Blanco Family Notes: Guatemala - El Salvador June 2017

It has been three weeks since we returned from our trip to Central America. Thank you for your prayers and support! I (Cindy) left for Guatemala on June 4^th and flew to San Salvador on June 17^th. Being a part of Students International (SI) was an exceptional experience. I had the blessing to serve with Central Valley Christian High School (CVC) students, the local SI staff, and the local Guatemalan community. And, personally I was able to take advantage of a much needed spiritual retreat.

We were a team of 13. All of us stayed in different homes throughout the city of Magdalena Milpas Altas. Pam, Taylor and I stayed together with a very sweet family, Corina, Edwin and their three boys. Another group serving with our CVC team was a church group from Louisiana, and three people that were travelling on their own.

at CVC about to leave for LAX

Pam & Taylor, housemates, outside our home.
Walked down the hill every day to catch the team bus.

Every morning we traveled to SI’s community center for personal quiet times and all group worship and devotions. We studied the whole book of James. One of the aspects of SI that impressed me was their focus on personal spiritual growth. Every day we would split up and go to our different ministry sites. I was appointed to work at the Creative Arts Site with local missionary, Alvaro. This was an amazing experience. Our team consisted of a summer intern, Tessa, from Fresno, two students from Louisiana, Casey Grant from CVC and me. Alvaro is an experienced artist from Antigua, Guatemala. He has also studied music and is currently working on his Bachelor’s degree in Bible. He has a pastor’s heart and it was neat to watch how he ministers to his art students and to their parents. Every day we would help with one or two art classes. Some days involved visiting the students’ homes and praying with their families. I felt I was in El Salvador again when we would do home visits. I was able to minister God’s word and pray with people. I also helped translate for my teammates. Another awesome part of our time with our ministry sites was our team time. Alvaro would lead us in a time of prayer for each other and for the ministry before day started and we took turns sharing from the Bible after lunchtime. Our team project was a mural that we designed and painted together. I was blessed that the team decided on my idea based on a painting I had previously done. The other ministry sites where people served included: agriculture, health, micro-finance, tutoring, child sponsorship and women’s social work. Each group had unique experiences, but just as in the art site, all were focused on building relationships and spiritual growth.

Art Site, with our mural from Psalm 139:13-16

Art ministry team walking into town! (I'm not that great at taking selfies!)

This art class was working on a typical street scene
of Antigua with its colonial architecture.

Overall I was impressed how SI presented culture and how to do missionary work in a sustainable way. One evening was “culture night” where we were blessed with a banquet of delicious Guatemalan dishes and learned about the indigenous people groups and how to play games with local toys. One night was focused on discussing poverty and wrestling with what it actually means. They showed the documentary, Livingon One Dollar a Day. Their discussions were based on the book WhenHelping Hurts. I have read the book and feel it is a must-read for all ministries local and abroad! SI is a great organization for those who want to learn about another culture and be a part of an organization that is intentionally loving and serving alongside a local community.

I am so thankful that God sent me to Guatemala. I would love the opportunity to return with my family and lead a team from our Hispanic church. Please join me in prayer about this!

On June 17^th, while the team flew home to California, I flew south on a 30 minute ride to El Salvador. It was wonderful to reunite with Camilo and the kids after two weeks. By the time I arrived they had enjoyed a week of visiting family and friends and spending some quality time in the warm ocean waters of La Libertad, where Camilo grew up. The day after I arrived, we traveled north to Ojos de Agua, Chalatenango where we had planted the church. One of the main highway bridges had collapsed that we needed to take to get there, so we had to take a ferry across Suchitlan Lake. I love any opportunity to drive through Suchitoto (El Salvador’s “Antigua”) to take the ferry! A couple hours later we made it up the mountain on the risky roads where there had been recent landslides from so much rain. The church family was waiting for us. Camilo gave the sermon and after church we shared a wonderful meal of Salvadorian beef stew (Camilo’s favorite!). We spent a couple of nights with the pastor and his family. They entertained our children one afternoon while Camilo and I had the opportunity to walk the streets and chat with the people of Ojos de Agua. It brought back a flood of memories, some joyful, and some not-so. We were able to catch up on who had immigrated to the States, who had passed away, and who had new members of their family! It was a very special time. We then continued traveling and spent a night at the beach and had a relaxing time of reflection and quality family time. During the time in El Salvador we were able to see Camilo’s mother, brother and a great-aunt. It was great for the children to spend time with their abuela and tío! The kids did fairly well on the trip. They were rather picky over food, but if we fed them pupusas they were fine! We are very thankful that we remained healthy throughout the trip. God is good and gracious!

Ferry ride

A rainy day in Ojos de Agua, just love that mountain!

Now that we are home, I have just finished taking three CSET multi-subject exams to try to get into a teaching credential program. Please pray as I need to make some decisions on what jobs to apply for depending on the test results that I will get back at the end of this month. The remainder of the summer involves weeding out unnecessary things we own! We also look forward to hosting our missionary friends, the Overton Family from Mozambique at the end of the month!

A few more photos: