Day 1

Day 1: We left Calvary early this morning 4:30 am Eastern Standard Time. It is now 8:23 Guatemala time (two hours earlier).  God has shown up already on several occasions.  For me personally, I had a thought as I was driver around Pinellas Friday, “I’m going to miss the pull bloom of the purple trees!” (aka Jackorandas). On our descent into Guatemala City, the first thing I notice and exclaim to myself “Purple trees!” My family and a few friends who know me would claim I am obsessed every spring to see and enjoy in God’s creation of the Jackoranda.  I didn’t want to miss them and guess what God saw to it that there were “purple trees” in Guatemala just for me. This event reminded me that my Omniscient God is even in the little things of my life taking care of me every step of the way.

God showed again a short time later. Our flights were uneventful, and the busses were there on time. Our team of 23 worked together to make this happen. Jim and the luggage went in the van and the bus carried the rest of the team. Shortly after our departure…Patti is speaking with Karin Schoenherr and I while road on the highway towards the usual lunch spot Pollo Campero…. She yells “FIRE!! Everyone off the bus!”   I look up to see smoke billowing from below Karin’s turquois Guatemala bag from the console next to the driver’s seat.  The driver then pulls over to the side of the road in front of a car lot. All the teens and the rest of us manage to escape unscathed on the side of this busy road. Patti and the driver resolve the event relatively quickly. God saw to it that our lunch destination was across the street. And that the bus company had a brand new bus on hand that was picked up only yesterday. So not only did we have a ride, we had a super sweet ride to Santiago Atitlan. For me this is just another way of God showing us He is control.

I think He allows these things to occur so that we see Him and rely solely on Him. The last trip I was on here, He changed the whole focus of the trip three weeks before we arrived allowing us to start building relationship here in Santiago Atitlan. God’s power is amazing, and I look forward to seeing what He is going to do this week.

 Driving along, the countryside was beautiful… volcanoes, terrace farms, age old trees… the driver of the new bus shared much of his knowledge of Guatemala as we drove along. We even practiced our Spanish worship songs soloed by the talented Emily. We arrived safely at the hotel Tiosh Abaj around 5:45 local time. So, roughly fifteen hour after our journey began, here we are ready to see what God has next to showed us.