Interesting Stuff!

So, I've been learning all kinds of interesting things over the last couple of days about the people group we will be with the majority of the time in Guatemala. I just wanted to share some of the more interesting things I've learned : )
The Acateco people are Mayan and live in the mountains of Guatemala (it will probably be cold most of our time there). They are passionate about corn. You are not a real Mayan man if you do not grow corn. Corn is not animal food like it is in the US - corn is people food. A meal is not complete until you've eaten corn tortillas - even if you ate an awesome huge steak, it wouldn't be complete without the tortillas (the Acateco word for tortillas is "pot"). Corn also has a spirit that the people are very careful not to offend. For example, you might see a random stalk of corn growing somewhere by itself, but the people wouldn't cut it down or their crop might fail. Also, on the rare occasion you would feed an animal corn, if they don't finish all of it, the people have to pick up every single kernel of corn that is left on the ground. Corn is SO important that every kind of corn has a different name ( for example, corn in general is "ishim" and corn on the cob is "awa'l").

Enough about corn : )
In this culture, emotions are all in the stomach (as opposed to the heart in the US). For example, the common greeting literally translated means "is your stomach good?" to which the response is "mine is good if yours is". Also, the translation of "I'm sorry" means "make your stomach big". The list could go on and on...

Some other random facts:
- they have different words for counting different items such as inanimate objects, animals and people
- "huh" means yes
- they use the spanish greetings (buenas dias, buenas tardes, buenos noches) but not really anything else is in spanish

Anyway, just wanted to share the fun of some of the cool stuff I'm learning!

Some updated prayer requests:
-safe/uneventful flight on Friday afternoon
-that our three day village stay (from Thursday to Saturday) would go really well (I am so nervous about this part - they will basically divide us into small groups and drop us off at the village on Thursday and pick us up on Saturday)
-for health (that we wouldn't get sick and also for my asthma: it's usually very mild and not a big deal at all, but one thing that aggravates it pretty badly is altitude. We'll be pretty high up most of the time, so I'm a little bit worried about that...)

Thanks for reading and for your prayers!

Quick Update

Hey guys!
Just a quick update for you : )
I made it to Dallas with only a one hour delay (not a big deal compared to the many other delays experienced by my fellow team members - the weather was bad in Dallas as well as in Orlando), and I didn't even leave any liquids in my carry on by accident (that always happens to me haha). Thanks for your prayers!
Now that I've been here in Dallas for a day, I can already identify some issues I need to deal with for myself. After getting very attached to the Orlando interns, I'm finding myself really reluctant to reach out to my new team members and try to build new relationships. The excuses I keep coming up with sound like: "they're so young (about half are still in high school) and immature, I don't want to hang out with them" or "it's only three weeks, what's the point of trying to get to know them?".
I just need an attitude adjustment right now. These are people that I should try to get to know as well as possible. For many this is their first time overseas, for others this will be the longest they've ever been away from home. I vividly remember when I was that person on my trip to Mexico and how hard it was. I need to be getting to know them so I can encourage them, and in turn, learn from them. Everyone has experiences and wisdom they can impart to others, I just need to be wiling to listen and learn : )

At the Airport!

Hello everyone! I am writing this at the Orlando International Airport!!! This afternoon I will flying to Dallas where I will have 5 days of pre-trip training with my Guatemala GET Global team. On Saturday we will fly to Guatemala City! I'm not really sure how much internet access I will have while in Guatemala so there may or may not be new updates while I'm there (but expect LOTS of picture once I get back : )
Here's the itinerary of what I'll be doing while I'm there (my job is to document the trip for future advertising use):

Daily Schedule and Travel Arrangements

Sat.  July 21        Travel from Dallas to Guatemala City

The group will spend the night in the Hosteria de Don R. We will have our first in-country briefing and discussion.

Sun. July 22        Day in Guatemala City.

Private church service. Arvid sharing with the group. Visit the Museum of Anthropology and learn about the cultural history of Guatemala and especially the Mayan people. Maybe a short tour to the tourist market.

Mon. July 23      Spend the day in Guatemala City

Hear from translators working currently in Guatemala and visit some additional work in the capital.

Tues. July 24     Travel to Huehuetenango

We will travel on Halcones the main bus line between Guatemala City and Huehuetenango. We will meet with the missionaries living and working out of Huehue. We will stay in the Hotel Charca de Joel.

Wed.  July 25     Travel to San Miguel Acatan.

We will travel by chartered minivan. The trip will take 4 to 5 hours, depending on route and drivers. We will stay in the Florida hotel. We will meet the translation committee as well as the church leaders. We will give the first on-site briefing about San Miguel, the church and the K’anjob’al people. We will eat in a local restaurant or at the church.

Thursday through Saturday July 26 - 28 will be spent in various villages with families.

(If it can be arranged we will all meet up at the village of Coya’ for market day and the church service.)

Sun. July 29        Attend church in San Miguel Acatan.

Participate in the service, possibly by singing for them and playing any instruments brought along. We will probably eat together with people from the church in the church dining hall. Before and after the service everyone will be able to visit the market to meet people and participate in one of the major social events of the week.

Mon. July 30      A day of reviewing the time in the villages and picnicking at the swimming

pool. If possible we will visit the Tenam ruins. This is the site of Mayan temples and a fort from the Post-Classic Mayan period, 1200 to 1520s.

Tues. July 31     Travel back to Huehue. By chartered minivan. 4-5 hrs.

Visit the Zaculeo ruins and the Berea Bible Institute. Staying at the Charca de Joel Hotel.

Wed August 1   Travel to Solola to visit the studios of La Viña. Visit Lake Atitlan and spend the night in

                                    Panajachel.

