Day 5!!!

Buenes Noches!!!

Dave Petkau has taken a leave of absence from his blog tonight and has asked me to post for him. My name is Christine Cote and I'm from the East District. I am one of the 9 that have been on the trip these past few days! I have been posting notes to my friends and family back home so this is a little taste of what I have been writing!

So we are coming to the end of Day 5 and it was another great one... So the morning started with another great breakfast... After breakfast we started to get stuff ready for the day. Dave P, Dave B, and Alfredo went to take the van back after it was cleaned out from the trip. We were a little bit nervous because there were some scratches on it from going through the bush... We still aren't sure if we have to pay extra, we'll find out tomorrow... keep that in your prayers! As they were gone the rest of us were getting lunch together and what not.

While we were waiting to go to Lake Amititlan we pulled out some of the craft supplies that we had purchased. We got some of the bracelet making kits and made shell bracelets with the ladies that live in the CH home here. It was such a blast! It was so neat to be able to interact with them and have a great morning despite the language barrier. The girls made some beautiful necklaces and bracelets that they have been showing off ever since :) It was such a blast! Bruce and Jill made some windmills out of paper with the girls too and they thought that was just great as well! Amazing how something that we perceive as being so small they take such appreciation for it! Once we were finished with the bracelets Rudy & Sully arrived at the house and we were getting ready to go start digging in Lake Amititlan... digging the BIG cistern that will be the first step to building the community center and home for the sponsorship family. That was the initial plan but there was a slight change. In the end we went to Lake Amititlan after having lunch here for the opening ceremony and a VBS type presentation for about 25 kids in Lake Amititlan. Lake Amitilan is only about a 25 minute drive through crazy roads... Atleast not through the bush :)

When we got there we were shown around the place that we are going to be digging the hole. We thought that we were going to be digging outside but it is actually inside and through cement! Luckily it is not that thick... Only 1 1/2" to my understanding. We had the "floor plans" so to speak posted on a wall there that we could look at so we could get an idea of what the finished product is going to be.

Shortly after that, and spending some time with some insanely cute kids in the village the kids on the bus for VBS showed up! They were great! We had such a blast with them! some of them knew a little bit of english so you could have a very brief conversation with them. Lots of french-english-spanish dialect coming from us Canadians, I think that it proves to be entertaining for the kids!

The VBS program was great! We did some Memory Verse Recitals in English and in Spanish and we sang a Spanish song with the kids and us Canadians sang a couple of songs in English and taught them the actions to "Jesus Loves Me" It was such an awesome thing to be able to do this and interact with them. In addition to the VBS the coordinator of the sponsorship program in Lake Amititlan, Paulina, gave her testimony. Sully translated for us Canadians to be able to understand. Her testimony was amazing. She has been through incredible things in her life and still has such a strong faith in God. Through everything she went through she said that she finally realized that she is important. She is important because of her kids, because they need her and not because of the work that she does. What an amazing thing that God has done in her life!

After the VBS program we played a bunch of games with the kids that involved tires... races, tug of wars, and basketball with tires. Leave it to DJ (one of the guys on the trip) to think of something so creative! To see the look of joy on the kids faces was just incredible.

There was little girl Andrea who was so sweet. I was sitting next to her in the VBS program. She can speak some english and is a very smart girl. Through our conversation I found out that she is turning 11 in September and will come to the Christian Horizons Lake Amitilan when it is open in September. So exciting! When I was talking to her Rudy was translating a little bit for me. She told him that she liked me because I had beautiful dark hair and eyes just like her.... It was enough to just melt your heart!

We had the official "Ground Breaking" ceremony of the Lake Amatitlan site... Dave P did the first dig and of course lots of pics were snapped! We packed up a bag of the soil to bring back to Canada... Just a reminder of what we did when we were here and what we are working towards.
We played around with the kids for a little while longer before we said our goodbyes... We saw them onto the bus and then we all headed back to the house to clean up for dinner.

When we got back here the staff had made us a fantastic dinner yet again... I think that it was, for the first time, that we had a fairly quiet meal. People are getting tired and we were all hungry! We were all focused on food! We had a great conversation around the table about our favorite summer jobs...next to CH of course!!! It was interesting to find out that people had worked in Pulp & Paper Mills (me), Fish Factories (Joyce), Catching chickens in the middle of the night (Dave P) and many others... After dinner a group of people did the dishes and started to get some things ready for lunch tomorrow... Prepping fruit, freezing water bottles etc...

Dave P had a FANTASTIC idea to play Dutch Blitz after supper. We grabbed the deck and went downstairs to play with the kids and the staff here at the home. It was awesome! It was great that it is a game that you do not really have to explain a lot... They all learned by watching a few rounds and started playing when they felt comfortable. I was totally cleaning house and winning almost every round... I have a slight competitive spirit!!! Then Raoul started getting awfully confident in himself and he started smack talking me... Keep in mind that Raoul is mute and deaf... Let me tell you, he beat me and he beat me BAD!!! It was such a great night and a perfect way to cap off the day!

So tomorrow is a big big day! It's our first official dig day. The temperatures are really hot so it is going to make it difficult for us to work in this kind of heat. We are staying hydrated with lots of bottled water but tomorrow will most definitely be tiring physically.

Again, thank you all for your continued prayers and support... it is so appreciated. Today I really gained a better understanding of what it is that we are doing here and it is HUGE, it really is... For all of you who are praying, thank you... You are part of this mission as well and the team here cannot thank you enough!

Until the next post....
Christine for Dave P

** I'll leave you with a new verse today, It was the memory verse for the VBS today with the kids and I find it to be most fitting.
Proverbs 31:8-9