Click on a date below to see the photos from that day. Click on any thumbnail to see a larger view of a photo.

• 2/5/2010 - Woody and Robin arrive before the rest of the VIM team to ascertain the status of the construction progress, so that plans may be laid for the next two weeks. They meet old friends, check out the status of homes built last year and survey the clinic where we will work.
• 2/6/2010 - Howard, Sally and Maria from the West Ohio Conference fly separately and arrive before the remainder of the Tennessee Conference team arrives.
• 2/7/2010 - Sunday starts slowly as team members get a good night's rest and acclimate to the 90 degree temperature. In the afternoon we have a special treat. We get to see the families living in the homes we built last year and then worship at El Fuente de Vida where Pastor Manuel's congregation continues to flourish. It is an extra special treat for me to introduce my wife, Sally, to our brothers and sisters in Guatemala.
• 2/8/2010 - Today is our first day in service. As always, the clinic caretaker, Angel, is ready for us with a smile as broad as his face. Robin, Irene and Maria quickly get to work setting up for the patients already in line for dental care. The rest of us scratch our heads a lot and contemplate the possibilities, before settling in to the work which lays ahead: forming the roof for an addition to the clinic.
• 2/9/2010 - The dental clinic runs like clockwork today as tying wire cages and putting up forms continue for the clinic roof. Everyone enjoys a visit from Beatrice today, especially Robin who has gone the extra mile to help Beatrice with her schooling. We are excited that this afternoon includes our first day of Bible School at El Fuenta de Vida Iglesia Metodista. We have about 80 children join us. Sarah leads the singing, several of us act out the story "Jesus calms the storm", and everyone pitches in to help with the craft. Two of our teenage friends, Beatrice and Mario, help us out. It's great to have their help now, 6-7 years ago they were in the craft groups getting our help!
• 2/10/2010 - Our dental and construction tasks of the day are much like yesterday - lots of teeth to be pulled, lots of wires to be tied, and lots of form boards to be supported. At Bible School we have 105 children attend. Today's story and craft are about the story of Zacchaeus. The children really enjoy the craft, and some of the children, as the photos show, do a very detailed job of putting "bark" and "leaves" on the tree!
• 2/11/2010 - The first photo of today is a special request from Woody, our team leader. Prior to our arrival, someone has used a plastic cup to shim one of the roof supports; Woody feels compelled to nail the plastic shim in place! During a break, Angel teaches Sarah a new children's song in Spanish. About mid-day, two women from Chichicastenango show up to display their weavings for sale. They have heard that an American team is in the area and rode a bus for 3-4 hours in the hopes of selling a few items. In the photos, Woody and Sally model some of their purchases. This is our last day of Bible School at El Fuente de Vida, and we have about 145 children!! It's a bit crazy with the larger number, but we all have a terrific time. I only brought 110 ball caps with me, so we cannot pass them out today. As we were cleaning up after Bible School, I overhear one of the children going to the interpreter and asking how to say "Happy Valentine's Day" in English. She practices 4-5 times with the interpreter. She then walks over to Sally and says "Happy Valentine's Day" as best she can and gives Sally a big hug. Fortunately, we have a photo of that special hug!
• 2/12/2010 - Early this morning we get a special visit: Beatrice brings Alba to the clinic for a visit. I first met Beatrice and Alba in 2004, when they were only nine years old. They carried wood for us as we built a school in their village. They are blossoming into young ladies now! Our work on the clinic roof continues to progress. We even get some help from the dental team!
• 2/13/2010 - It is Saturday. We take a break from the construction and dental work to do a little sightseeing. We journey to a national park called Tak'alik Ab'aj ("standing stone" in the local Mayan dialect) where we see a number of Mayan ruins in various stages of discovery. This site flourished in the Preclassic and Classic periods, from the 9th century BC through to at least the 10th century AD. Tak'alik Ab'aj is representative of the first blossoming of Maya culture that had occurred by about 400 BC.
