Casa Guatemala

We were able to spend an afternoon with the volunteers and children at the Casa Guatemala orphanage. We decided the best approach to ministry here was haircutting and styling. This way we would be providing a service, while getting to hang out with the children and talk to the volunteers. They were happy to hear that I did hair, and quickly set up so that I could begin working. We were able to work with one group of children during their free time- mostly k-3rd graders. A few quickly volunteered to have their hair cut, mostly boys! Kyle played soccer with the children and began to form relationships, and we were both able to befriend many of the young adult volunteers, from all over the world! We had some great conversations and were able to share a lot about our lives and our ministry. More importantly, we were able to hear the life stories of a few of the volunteers. There is one girl from Germany that we ask you to specifically pray for. She shared with us...”It is difficult to find peace in this place.” She is new to the Casa, away from home, a little unsettled and obviously searching. We began to share with her about the peace and joy that we have in Christ. She definitely agreed, and was raised as a Christian, but said that during her teenage years she rebelled. Unfortunately our conversation was cut short by the children’s schedule so we arranged to spend more time with her on Wednesday night when we come back to the Casa. Please be praying for our next opportunity to talk to her! We are really looking forward to finishing our conversation and offering her a little light in what appears to be a very dark and lonely place.
The children loved having their hair cut and braided and many girls wanted to use the rubber bands and beads to work on each other’s hair. We had to be very careful because anything that was set down would be picked up by a kid and we might not ever see it again! They were so curious and excited to have us around. Due to the children’s schedule we weren’t able to see all of the kids that we hoped so we arranged for us to come back on Wednesday to teach the older girls (about 17) how to cut hair. When I shared this idea with the director she seemed very glad that it would possibly equip them for a job in the future. It is obviously a huge concern because many children graduate in October from the Casa (ages 16-18) and have no where to go or no way of making money. Pray for the preparation for this ministry on Wednesday afternoon! We have heard that the girls are very hard to get through to and have fairly strong attitudes. Hopefully this will be something to break the ice and show that we really care about them- enough to serve them and teach them a trade and equip them with hair cutting kits of their own! Praise the Lord for what we were able to bring to the Casa... we can’t wait to return on Wednesday.
Right now we are at the Buchanan’s dormitory, house sitting and baby sitting their children while they took some time to go into Guatemala city. How awesome it is to serve other missionaries! We are enjoying every second in Guatemala and are falling more and more in love with this place and the people every day!

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