My Cup of Tea

Well, Rian is safely & soundly tucked into his own bed. Not only did they have a late night arrival (welcome to Alaska!) but their flight was delayed about an hour, so needless to say we had one tired young man when we all crawled into bed this morning at about 1:30... It sounds like he had a great trip, can't wait to hear more once he wakes up (I'm thinking it could be days???).

I've posted the last updates I received. Rian said he took a few pictures, so maybe I'll add those and some of his thoughts in the coming days.

Saturday's Update from Liz:

Good evening to all,

As I write this, we are again at the hostel in Guatemala City. Let me catch you up on a few things that have happened in the last day or so...

First of all, I forgot to mention this the other day, but Sunday at church, Emilio pulled our group aside and introduced us to a man who'd had a terrible accident and lost one of his eyes. His wife has been working hard in the last week to make up for her husband being out of work. He wanted to know if we'd be interested in buying some purses that his wife makes, to help their family out. We said yes, and two evenings later the wife showed up at the school with her goods. I was SO stinkin' proud of our youth that night... they JUMPED on the opportunity to help this family out. Boys were buying purses just because, and saying that they'd find someone to give them to as a gift when they got home. The girls were buying them even though they may not have been exactly what they'd wanted. The woman was crying - in shock, really - at how, without blinking, these kids bought almost every bag she brought that night. Needless to say, I was fighting bad the tears myself... What a precious moment.

Speaking of giving... Our group had another opportunity to bless a family, one of the families that we had dinner with this week. This family has found themself in a rough situation monetarily, and they didn't know how to get out of the situation they were in. Their story was told to me not as one where they were asking for money, but because they know that I care about them, and that they covet my prayers, they wanted me to know their situation. It's can be easy for one to be taken advantage of down here as the people think we have a lot of money, but this was FAR from one of those situations. On my own, after talking with Scott, we agreed that we'd let the group know about this need, and that only if they felt as if they wanted to help, could they give me some money to pass on to this family. We left it at that - no pressure! Scott and I had some money already set aside that we gave the family this afternoon, and then out of the corner of my eye as others were telling them goodbye, I noticed SEVERAL of the kids handing the dad some money. He had tears in his eyes as he timidly put his hand out to accept it. I could hardly hold back tears as some of these kids later told me that they wanted to give it directly to him because they wanted him to know that THEY cared about the situation his family was in, and they - of their own accord - wanted to help him; to bless him. What gracious hearts... And again, what a precious moment... I imagine those are some moments where God is watching his children intently, smiling - maybe with a tear of joy in his eyes as well - thinking, "Well done... well done..."

As our last project yesterday, after everything else was finished, there was a sewing project Emily Allen had been assigned to that she needed some help with. Being that she hadn't had much help all week since everyone was off doing other projects they'd been assigned to, she had a lot left to do. So, I set out to rally the troops, and you should have seen it! We had almost our whole team pinning fabric to be sewn, cutting out fabric to be pinned - the GUYS were showing the other guys how to pin fabric! Quite the sight! I loved it! Most everyone was more than willing to jump in and help, even if it WAS a "girly" project... : ) AND, we got SO much done.... This team rocks!

Then there's last night... Wow. It was our last night in San Pedro, and Emilio and Ester always put together a special dinner for the groups. We eat at the school, and this year we ate with the teachers from the school. We've had lots of opportunities to interact with the teachers this week, and it proved to be a wonderful (even though that word just doesn't seem to do it justice...) evening spent with them. We ate, and then began the good stuff... Several of the teachers spoke, saying how much they appreciated all the work we did, how they enjoyed the time we spend with them, and how blessed they were to have had the opportunity to get to know us, feeling as if they known us for years, not merely day. They sang a song for us (while we all got nice and teary!), and then came time for our group to share some words with them. Was I ever shocked at what followed....... Let me tell you that normally a few people in the groups are brave enough to get up and share, while the rest are content to stay in their seats. This group would have none of that. I think every person in our group got up and spoke. But that wasn't even what impressed me, as much as what they had to say did... We have a lot of youth with some rough backgrounds on this trip, and they were ALL touched SO deeply by the love that was shown them through the people of San Pedro, most could hardly compose themselves long enough to talk. Some sobbed, as they confessed that this was the first time they'd REALLY felt LOVED - love that they recognized was like that of Jesus... unconditional. Some couldn't get over the fact that these people really don't know us, yet they treat us as if we're family. There was not ONE person who got up and spoke who wasn't brought to tears by the overwhelming sense of Jesus love between us and the brothers and sisters of San Pedro - all the leaders included. There is no way that I can express in words in an email how special a night it was, and how "touched" EVERYone was. Let's just say that Emilio had to run to the house for more napkins because there weren't enough to dry up all our tears! Tears of joy, tears of sadness, tears of realization of the love that Jesus has for us and what that can look like when we reach out in relationship with one another, tears of when we reach out beyond what we're comfortable with and God meets us there in those moments in ways that He knows we need most.

That night is always difficult for me because I know that I must once again leave these people that have, over the last 11 years, truly become my family. The thought that always comes to mind now, though, is that I can say that I truly look forward to the day that Jesus comes to "take us home" - those of us who have a relationship with Him - because I won't have to say "goodbye" anymore...... I really believe that we experience a little bit of what heaven must be like while down here. To be in relationship with brothers and sisters, while the love of Jesus COMPELS us to reach out to those in need and to literally be His hands and feet, and to also be on the receiving end of that love..... is indescribable.



This morning, we got up early, packed, and headed to the dock where most tears awaited us. San Pedrans came to see us off, and we said goodbye to those we'd loved on and been loved by all week. One of the boys really broke down at this point... It was one who, when sharing his testimony, mentioned how he'd never REALLY felt truly loved his whole life; and at that moment, saying goodbye, I think it hit him hard that he had REALLY been loved this week. Oh how the love of Jesus works miracles in lives... if only we'd make room for it and allow it to flow out of us instead of guarding it and only giving it out when someone deserves it....

It was a quiet boat ride over to Panajachel, but then began some fun for everyone. Panajachel is a tourist attraction, and there's LOTS of shopping to be done and fun things to see. Kids bought gifts and souveniers, and then it was back on the bus for us. Five hours later, we arrived here in Guatmala City and ate pizza for dinner. It's going to be an interesting night as some are going to bed, and some are going to try to stay up, being that we leave at 4 am to walk to the airport. (Yikes!) Please pray for us that all goes well checking in tomorrow (sometimes they like to tear open our luggage and rummage around), and that we all stay healthy through our day of travel. (STILL no one has been sick this trip - thank you Jesus!)

And with that... I'm off to collect money for the yummy coffee your kids are bringing home to you!

We'll see you sooner than later!
-Liz Luber