coworkers and complained about what a jerk our manager is. I only instigated the situation for the entire staff. 


So, this is a lesson about how to NOT respond when being mistreated. I failed. I did not even ask God for help in the situation. After leaving work, I was talking to God about how he should smite our supervisor. I decided to read my bible. It "ironically" fell open to Luke 6: 27. 


"But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,²⁸ bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. 


No, God, I do not want to hear this. I want you to smite her, SMITE her. The Lord began to talk to me. The situation was more than what it appeared in the natural. It was a supernatural attack by the enemy to upset us. And unfortunately, I walked right into his trap. At our job, everyone knows that we are going to be going to the missions field next year. During this situation, we were not giving God glory. The Lord spoke to me about how we will face many more of the types of attacks. The purpose will be to discredit our christian name. We cannot fall prey into these simple attacks. We need to be ready for the battle and with the mindset that the enemy will attack again. 


Prayer partners, please include this when you pray for us. We need help when we encounter the tricks of the enemy. Pray that we are standing strong. We will not only be attacked at our job. The enemy will not limit himself. He will attack every area in an attempt to keep us off the field. Our enemy is sneaky. 
But Jesus has already overcome. 


And dont forget to pray for our supervisor. I know I will be. 


Has there ever been a time that you were clearly mistreated? How did you handle it?

Our missionaries, David & Debbie Amsler

I want to introduce you to our missionaries, David and Debbie Amsler. We met David and Debbie in 2010 when we first went to Guatemala. On our first trip to Guate, we were not looking to become missionaries. Our primary purpose on that trip was just to increase our Spanish language skills. God had other plans. While we were working on Spanish, we thought we would simply see if there were any AG missionaries close to us. We figured it would be cool to see how God was moving, in Spanish. So, before we left I sent David an email and told him that we were two kids from Indiana who wanted to see what God was up to in Guatemala. David received our request with open arms. In fact, he and Debbie went the extra mile and invited us to come stay at their house for the weekend and see what they do first hand. Which is pretty crazy. We could have been ax murderers! Nevertheless, the showed up at our doorstep in Guatemala took us to their place. We spent that first weekend with them soaking it all in. We had never seen real missionaries in action. We got the opportunity to go to church with them, do children's church on a Sunday morning and do a kids outreach with them. From the first weekend, we knew that we had a unique connection with both David and Debbie. The four of us felt like God was up to something but we did not know exactly what it was.
After we felt God tugging on our heart to return to Guatemala, the first thing we did was call David and Debbie and ask them to pray with us. Immediately, we all started seeking the Lord for our futures. What we did not know was that David and Debbie had been praying for helpers. See, the Lord opened many ministry doors for David and Debbie while they were in Guatemala. So much so, that the two of them could not do it all themselves. They needed assistants. Here enters Michael and Shannon.
So, while we are in Guatemala, we will be working directly with David and Debbie in their ministry, One Way Guatemala. David and Debbie were District Youth Directors for 14 years in Kentucky before God called them to the missions field. After being called, they spent one year in Costa Rica in language school and then began their term in Guatemala. During their first term, they launched One Way Guatemala which has affected thousands of children and families. They have participated in construction projects and disaster relief. They have partnered with their local church, Vida Cristiana and become leaders in their children and youth ministries. David and Debbie have vision to start a youth camp in Guatemala similar to the camps we have here in the states. They need many resources to make that possible but God is opening doors and providing greatly. We hope to be a major help in getting the camp off the ground.
Currently, David and Debbie are home doing fundraising just like us. The will be returning for another four year assignment in January of 2013.
We are grateful for David and Debbie and are looking forward to serving under these wonderful people. We are honored to be invited to work in their ministry.  They have so much to pour into us. We look to them as a great example of a couple in ministry.
Do you have any examples of great people in the faith that you admire?

