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

• 2/17/2012 - 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.
• 2/18/2012 - The remainder of the team from the Tennessee and the West Ohio Conferences arrive in Guatemala City, journey to Mazatenango and settle in at the Hotel Bambu.
• 2/19/2012 - Sunday starts slowly as team members get their first night's rest on the concrete "box springs" and acclimate to the 90+ degree temperature. In the afternoon we journey to La Toma to see our project site and worship at El Rey de Gloria. Pastor Felix led a long worship service the previous evening, so a lay member of the church delivers today's message.
• 2/20/2012 - Today is our first day in service, and it is not unusual for such a large team (23 people in total) to find it difficult to get everyone engaged in the project quickly. Such is not the case today. Russell and Diane remain in Mazatenango to prepare the evening meal for the team. Robin, Maria and Dudley serve at the dental clinic. Everyone else begins work on the three classrooms in La Toma by taking the form boards down from the gables, building and raising all six wooden trusses, marking trusses for purlin placement, and treating 2x4's and decking lumber with penta. ... We were visited by Kimmy, a young lady who helped us in prior years. Kimmy is now married and brought her five month old daughter, Naomi, to show us.
• 2/21/2012 - Pastor Vona leaves the team for a few days to journey north to visit prospective scholarship recipients sponsored by Franklin First UMC. We will miss her gentle spirit on the team. Today and tomorrow are school holidays, so we cannot begin bible school until Thursday. Work proceeds quite well on the three classrooms with more lumber being treated with penta, purlins going up between the trusses, and some of the rear fascia in place.
• 2/22/2012 - There was a lot of "up top" work today - enough for everyone! Not only did more purlins get put up, but the roof decking was begun on the back side of the classrooms' roof system. ... A highlight for today was the tremendous hospitality shown to us by Pastor Felix and his son-in-law, Mario, who completed the construction of a new outhouse for us! ... At the Methodist Camp in Leoma, Pastor Vona met with 11 of 12 students being sponsored by Franklin FUMC.
• 2/23/2012 - School resumed today. The principal and teachers hold a short program to introduce themselves and express their thanks for us coming to help expand their school. We hold Bible School for two classrooms: one has 49 children, and the other has 34. It starts with Sarah and Howard leading the children in singing songs in Spanish. The story of Jesus and the Lepers is told by Sarah with Randy as Jesus and six members of the team as lepers. A craft follows the story to let the children express that for which they are thankful. Sally takes photos of each child, so that they can be presented with a printed photo of themselves the next day. ... In Xela (a.k.a. Quetzaltenango) Pastor Vona met with seven students being sponsored by Franklin FUMC.
• 2/24/2012 - With Pastor Vona's return to the team, she and our interpreter, Julia, hold Bible School discussions with older children today, while Sarah and others continued to hold the sing/lesson/craft Bible School with younger children. On the construction project, it is great to look back to see what has been done in five days: the rafters, purlins, fly rafters and fascia are complete for all three classrooms, and the decking has been laid over half of the classroom areas. When we pick up the dental team from the clinic at the end of the day, Beatrice is there to see us. In 2004 I (Howard) was in mission in San Antonio Barrio Dos where we built a new school. At the time Beatrice was ten years old and helped each and every day by bringing lumber to us. That school gave her opportunity, and she took advantage of it, not only by graduating from there but passing the high school admissions test and, most recently, graduating from high school. Today she is 18 and has been employed as a school teacher for two months!! "Felicitaciones" hardly seems adequate - this makes it ALL worthwhile!!!
• 2/25/2012 - It is Saturday. Fifteen of our team venture to Chichicastenango today; for most of them, this is a first time experience. Everyone enjoys the scenery along the way and is delighted with the accomodations at Hotel Santo Tomas. Eight veterans remain at the Bambu for the weekend.
• 2/26/2012 - It is Sunday, and market day in Chichicastenango. The market in Chichi is quite unique, so everyone takes a few hours to stroll around and see the sights.
• 2/27/2012 - The dental team moves to El Rey de Gloria for the week. Bible School for all ages continues with Pastor Vona leading the classrooms with older children and Sarah leading those with younger children. On the construction site, decking continues but the excitement is that we begin laying the aluminum!
• 2/28/2012 - Today is the last official day of Bible School, and we already know that we will miss their beaming faces when you make eye contact with them when they sing with us. On the construction site, the decking is almost completed, and the aluminum is finished on the back of the classrooms' roof and started on the front.
• 2/29/2012 - A celebration program is held by the teachers and some students. We are treated to a number of tradtional, and not so traditional, Guatemalan dances, flavored water, crackers, and a personal memento for each team member. The team took up a personal collection to help the school purchase desks for the new classrooms - a total of $820 is given to the principal! ... A mini-Bible School is held for the pre-school class today. At lunch we sing "Happy Birthday" to Pastor Felix and present him with a set of new tires for his truck. Work proceeds quickly on the roof, and by 1:15 in the afternoon, it is finished - this has to be some kind of record! ... Once we return to the Bambu in the late afternoon, Pastor Vona and Todd go for a brief visit to Halo Guatemala, a school for hearing impaired persons located here in Mazatenango.
• 3/1/2012 - We start the morning by sharing communion together. 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 a small Italian restaurant.
• 3/2/2012 - People go in different directions today to hike Volcano Pacaya, take a walking tour of the city, shop, or simply relax. Several on the team arrange for a tour of the Moore Pediatric Surgery Center in Guatemala City.
• 3/3/2012 - It's breakfast at Cafe Condesa before boarding our bus for the airport in Guatemala City. Then it's back to the States for everyone, feeling blessed to have served and honored to share His love with so many Guatemalan friends.

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