It’s been a busy week

With school out this week for Easter, our schedule has changed a bit, and here are some of the highlights:

Clara is a girl who grew up at Casa Shalom along with her brother and sister, and Yuli use to be her teacher.  She’s now living on her own, and we’ve had her stay with us in the past.  Unfortunately Clara got pregnant last fall, and the dad doesn’t want to help out.  But we’re happy that she gave birth to a healthy girl last week, and on Friday we were able to bring her siblings over to see her and meet their new niece.

Carlos, Clara and Flora with Clara’s new baby

After the death of their mom, Clara took over the role with Flora and Carlos.  Young, unwed pregnancies are a huge problem in Guatemala, and it’s sad to see Clara in the same situation.  Earlier this year were hoping to get her enrolled in school this year because she only needs one more year to finish high school. We would appreciate your prayers for Clara and her new baby.  We’ve given her some baby supplies, and we’re praying about how else we can best help her out.

Then last weekend we had our friend and fellow missionary Elizabeth stay with us.  She works with Yuli’s sister at another orphanage called La Senda. We had a big sleep over with a bunch of Yuli’s family and enjoyed each other’s company. We also met up with Santos and José (the boys we’re sending to school) and helped them with some school projects.

Guatemala has a bunch of traditions for Holy Week, and my favorite is the foods!  On Wednesday I drove with Yuli’s dad over to his hometown of San Cristobal, Totonicapan.  It’s about 3 hours away, and every year her dad likes to visit there in order to buy a special bread from there.  This year the date fell right on his birthday, and his brother and sister and two grandkids joined us for the journey. I got to meet a bunch more family, and they gave us a wonderful lunch of ribs and Guatemalan sausages. The highlight was definitely that I got to see where they grew up, and it also let me spend a really fun day together with my father-in-law.

Yuli’s father, aunt and uncle in front of their old house

So on Thursday morning we ate the bread with hot chocolate, and lunch was a chicken and vegetable dish.  Today we had a fish dinner. It was all fabulous! But the weirdest thing I ate was a sweet syrup made with garbanzo beans. (not one of my favorites)

This weekend we’re having our buddy Edwin over again to stay with us for Easter, and then on Monday it’s back to Casa Shalom!