God will meet your needs

And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus. Phil 4:19
You know this verse, right? If you have been in church very much, it's one we like to quote a lot. It's a good staple verse to keep in our christian pocket to keep us encouraged. Today, I was going to share this verse with you and tell you about how God is faithful and he is supplying our needs. But, I wanted to make sure I was getting it all right, so I started reading the context of this verse. I was really surprised and encouraged by what I found. In this verse, Paul is writing to the church about their giving to his missions work. He is applauding them for being the only ones who gave to him when no one else would. He says in verse 16, "for even when I was in Thessalonica, you sent me aid more than once when I was in need." Then, he says in verse 18, "I have received full payment and have more than enough. I am amply supplied, now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent." Because his supporters were faithful, Paul had all he needed. But here comes our verse in 19. " And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus." Paul is telling them, because they have given, God will meet all THEIR needs. The supporters will have all their needs met. How exciting is that? So, I thought this verse was for me today, but it's not. Its for you. I am excited to share with you, like Paul shared with his supporters, My God will meet all your needs. Thank you so much to those of you who continue to encourage us through prayer and support. This journey truly is a team effort. Together, we are going to impact children and their families in Guatemala for Christ. Changing the nations for Generations

Getting Back to Blogging

Many of you have followed along with Michael and I as we have have followed after God concerning Guatemala. Last year, this blog was all about our adventures in learning Spanish and living with a family that spoke no English...at all. After we returned home, we realized that we had done more than pick up the local language, we had fallen in love with Guatemala. Now, I know Guatemala is not the place you think of falling in love, that is until you see this little girl. Now, you are falling in love too, huh? God beckoned us back to Guatemala with the opportunity to serve in children's ministry with David and Debbie Amsler. In Jan/Feb of 2013, we will, once more, get on a plane to go to a land, no so foreign anymore. While we are there we will be participating primarily in children's outreach. Our hope is to impact Guatemala for generations through the hearts of these young people. Join us as we follow God's sense of adventure, sense of humor and most of all, his sense of urgency.

4 days and counting

We just landed in Rio Dulce, Guatemala. This is our last stop before returning home. This town is on the biggest lake in Guatemala. Near to here, is the ocean, but it cost nearly $50 to take a 20 minute boat ride to get to the ocean, so Michael and Shannon will not be visiting. One really good thing about this town is that it appears to be a big fishing town. So, Michael with his travel fishing rod has already started his prowl. Thus far he has caught a little blue gill type fish, but it had teeth, so its special.
We will be here in Rio Dulce for Friday and Saturday and then take our 6 hour bus ride to the capital on Sunday. Our flight leaves from the capital on Sunday in the afternoon. We are thrilled to be coming home to some comforts that we long for in America. I miss Chinese food and chocolate and hot showers. Michael longs for our space heater and a dry bed (the humidity here makes everything soggy). We are eager to continue learning Spanish but we are excited to be back home in a more comfortable environment. I dont think either of anticipated that amount of culture shock we would endure here. Not that things are so different, but its not home and you feel that after a while.
We have had the fortune to make some life long friends while we have been here. Thank God for facebook so we can keep in touch with all of them! God did some amazing things in our hearts and lives while we are here and I think we will continue to see the implications of this trip for years to come.,
For now, dreaming of chinese food and mountain dew. Four days to go!
Shannon

Monterrico, Guatemala

Last weekend we got to go to the beach in Monterrico! It was so wonderful! Here in Antigua, the weather is very fickle and much of the time rather chilly due to our elevation. So, a warm sunny weekend, was much needed. In Monterrico, the beaches are black sand. We had never seen a black sand beach before.

Beach life was great, but unfortunately, the waves were HUGE! So big, in fact, they were unsafe for swimming. So, we spent only a small amount of time on the beach and most of the time by the pool. There was some beautiful sunsets while we were there.

And we took a 5:00 am tour of the mangroves, where we got to see lots of wild life and a beautiful sunrise.

Monterrico is a landing place for sea turtles to lay their eggs. It just so happens, its egg laying season. We went hunting at night to see turtles laying their eggs but did not have any luck. We did however get to take part in releasing freshly hatched sea turtles into the water. In Guatemala, people think that sea turtle eggs have extra protein that is very healthy for you. so many of the locals will hunt the eggs and then sell them in the market. they estimate that 80% of the eggs are taken by locals before they hatch. Of the eggs that do hatch, many will not make it to the water and then the ones that do, will get eaten very quickly. Sea Turtles have a rough life. So we paid $1.50 and got to hold a baby turtle and set it free into the ocean (where it likely got eaten hours later). But, we did our part. Here is a picture of my little guy.

Michael named his Benichael. Only because I would not let him name mine Ben. Here is all the little turtles that were not eaten by people before they were hatched.

