Parker and I just got back from an incredible mission trip to Guatemala. It will be hard to put into words just how life changing a trip like this was, but I am going to try!
We left on June 9th and flew straight to Guatemala City. This was Addison's first flight and Parker had not flown since he was 3 so they were both very excited about the flight. There weren't a lot of choices at the airport, so we ate at McDonald's before we boarded the plane.
When we arrived, we were picked up by The Potter's House and taken by bus to the retreat center where we stayed for the first two nights.
It was very late so we ate and went straight to bed. The next morning the kids discovered a basketball court at the retreat center. Kin, one of the members of our group that joined us from his home church in Georgia, joined them and they had a blast getting to play with him.
This is the walkway from the cafeteria where we ate breakfast to our rooms. It was beautiful!
Our mission team- John and Laurie Hardee, Jason, Stephanie and Robert Rhea, David Ulrich, Jonathan Valerio, Emily and Addison, me and Parker, Kin and Steve (Kin and Steve are friends of the Hardees that live in Georgia but joined our group from Texas because we had such a small group and needed more members to help us with the mission work. They were so nice and great with the kids! It was such a blessing to get to know them throughout the week.)
While in Guatemala, we worked with The Potter's House- an organization that helps families who live/work in the city dump. Their goal is to change the cycle of poverty in their lives and help them be successful outside of the dump. Their main headquarters are in Guatemala City but they have recently started reaching out to other rural areas that have dump communities, such as Chiquimula. We were the first team to ever go and complete a project in Chiquimula for The Potter's House.
Our first day in Guatemala was our sightseeing day in Antigua. We went to a coffee plantation and had the choice to take a tour of the plantation or go zip-lining. We, of course, chose to zip line and it was an amazing experience! The scariest part of the day was riding in this van up to the zip lines. The mountain roads were wet and VERY narrow. I wasn't sure Parker was gong to make it- he was scared to death!
We finally made it up the mountain, got harnessed up and started the zip-lining tour through the trees.
It was an unbelievable experience with breathtaking 360* views.
After we were finished, the kids got to play on a ropes course before we headed back down the mountain.
We left the plantation and drove to a scenic spot that overlooked the city. Unfortunately, it was a cloudy, rainy day because on sunny days you can see the volcanos in the background.
We then headed to lunch at a local hotel and ate authentic Guatemalan food for the first time. The kids weren't crazy about the food but they loved getting to drink Coke in a bottle!
You can't tell in this picture, but in the middle of lunch it started pouring down rain. I was so glad we were able to finish our zip-lining before the rain started!
After lunch, we headed to the markets to shop. I was able to pick out some gifts for the girls and Parker got to pick out a few things too!
This is the van that we rode in all week. We had a great driver who got us everywhere safely both in Guatemala City and Chiquimula.
After we got back from our sightseeing adventure, we packed our bags and went to bed. We left the next morning and spent the rest of our week in Chiquimula. (This is a picture of our room in Guatemala City.)
Our first day was full of fun and definitely a day we will never forget!
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