Food Distribution Preparation by Aunica Buseman | July 23, 2016 6:32 PM
The team arrived safe and sound! We ate a great meal of fried chicken at a popular fast food restaurant called Pollo Campero before heading to the local supermarket to purchase the food for our food distribution ministry. We'll be using the money the team raised to buy food to feed families in need, and tomorrow we will get the opportunity to deliver the food to each family, hear their story, and pray over them.
After our shopping time we arrived at the Institute where we'll be staying for the week. It's a seminary here in Guatemala City that doesn't have many classes during the summer, so we're blessed with bunkbeds and a safe area to explore. We even have a hammock spot overlooking a volcano! We had some time to rest after the long day of travel and get settled before meeting up to pack the food bags and pray over them. It's already been an awesome day!
Praying!by Aunica Buseman | July 23, 2016 6:36 PM
This trip will be really focused on prayer and relational/mercy ministry. We spent some time praying over the families that will be receiving the food we packaged.
Rainy Seasonby Aunica Buseman | July 23, 2016 7:21 PM
It's the rainy season here in Guatemala, but the team isn't letting it ruin their afternoon. There's nothing like some soccer in the rain!
Church Transportby Aunica Buseman | July 24, 2016 12:14 PM
Here we are on our way to church!
First Service by Aunica Buseman | July 24, 2016 12:21 PM
This morning we had our first church service. Pastor led us in songs, preached on Hebrews 12:8, and prayed over the team for our ministry this week. The team sang a few songs and Ben shared his testimony. Afterwards, everyone from the congregation was so excited to meet them team! We spent around an hour taking photos until our faces hurt. We're already really excited to spend time with the church!
Food Distributionby Aunica Buseman | July 25, 2016 7:36 AM
The team had a really powerful experience getting to hand deliver the food we prepared for families pastor wanted to bless. We were able at hear their testimonies and spend time with them. We even met a woman who turns 98 next week! After food distribution we made a Walmart run (yes, we have Walmart here!) To grab snacks for VBS then returned to our home for the week. We ate another incredible meal then spent some time talking through the day.
VBSby Aunica Buseman | July 25, 2016 5:56 PM
We had a great first Day of VBS! We had around 70 kids, and they loved being able to sing songs and learn actions! We had a bible story and did a gospel centered craft they get to take home. For game time we split into the older and younger kids. The younger kids played hot potato with a ball, where they sat in a circle and passed the ball around until the tambourine music stopped. The older kids played ninja, a game where you freeze until it's your turn, then try to karate chop the hand of the person next to you to get them out. We gave the kids a snack and some juice and said "hasta mañana!"
Ninja Strike!by Aunica Buseman | July 25, 2016 6:25 PM
The older kids had a blast playing Ninja!
Prayer in the Parkby Aunica Buseman | July 25, 2016 6:28 PM
We spent our morning doing a prayer walk in a park in Amatitlan. It was a really powerful experience!
Prayer Ministry Teamby Aunica Buseman | July 25, 2016 6:30 PM
We had a solid prayer team with us this morning! It's been cool to see the church congregation participating with us in each ministry, and we had a great turnout for park evangelism this morning.
Youth Serviceby Aunica Buseman | July 26, 2016 2:26 PM
We had a great time last night with the youth from the church! We sang songs, played minute to win it style games, and shared testimonies. It was a really powerful evening!
Praying for Amatitlanby Aunica Buseman | July 26, 2016 2:29 PM
This morning we drove up to a place that overlooks all of Amatitlan. We spent time reading the bible in groups, prayed over the city, and did worship. It was nice to be able to take the time to rest and refresh a little to gain energy for the remainder of the week.
VBS Day 2by Aunica Buseman | July 26, 2016 9:21 PM
We had an awesome second day of VBS! We had around 70 kids again and we played games, sang songs, had a message, and did a craft. They loved spending time with the team!
Final Serviceby Aunica Buseman | July 26, 2016 9:23 PM
While tomorrow is our last day of ministry, tonight was our last church service. We sang songs (for around an hour, in spanish) with the congregation, Nate preached, and we said our goodbyes to the church as a whole. We've been so blessed by this sweet partnership this week.
Final Day of Ministry by Aunica Buseman | July 27, 2016 11:41 PM
My apologies for the late post! We've been having too much fun. This morning we delivered more bags of food, and it was a powerful experience once again. It's crazy to get immediate feedback from people that you are fulfilling their prayers - even moments later!
In the afternoon, we had our final day of VBS. We made salvation bracelets and spent time playing after songs and a bible story. The kids waved and ran after the bus as we left, and we had to listen to the Pitch Perfect soundtrack to keep our spirits lifted. We gave Pastor a parting gift from Minnesota to remember us, and he loved it!
Rec Dayby Aunica Buseman | July 29, 2016 7:46 AM
We had a great time in Antigua yesterday! We made our way through the cobblestone streets to the craft market, taking our time to enjoy the beautiful architecture on the way. We bartered to our heart's content and ended up with some awesome stuff to bring back home! Half of the group grabbed some pizza and the other half went to a restaurant called MonoLoco (crazy monkey) for some authentic Guatemalan chicken strips. After our time was up and we had wandered through the central plaza we headed to Walmart to grab any authentic Guatemalan snacks we determined were essential. Our cook, Ericka, made an awesome final dinner and we spent some time hanging out before packing up to prepare to leave our beautiful home.
We've had an awesome week! The team will be ready and excited to share the ways God worked in and through them after their debrief time in Texas.