We have some very exciting stuff ahead of us. Tomorrow we are taking the day off and going sail fishing. Yes, Michael is so excited. The boat with a bathroom cost $200 more than the boat without a bathroom, so please pray for my bladder and my privacy as I try to pee in a bucket. On Friday we are having a tortilla making class and visiting some local towns with our teachers. On Monday, Nov 1, its a big Latin holiday, some call it the day of the dead in the states. It is a very big deal here. We are going with our teachers families to celebrate. We will spend the day hanging out in the cementary flying kites that have messages written to the dead. We will have lots of pictures. After that, we are off for travel. We have 10 days and I think we are going to spend of the time carribean side. There is an area here called Rio Dulce. We are going to spend some more time hanging out. Will keep you all updated on our adventures. We will be home very soon, for which we are very excited!

The Moon and Back

On Wednesday, we got the opportunity to visit the biggest and most infamous volcano in the area, Volcano Pacaya. This volcano is very active and actually had a large eruption in May of this year. We had the extreme pleasure of having Nancy, our host sister, accompany us. She is sixteen and has never been to see this volcano that is only an hour from her house.

Pacaya is in a national park. You have to pay to get into this park. Very different from our national parks, people live there. In fact, a lot of people live on the side of this active volcano. I could not figure out why anyone would want to live on the side of an active volcano, but there were neighborhoods everywhere.
When we arrived there were little kids selling us walking sticks for a buck. We obliged and later were very glad we did. Although, as it turned out, we were only renting these sticks, the kids asked for them back after we came down! lol. thats okay, what were we going to do with them? Amongst the other sales ploys, there were taxi's available to fat americans who were not willing to make the hike on foot. Here is a picture of the taxi's.

Well, I thought it was just for fat Americans until I was huffing and puffing up this incredible steep volcano. We hiked up hill for about an hour straight. I was trying to act tough, but I was tired! The hike was a little treacherous too, because you walk on little pebbles/lava rock the whole time. The rocks are really slippery and sharp.
We finally hit a clearing and we could see the top of the volcano.

We finally got to feel some hot rocks. At the end of the day, there was not any rolling lava which was a bit of a disappointment, but we did get to see a hole that was really hot and had some red stuff in the bottom.

We had a lot fun hiking though. Some people were able to roast marshmallows on the rocks and even heat their grilled cheese on the rocks.

All in all it was a really cool experience. We had hoped to see more rolling lava but what we saw was definitely like being on another planet. It was a bit hazardous but wow what an adventure. well gotta go for now, but we will blog soon.

One Way Guatemala

We spent another weekend with the Amslers! We feel such a connection with these guys. They spoke a lot into our lives and we are hoping to have a lasting friendship with them. They are very passionate the youth of Guatemala. They came to Guatemala as missionaries after 16 successful years as District Youth directors in Kentucky. When they got here, they joined with a local AG church and started supporting their youth and childrens programs. Along side of that, they started a childrens program called One Way. One Way goes into the public schools and presents a gospel message to the children. This is really ground breaking because there are not many programs/churches trying to reach the public schools. God has given them favor and has opened doors for One Way to go places that others have not. Through their church and other established programs, they have met some Guatemalans with immense talent and love for the Lord. They are all partnering to help reach the children of GT. On Friday night, we got join with them for a One Way service. A local church has been doing "small groups" for kids who are unchurched or unable to be churched. The church invited One Way to come do their program. Here is a clip of a song we performed at the service. It will help you learn your spanish body parts. Obviously, I didnt know half of them....

We only have two weeks of classes left and I am finding it difficult to finish strong. I am getting tired of learning Spanish and really just want a mountain dew and my space heater. The Lord has not given us clear definition of our next steps but we know our current step is to learn Spanish so we need to stay focused on the task at hand. Please pray for our brains!
Here is a picture of an amazing flower that grows wild here. we would have buy it and store it in a green house , but here, it grows in everyones yard. It is called a pajaro, which means bird. You can understand why.

And finally for some fun words we confused in Spanish:

Michael meant to say: This is my maestra (teacher)
Michael actually said: This is my mujer (woman)

Michael meant to say: I will pagar (pay) for that
Michael actually said: I will pegar (punch) that

Shannon meant to say: I need more ponchos (blankets) in my bed
Shannon actually said: I need more panchos (men) in my bed

Shannon meant to say: I have ten dolares (dollars)
Shannon actually said: I have ten dolores (pains)

On Wednesday, we are hoping to go to Pacaya. Its one of the biggest and most active volcanoes here. It should be really cool. Here is a picture of Volcano Fuego. This one looks down at us every day, threatening to explode and cover us in ash. Its very active but the lava flows out the other side so we cant see it from Antigua.

