More Exciting Details...

We had a trip meeting this past Saturday and here are some updates....

-We saw pics of where we will be staying and working. We will be staying in a nicer, safer part of town and leaving the ghetto (where we will work) before dark.
-I think there are 19 of us going.
-We can pack 200 lbs of luggage, so it is our personal goal to pack 150 lbs of stuff to give away and 50 lbs for our things. I have been washing gently used toys, stuffed animals, and clothes. I'm going to buy or collect things for any remaining extra room in our the bags. Mama Carmen is a friend there. She is 70 years old and has adopted 50 kids!! She also runs a place for childcare for 30 kids for single moms. What a saint! It would make my heart feel happy to leave some of Addie and Ryan's nicer things there with them.
-Guatemala is a hugging place...Yeah for me, but of course this make Phil a little nervous.:O)
-Shorts aren't acceptable culturally...When Dwayne was telling us that, I was really thinking...YEAH! I feel like it is a ministry in itself for me not to wear shorts. We also need to wear clothes toed shoes because if sanitary issues. Apparently there is a river of sewage that goes through the place we will be working and when it rains a lot, well you can imagine.
-We also saw pics of places we will be working and the local people we will be working with. Tita's school building is salmon colored stucco building in a sea of shacks. She wants it to be a bright place among the poor!
-We will be helping at a food kitchen run by an American. They serve lots of meals for the homeless there, the youngest Dwayne and Peggy have seen there is a baby 8 days old!!!
-We will also be helping people convert their bathroom/kitchen room to be separate. Yikes, I can't imagine cooking and using the bathroom in the same 4X8 space!

I can't believe we are so excited about going! I will really miss Ryan and Addie, but I know that our time there will be such a blessing.

Will you please pray for our trip?