• 2/14/2010 - It is Sunday, and normally we would worship at Pastor Felix's church today. However, our bus driver has gone on special mission this morning. He is transporting patients from our village to an eye hospital several hours away. We are left without transportation, so several of us walk to a church in Mazatenango. It was a very moving worship experience, and on our walk back, we take a few photos standing next to a ceiba tree. The Mayans consider this tree the Sacred Tree of Life.
• 2/15/2010 - Back in mission today, the dental team continues seeing patients and the construction team continues seeing wood, rebar and wire. We hold Bible School today at El Rey de Gloria Iglesia Metodista. Since we expect fewer children in this village, we take a smaller team to do Bible School. Sarah, Maria, Sally and Irene have no trouble with the 21 children as they sing, do the story, and lead the "climbing man" craft. When they get back to the clinic in the late afternoon, we all board the bus to return to Mazatenango. ... Well, not exactly. Where's John? He's not on the bus! Oops!!! We return to find him patiently waiting for us! Tonight Marilyn gets a break from doing all the cooking for us. Irene makes us Guatemala enchiladas. They look NOTHING like Mexican enchiladas, and the taste is extraordinarily delicious!!!
• 2/16/2010 - Amarrando, amarrando, y mas amarrando! All of the form boards are up, but there are still lots of rebar to be tied. We are not always certain where Pastor Felix and Alberto want us to tie the wires, so we learn that their term is "amarrando." By repeatedly asking where more amarrando was needed, we fill the day and complete the task. Today we are helped by Pastor Manuel's son, Mario, and his friend, Douglas. They are especially helpful in the tight spaces under the eave of the existing clinic. We complete our amarrando in time for the entire team to go to El Rey de Gloria to help with Bible School! But, what's this? Where are all the children? We only have 15 children, and there are ten of us! We learn from the pastor's wife that because today is Mardi Gras, the children have a carnival for celebration. Wish someone had told us this earlier!!! But hey, where two or more are gathered! We have a great time with the singing, the story skit, and the craft. Woody makes a pretty awesome craft leader! We pass out the ball caps to each child here today, and then give the remainder to Pastor Manuel to pass out at his children Sunday School classes on Sunday. In that way, most of the children who attended Bible School last week will also get caps.
• 2/17/2010 - Today is the day we have been working towards but not necessarily the day we have been relishing. It is time for the concrete pour. Every estimate that Woody has made of how many buckets of concrete will be required only makes us groan. We have a small concrete mixer but it breaks down mid-mornind and requires repair. That's okay for some of us, because it slows the bucket brigade process between concrete mixes being made on the ground. Today we finish the pour for one of the three rooms. The team that follows us next week will complete the pour.
• 2/18/2010 - During the bus ride to Antigua, we enjoy the scenery of volcano after volcano and eat ice cream at Sarita's. In Antigua we have our traditional lunch at Frida's, do a little shopping in the afternoon, and then dine at Las Palmas.
• 2/19/2010 - Today Woody, Robin, Lory, Sarah, Sally and I hike Volcano Pacaya. It's a steady and steep climb. We keep telling Sally and Robin that it will level out soon. We're wrong. We keep telling them it's only ten more minutes. We're wrong. How could our memories be so bad? Perhaps it's due to the elation of reaching the top and seeing the active lava flows! ... Sarah, Maria, Sally and Howard switch to Hotel Casa Santo Domingo this afternoon, because they are staying an extra day. Everyone had dinner there tonight at a five-star restaurant that could rival any five-star restaurant anywhere!
• 2/20/2010 - After breakfast at Cafe Condesa we happen upon a triple wedding in progress at a local church. The majority of the team heads to the airport, while the rest of us do more sightseeing. In a tour of our hotel/museum we learn that the hotel employs seven persons full time to make the candles required to light the hotel every evening.
• 2/21/2010 - We take a look at some of the flowers left over from a wedding the night before and do a little more sightseeing before heading off to the airport to return home.

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