Beans and Bananas

WELL folks!2 very important things happened this week! The First was, Duh-duh-duhhhhh, the dreaded Beans and bananas! LOL  and Believe it or not it was pretty good. in fact we have had it twice this week and we both enjoyed the meal. The other VERY important thing that happened this week was last sunday at church. You could say that we had a mini Burning Bush experience, but please have patience, and i'll get to that in just a little bit. it starts off with our trip this last weekend.

Guatemala City

      We went to visit the AG missionaries stationed in Guatemala City, David and Debbie Amsler.  They were really great people and they welcomed us with open arms. We enjoyed an entire weekend of speaking English! It was not good for our Spanish progress but it was good for our spirits.  On Friday night they took us to the local mall. It was huge! Probably nicer than Circle Center in Indianapolis. We went to go see a movie. They have a VIP movie theater. It was fabulous. Like a regular theatre on steroids. In this theater, there were leather recliners with little tables and little lights. You want some popcorn, no problem, there is a waiter there to take your order. The only thing missing was a massage and Im sure I could have convinced somebody to do that! The best part of the whole deal…the tickets only costs $8! Watch out Regal, you have some competition. I cant believe we don’t have this in the states. Im thinking of a new business model for when we get home!
On Saturday we visited the center of the capital. There were some cool fountains and old buildings. It was very pretty. We ate at Wendy’s, you know the usual. We also visited the market while we were there. The market in the capital is a little different than ours in Antigua because its more organized and a little cleaner. It was also cheaper. Where we are staying in Angtigua, it is chocked full of tourists, so everything is a little more expensive. We bought a cool instrument while we were at the market too.
Saturday night, We went to the Church where Debbie and David help out with the youth group. They were practicing for an outreach they are going to be doing at the end of the month. It was really amazing to see that these youth were so similar to our kids back home. We couldn’t understand half of what anyone was saying but we recognized their hearts immediately. It was a church filled with Adults, youth , and children who love each other and Love Jesus. We got to practice a little with the youth and quickly made some new friends. that night we talked and talked and talked with David and debbie about the mission feild and how God called them there and WOW, what a cool testimony. They also have missionary assistants staying with them. A young couple about our age that have a set of twin girls that are 1yr old. and again got to learn what thier ministry looks like for them and how God has called and used them. It was an amazing experience to see real missions in action. Here we are 2000 miles from home hanging out with real missionaries. that sounds a little weird to say that, but we it was truely amazing. these people have left their family and friends and are here being the hands and feet of Jesus far from home. and they let us be a small part of their lifes for the weekend. Well, on to the Burning bush experience. Sunday morning we went to church with them. and in a small warehouse there are 3 services totaly full adding up to a total of about 1000 people, we heard God clearly speak new life into us. We felt God say that this is the time where our new life begins, whether that's in Guatamala, china or in downtown indianapolis I have no idea. But I do know that God definitly restored a desire in us to continue in the ministry. How exciting! We went to 2 services that day, the first was the adult service and the second was a TOP notch children's service where we got to help out and minister with probably 50 kids. we got to (in broken spanish) pray over the kids and love on them. it was awesome. our new friends David and Debbie are so kind they are having us back this next weekend and we will get to do an outreach with them, we are sooo excited.

Well, this current blog is a bit long so i'm going to wrap it up. but I want to add that we are about to finish our 4th week of classes tomorrow! isn't that crazy! so we have 2 more weeks left of classes and then we are off to travel GT for a week!and then we'll see how much spanish we have really learned...lol So in just over 3 weeks we will be home! We love and miss you all and thanks for your prayers, we really feel God moving in our lives and showing us some new things. We are definitly looking forward to what God has planned for us in the near future, and we are also looking forward to seeing all of you. We will add more to our blog very soon.
Nos Vemos,

Miguel Y Shannin

Another week has passed! Next Wednesday will mark the half way point of our trip. Its so hard to believe that we are half done. I am sooooo glad we have another whole month. Our spanish progressing very well but we still have a long way to go.

