A Final Celebration!

Another fantastic day of Celebration and decisions for our Living Waters team here in Guatamala! This morning, it was El Shaddai’s turn to celebrate their new water filtration system in Mazatenango. After a fantastic breakfast, as always, we were energized to head to the church to decorate and prepare. Once the service started, it was festive and welcoming! Two members greeted guests coming in, and chairs were put out to accommodate those who came to celebrate God and the new water system. Pastor Roberto shared great lessons about water, and our poor stewardship of God’s resources. He used the system as an example of how we need to start taking care of one another, and the world we live in. Clean water is a rarity, and a clear threat to the wellbeing of the people of Guatamala.

Greeters at El Shaddai.

Pastor Roberto welcoming his flock on Sunday.

Pastor Roberto loves sharing about the Lord!

Fred, our trip leader, shared the story of Steve, the homeless artist who sketched the Fox Valley drawing given in appreciation of our partnership. Jean revealed some of the lessons to the adults present, which their kids experienced during our training. We had volunteers lay out the parts of a water system, and some of the other students talked through the correct order, sending a t-shirt wearing water drop through to be cleaned. Eric shared a craft made by the PCBarrington VBS group after our Peru trip, distributing cards made with color and water – this was very popular appreciated by all, young and old!

To wrap up the celebration, we passed the water on to representatives from the church, shared some water from the new system, and took a tour to show how things work first hand.

Fred shares the story about the homeless artists who drew this picture of Fox Valley Church.

A living water system demonstration.

Eric presenting the cards from PC Barrington's kids.

The Fox Valleyteam passing water on to the El Shaddai team.

Fred and Javier pour the first piture of wate during a blessing.

Installation and Operation teams at El Shaddai in Mazatenango.

We then drove to Champerico, near El Rosario, where Fox Valley revisited their first installed system five years ago. Pastor Freddy allowed us to enjoy a seafood lunch and meet his mom, Amanda! While part of the team went to the site, the rest of us waited near a pier overlooking the Atlantic Ocean, relaxing for the first time this week.Before we left to return to Reu, Freddy insisted we watch the sunset!

Miriam and Javier enjoying some deserts from freshly shaved ice and fruit!

Bill trying to have a conversation with Amanda, Pastor 

Freddy's mom.

The end of a beautiful sunset from Champerico's pier.

In addition to the relaxation, we learned a lot about “the way things work” here in Guatemala. Corruption is rampant, and upon asking Pastor Freddy about some the things we saw, were saddened by the wastefulness of some in the government here. The road we traveled was over 30 minutes of horrific pot holes due to the road project which ended up with only 1-2 inches of asphalt, which are now mostly broken up after only three years! We also saw a partially built structure next to the pier we relaxed at, and found out it was a failed fishery project which was poorly planned, and never fully implemented – costing over $50 million. Even the pier we stayed on was once a bustling port with railway and tourist places. Now, it is a dirty, dilapidated structure with nearly rusted through steps. We found out also that crime is rampant, and were told several times not to venture out onto the pier, even in small groups. Our presence here, to bring even a small amount of health and hope to those who need help, has true and lifelong significance!

We were told not to go beyond the bottles, even in a large group.

Old transportation pier.

A massive fishery building project, failed and wasting $50M!

After once again braving a 90 minute drive (partly over our favorite road) to head back to the hotel, our day ended with a late, but amazing spaghetti dinner with Marco. He also brought us a wonderfully fresh cucumber salad and homemade pine apple pie like we can’t get in Chicago! This was a great way to end two successful installations before heading home via a night’s stay in Antigua, Guatemala. Packing is needed, and more stories yet to come!

Pastor Freddy's Living Water van, and our transportation.