Thurs. August 2 Travel to Antigua, Guatemala by mini-van. We will tour the former capital city and get

a glimpse of life during the 16^th and 17^th centuries. We will learn of the influence of Catholicism on the religious and political systems. We will stay in the Posada De Hermano Pedro. This is a colonial era hotel. We will have our major debriefing of the trip here on the morning of August 3.

Friday  August 3 Travel back to Guatemala City by mini-van. We will stay in La Casa Blanca Hotel.

Sat.  August 4    Travel back to the U. S.

Sorry there aren't any pictures this time : (

Please keep me in your prayers during these next three weeks. Please pray specifically for safe and easy travel and for the health of me and the rest of the team. Pray that people would learn a lot from this trip and God would instill a passion for evangelism and translation into the members of the team. Please also pray that I would get awesome pictures that would accurately and creatively tell the story of this trip. Thank you so much and enjoy your Sunday afternoon : )

Half-Way Point

This week has really been an incredible time of seeing God fulfill His promises! As you know, finances have been a struggle this summer. I got to see God provide in a big way this week when $450 dollars came in from some unexpected places. Reflection Time this week was also a big blessing as I surrendered a lot of fears that I've been clinging onto for some time now.

As this coming week is my last one before I depart for Dallas (for 5 days of training) and then Guatemala (for two weeks of ministry) I am grateful for how close I am to God right now. A lesson He's been teaching me for the last month or so is that "God is enough". I am continually reminded of that each and every day and it is a great encouragement to me!

And now, here's some visual description of what the past week has been like : )

This week I've still been working on taking pictures of the artifacts here at Wycliffe. Working with this set of bow and arrows was particularly difficult and involved hanging them from the ceiling with fishing line. It was fun : )

On Wednesday we celebrated Independence Day at the little town of Celebration. We had dinner with some Wycliffe staff that lived there and then headed downtown for some fireworks. It was a lovely night of celebrating our country!

On Friday night we had our "Commissioning Dinner". Up until that night, the staff were "in charge". They led our classes and Bible Studies, and planned our community fun events. But now, it's up to us to take over the leadership role  for the summer. The night was a ceremonious passing on of the baton, if you will : ) 

We really like each other if you can't tell.

They made us try gator tail. I was skeptical.

 It wasn't too bad though. Little bit chewy : )

This is the "story stick" that was also passed on to us. It's a dowel rod that the staff filled with inside jokes and pictures. Now we have to fill it up with our own stuff : )

Once again, thank you so much for your continued prayers! I am so blessed to be here and learning so much about my chosen career and to be growing in Christ. Please pray for my upcoming trip. I leave on Sunday around 4pm. Pray that I am prepared spiritually, physically and emotionally. I am so excited to see what else God's got planned for this time overseas!
Please keep praying for my finances as well. Praise God that it's getting closer to my goal, but I still need to raise about $500.
Hope you all have a great week!

Week Four!

It's been another crazy eventful week of learning and growing! I really feel like I'm staring to get the hang of the lighting and photography that I've been doing in the studio for the last three weeks. I finished up the products from the "Village shop" in the Visitor's center and have moved on to documenting the numerous artifacts that Wycliffe owns. This is an incredible experience to handle so many artifacts from around the world. Each piece has its own interesting story and its fun to guess what each thing was used for.
I continue to grow in my faith as I have to keep relying on God to provide my finances and encouragement through the frustrations that go along with life. I am so thankful that I have the opportunity to serve here for the summer!
Here is a sneak peak of all that goes on throughout the week : )

On Monday night we had the opportunity to have dinner with the President of Wycliffe, Bob Creeson. It was great to get to know him and his wife a little bit. They are both very humble and fun people to be around. We got to hear about Bob's journey as God led him to Wycliffe and we got to share our own experiences as well.

 On Tuesday we helped host a group of 200 college students who are part of Campus Outreach Ministries. They come to Orlando every summer to work at a theme park (this year they are working at Islands of Adventure) and spend their free time in small groups learning about God, and taking to the streets for evangelism. On their free night off, they wanted to come to Wycliffe to hear about the translation process and how they could get involved. I got to talk to a guy that has the same double major as me-how cool is that?! In the picture below some students pray for people groups who do not yet have a Bible in their own language.

Wednesday night we had dinner at another staff member's house, Thursday we had our reflection night, and Friday we had a Girl's/Guy's Night for our community fun. The girls drove over to Sarah Joy's (the interim intern director) house for a night of fondue, pajamas, High Tea, and testimonies. This was a great time to relax, get to know everyone better, and share our struggles with each other. We were over there until midnight sharing and encouraging one another. It was fantastic!

On Saturday, the interns and a couple staff headed out to Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios! Eli, an IT guy from my department who works at Islands of Adventure as a pyrotech on the weekends, was able to get us discount tickets for the day! We thoroughly enjoyed our 14 hours of thrills : ) It was extra cool because we got to see some of the students who we had met at the Campus Outreach Ministry night. A few of them worked at the Harry Potter ride and even let us in the backdoor for a second ride. shhhh : )

Also, here are a couple of shots from the artifact shoot that I've been working on for the past week.

Thanks for reading and thanks for your prayers! Here are a few specific things you can be praying about : )
Praises: I am growing a lot (professionally and spiritually), I'm settled in and have a good routine, I've got good friendships with the other interns and staff, and I love what I'm doing!
Prayer Requests: I still need to raise about $900 of support, that I would be well prepared for Guatemala, that I would rely on God for all of my needs.

If you can think of any of your friends or family who may be interested in receiving a support letter from me, please let me know! Thanks so much : )
Hope you all have a great week!