I can't believe how fast a month goes! We are now back from Guatemala. We spent the last 30 days in a village in North Guatemala called Pacux (Pakush is how you pronounce it). We lived there in the village with the local Achi people. They are native descendants of the Mayan culture. Here is a picture of the family that allowed us to live in their home. We grew to know and love them. They were one of the best parts of our trip...amazing, loving, giving people.

The people we lived with are known as the "People of the Rio Negro". Back in 1982, when Guatemala was politically unstable, these people lived in a region known as the Rio Negro. But the government forced them to move so that a hydro-electric dam could be built in place of their village. Naturally they didn't want to leave, so there was resistance and in the end hundreds were killed in several massacres. This memorial below is in the center of Pacux and it serves as a memorial to those that died. So there is a history of being rejected and mistreated and holding onto animosity. The people still have pictures of their "home" and often note in conversation that Rio Negro is their home. Even now in the village there are very few older men because they were killed back in the 80's.

Below is a picture of our street that we lived on. First on the left are two houses that allowed our team leaders and the girls on our team to live. The house we lived in is the third one down the road. Then the real small hut on the right of the road (with the big red bucket) was the team's makeshift shower. It was quite interesting to shower with little kids walking by saying "HOLA DAVID!!" but that is where the water source and drain were. The locals were very open about their bodies, so they would often wash outside near their homes.


Here is a picture of the family when we hiked up above Pacux. You can actually see the village in the background. Up on this mountain were a few Mayan ruins. It took only an hour to hike up, but it was an amazingly steep climb.


Here is a picture of a few of us hanging gutters on a family's home. They would get flooded every time it rained, so we were able to redirect the water and keep their yard dry. They were amazing and very thankful. The grandpa that lived there was the oldest looking man I had ever seen. I tried to get a picture of him but it didn't work out.


Here is Ruth with our hosts Elena and Juliana. Notice how monstrously tall Ruth is! (she is 5'3"). The Achi people are on the shorter side. Here they dressed Ruth up in their traditional clothing. It was ladies like these that frequented the medical clinics that we held twice a week. They brought their families and babies and the team was able to bless them with anything from medical advice and medicine to even delivering a baby! The people were very grateful that we were there and able to give them teaching to help them with health and nutrition.

Here are a few of the wonderful girls from our host family. They are riding one of the bikes that we fixed up for them. The family had 7 bikes and none of them could be ridden. We were praying about a way that we could bless them in return for loving us and allowing us to live in their home for a month. So we felt like we should repair popped tires and broken cables and other miscellaneous bike parts for them. They were very appreciative and excited.

Here is Ruth making tortillas. The locals eat tortillas at least twice a day. They taste awesome, but they are so much work.



This is just a common occurrence. A sad little girl sitting alone. We did our best to love the people and really get to know them. They are a very loving and kind and giving people group. They definitely grabbed our hearts in the short time that we were with them.


Below is the children's Sunday school service that we ran each Sunday. There were over 50 kids that would come sing and play and learn from our team.


Here is a picture of our team as we are all traveling on a bus. Old school buses are everywhere in Guatemala and are the most common mode of transportation. We described the three hour drive from Guatemala city to San Miguel as "The longest roller coaster EVER". They drive these buses as fast as they can possibly go... up and down steep mountains with no guard rails...passing trucks...slamming on breaks...it was crazy driving.



This is our family with our host family. We all cried when we had to part ways. God was amazing in allowing us to connect with this family. We were able to sit around in the evenings and get to know each other (despite our limited Spanish). They truly blessed us with friendship and their home and their family. We will miss our friends in Pacux!

Thank you to everyone who covered our trip with prayer. As most of you know it was a physically challenging trip for all of us . . . especially Ruth. But God's grace was with us because of your prayers! Thank you! And to those of you who supported us financially, you know who you are, thank you from the bottom of our hearts! Your generosity allowed us to touch lives and hearts with God's love. We can't say it enough . . . THANK YOU!
God bless ~ Dave, Ruth, Jessika & Jonathan ~