Guatemala

Thursday (27 Oct) was a successful day of crossing the border into Guatemala, but very sad saying goodbye to Godfrey. We set him up with a place to stay for a month in San Ignacio and we trust God will provide him with a job soon. He was our treasure we found in the dark in Belize. We trust that he will continue to walk strong in the Lord and that God will bring him more people to teach him how to walk with God.

The border crossing was interesting. Apparently paying the entry fee into Guatemala is optional. Some of us were charged, others refused to pay, to which the official said ok, so those who paid went back and asked for a refund, which they got. Hmm. So we are witnessing the corruption of Guatemala first hand being barely 2ft over the border. Guatemala apparently has 40% evangelical Christians but the country is still pretty broken, lots of drug related issues. Plenty of ministry opportunities available here!

This is where our plans have gone a bit haywire. Plan was to stay here 5 days before heading to El Salvador 1 Nov. The first contact where we were supposed to stay on the first night fell through on the day. Then our other contact fell through the next day. So we're here with no contacts or plans. Hmm. Which is actually a spot of luck as after the border crossing the transmission in one of our cars broke. So we had to tow it to a mechanic in the next tiny town, and that's where it's been since Thursday 27 Oct. We couldn't get the part here in Guatemala, so a couple of guys on the team went back to
Belize on Friday to try get it there, no luck so it has to be ordered and imported from the US, which is going to cost a lot and take how long... On Sat the mechanic went to Guatemala City where he'd look for the part so we hope he comes back with some good news...

The original plan was to spend Thursday nights at Tikal National Park so we could go see the Myan ruins on Friday. Staying there was expensive and we didn't like it all - sooooo many bugs and snakes in the grass so we headed back to camp in the nearby town of El Remate. The campsite was too small for us so we landed up camping for free for 2 nights in a parking lot next to the lake. Classy. The good thing is that it was free, not so cool is that there was no electricity, water or bathrooms plus kids around us all the time, sunrise to bedtime, selling us stuff.

Because of having to look for the car part in Belize in Friday, the Tikal ruins were postponed till Sunday. So the last few days, and for as long as is necessary, have been free chill and ministry time. I for one have really needed and enjoyed having time out, free to press into God and get refreshed.

We have now moved down the road where we're camping at a hotel, between the hotel and the beautiful big lake. Definitely an improvement as we now have access to a bathroom (no shower though) and electricity. There is a makeshift shower outside which we can use so that's good, we just need to wear our swimming costume as it's out in the open. When we arrived here on Saturday I was so desperate for a shower I didn't wait for the shower but just used the garden hose! Yes it was so worth it! And needed ;)

View of the lake from where we camped at the end of the hotel