April 2010 Mission Trip

We just returned from our April 2010 mission trip to Guatemala. This was an adult trip, and the group consisted of 13 people. We had an incredible experience. Food for the Poor and Caritas were our guides through part of the trip. We had a couple of tourist days mixed in, and of course we spent our last day at the Nutritional Center with Sister Ana Christina and the kids.
Sr. Ana is doing well, she seems healthy and is always a joy to be around. She has some very sick children right now. One boy named Yonny is 10 years old and weighs 18 pounds. She received him the day before and he was too sick for visitors. I also spent a considerable amount of time with a boy named Darwin. He is 12, I estimate his weight at about 30 pounds, he came in a couple of weeks ago. The recession is hurting people around the world. In America, we have some bad situations, and sad stories, but at least we don't have to see our children starve to death.
Caritas took us to some very remote Mayan villages, and the experience was incredible. We were the first visitors to one village in the mountains. The people there were wonderful and so excited. Fr. Charlie said Mass at their church, and we were told that they got there an hour and a half early, because they were being visited by us and the priest would say Mass. That is a big deal, because a lot of these places may only have a priest visit once every month or two.

The date is set!

We have our group set that will travel with us April 9-16th. There are 13 of us that will go including Jim and I. Our priest is also traveling with us, so that will be great! Jim spoke to Sister Ana Cristina today and she is SO excited to hear that we are coming. We will be having a fundraiser dinner at the Knights of Columbus Hall on March 20th that will benefit the center. She has asked us for rosaries, childrens vitamins with iron, and money to pay the utilities and employees. If you live in our area and can come, please do! We will keep you posted as more details are known.

Guatemala 2010!

We are happy to announce that we have a group that we will be taking to Guatemala this April! We have a total of 12 of us that will be traveling. We will spend 3 days traveling with Food for the Poor, visiting different projects. We will also spend a day in Antigua, will go to Mass at the Cathedral, and visit the Mayan History Museum. We have a great group of people going, we are sure it will be a great trip! Please keep us in your prayers as we make all of the plans. We have a meeting with our group this Tuesday, Jan. 12 and should know definete dates after that. We will keep you posted!
Jim and Michelle