FRIDAY:
We departed Lititz Christian on Friday, March 10 right on time. We knew our flight was a little delayed (just an hour and a half), but we weren’t worried. Our amazing parents and LC faculty prayed over us, we each grabbed a slice of pizza, we hopped in our vans, and we headed to JFK airport. Once at the airport we soared through checking in, going through security, finding our gate, and foraging for dinner. Easy peasy.
Our boarding group was called, we found our seats, and we settled in. And we sat, and we sat, waiting for the rest of the travelers to board our full flight. Finally we pulled away from the gate, and then we sat on the runway. And we sat and we sat, waiting our turn for takeoff. For a full hour we sat, waiting rain beat against our windows, waiting. Then the captain came over the speaker: we have to return to the gate. It took too long to take off, and the flight crew couldn’t legally continue to Guatemala City. We had to wait for a new flight crew. Back at our gate, we sat for another 90 minutes. Our flight that was supposed to depart at 6:30 PM didn’t leave until 11:15.
But we were smiling. We were enjoying each other’s company (and playing battleship on the airplane media screens). Nearly everyone got at least a little sleep before we landed at 3:15 AM in Guatemala City.
We went through customs without a hitch, found all of our luggage, and met up with Fernando and Dieter (our Clubhouse leaders) right away. By the time we got to the team house, around 4:30 AM we were in a haze of excitement and exhaustion. By 5 AM, everyone was asleep in our bunks. We had finally arrived.
SATURDAY:
Today we had breakfast, got oriented to the team house, and packed all of the food packages we’ll be delivering to families throughout the week. (Our assembly line skills need a little improvement, but the job was complete in no time.) We then had a group game (“forced family fun”) which Mr. Beachy spearheaded and kept everyone entertained.
After lunch we got to meet a whole bunch of kids – a group of kids from the youth group of the church we’re attending tomorrow, and a group of students from the school we’re working with all week. We piled into the Jehovah Jireh bus, with our driver Jonathan, and went to a soccer (futbol) field (pitch) for several rounds of (quite competitive) soccer (futbol). [there were lots of opinions on the proper names for things.] This afternoon everyone got sweaty and smelly and even more exhausted, but it was so much fun. And it was a great way to start building relationships with all of the kids we’ll be hanging with all week.
We had dinner. Played games. Had our 1st team meeting. And are now winding down for an early night. Our team house – much like our LC building – is a multi-purpose building, where every spare space is utilized. There’s currently a worship team practice happening downstairs, an elders meeting upstairs, and our seniors getting to share space with and work alongside people actively engaged in the work of Christ. What an amazing start to the week.
LC Senior Go! 