This week we got to go to the homeless shelter ("albergue") for the first time. It was a very small building separated down the middle. It was smaller than most american homes. It was complete with shower facilities, and a place to do laundry. One side was designated for men with addictions and the other side was for families, men, women and children. It was a really incredible experience and probably our favorite project so far. It was interesting that homeless people in Guatemala are EXACTLY the same as homeless people in the states. They all have a story, they all have hurts. Many of them are accustom to living this lifestyle and are not interested in change, while others are working hard to get back on their feet.  We got to serve beans and Atol. Atol is a very common drink here in Guatemala that most everyone drinks. It a warm, milk like drink, sort of like a protein shake but thinner. It is served warmed and considered very healthy. Kids drink it in school every day. They people were very thankful to have a place to sleep. Although the rain has stopped, the temperatures have been very cool in the evenings. It has gotten as low as 50 degrees at night. We are looking forward to volunteering there more in the coming weeks. It was a really cool experience to be face to face with the hurting people of Guatemala. 

Because we are the cheapest people on the earth, even in Guatemala, we learned how to wash our clothes by hand and hang them out on the line, just like our family. Here is a picture of my skivvies hanging up in the back yard.

Its possible to take our laundry to the local laundromat, but you can only have they washed, there is no self service. To wash our clothes for the week costs $10. So, after observing our family wash their clothes and hang them, we thought this was the best way for us too. Our host mom gave us a little lesson in hand washing the clothes and she had a real good laugh watching us. They have a good set up here for hand washing clothes. Its basically two basins, one shallow and the other deep. The shallow side has ridges for scrubbing and the deep side holds water. You wash in the shallow side and then use a bowl to scope clean water onto the clothes to rinse them. There is a little drain on the shallow side. Works really well. So, now we are experts at handwashing clothes. I also learned how to make chucho's this week. Its a typical GT dish. Basically you use mesa, make a tortillia and fill it with a bit of pork chop and salsa. You then wrap it in a corn husk and cook it in a fire. This was another great opportunity for the family to laugh! My chucho skills can use some refining, but its a good start.
This weekend we are going to Guatemala City to spend the weekend with our missionary friends David and Debbie Amsler. We are really excited to help out in their ministry. We will give you an update when we get back.



Notice the missing bridge!!



us and our guide Dera



The Cemetery of Santiago





Mashi-man





Santiago





Alright my friends We had our first venture out of Antigua on our owns this weekend. And well it was an adventure to say the least. We went to a HUGE lake about 2 hours north west of Antigua called lago attitlan. To start off with we left left the house at 7:30 in the morning because many many places advertised that they leave 8:00 in the morning. sounds pretty easy huh, well, it wasn't! lol we soon found out that none of the travel places where open in the mornings, and around 8:30 when we found our first location that was, they told us that we had to have our tickets the night before because there is only one bus in the morning and all the tickets sell out pretty quick. So, long story short we headed out for a town on the lake called panajanchel around 1pm. The ride there was crazy there where land slides on the main roads because of all the rain, so we took a long way around. the unfortunate part about that was 2 parts of the road had been completely washed away because of the rain also.The CRAZY driver ran off the road and went across the river with all of us in the van..lol later that night we reached the town and lucked in to a good hotel to stay in. In that there are normally a lot of tourists, but because of all the rain and time of year there where very few. so the vendors where like a starving pack of wolves. if one person would come over and talk to us then 2 or 3 others might join the attack. honestly it was pretty overwhelming, but at the same time was very sad too. we went out to dinner that night and even sitting in the restaurant people came in to try and sell us stuff. it was very heartbreaking and of course we bought a little from here. the next day we took a boat to the other side of the lake to a town called Santiago. on the way off the boat we met a guy named Dara who we just started talking to and he offered to show us around. We got a full tour of the city including the grand church, The center of town, the cemetery, a view of the whole city and the sad part of the tour, the local "deity" mashi-man. The best way i could describe it/him was equal to idols of other gods in the bible. they come to the mashi-man and bring offerings of money,cigarettes and alcohol. they light different color candles to represent what they want from the mashi-man. and they look to him for blessing in many different areas of their life. It was a open window into the life and beliefs of many of the people here and their need for a real living God in their life's. While we were there we also had some great times to pass out candy to many many children and also to some of the adults. It was such a gift for them and was a gift to us to see their smiling faces. Thank you all for your donations of candy. it has been a great way for us to love on the families and children here! Well to wrap up this blog, our trip home was fairly smooth except for the many landslides, including one that had the road shut down for over an hour and a half. but God brought us through safe and sound through the whole thing! it was an adventure, we learned a lot and learned even more about the real lives of people outside of Antigua. God Bless , Miguel





1 of many landslides on the way home