(OT) Back from Guatemala & a cat mention!

I just got back from 10 days in Guatemala. Two years ago, my church
decided to sponsor a church in Guatemala and this was our first mission
trip there.

What an awesome trip, and what a beautiful country! The people are
very friendly and very open to God. The missionaries we were with said
since they've been there (2 + yrs), 80 churches have been built. They
run a facility called the Chapel Factory. They get the rebar (steel)
and roofs ready for new churches. They have 8 full time nationals
working with them and depend on teams to come from the states to help
build the churches.

We were sponsoring a church in San Cristobal, which is currently
meeting under a tomato tent. They had purchased land, we provided
money to build a security fence around the land so they could start
building. The purpose of this trip was to help them lay blocks for the
walls.

When we arrived, the missionaries informed us that the church was not
ready for us. They were really worried that we would be upset, but we
knew there was a possibility that we wouldn't be able to work on this
building (permits, etc.) They did have another opportunity for us.
Another church, also in San Cristobal but in the city of Quetzeltenango
(sp?), which is 4.5 hrs from Guatemala City. They had a building but
needed a roof, which they had been praying for for 2 years. The people
approached the missionaries a couple days before we arrived, so they
asked us if we would be willing to help them. And of course we said
yes. This was really cool: prior to our trip, one of the guys on the
team had looked up San Cristobal on the internet and began praying for
them. As it turned out, the San Cristobal he had been praying for was
the one we helped put a roof on! The people had been fasting for 2
weeks, I believe, prior to our coming.

This was such a cool experience. The people were so grateful and the
pastor's mother, wife, daughters, etc. fixed us an excellent lunch for
the day we were there. The guys on the team got a roof on the building
in about 8 hours or so. The women worked in a lot behind the church,
picking up trashing and leveling the ground so the children could play
back there. We also did some activities with the children.

While there, we got to visit Antigua. Unfortunately, we didn't spend
as much time there as I would have liked. We mostly visited the jade
factory and shopped at the marketplace. That was fine but I would have
loved to have roamed the streets and look at all the old churches and
buildings that are there. We did get to buy Antigua coffee, Starbucks
best seller, for $3.50 / lb. I wish I had bought more than 3 pounds!

On Saturday, we flew to Flores and took a tour bus to Tikal to visit
the ruins. That was a great day, very interesting.

Now for the cat moment: Our first evening at the compound, a beautiful
gray/silver striped cat came across my path. The missionary said she
had never seen it before, so I told her it was my animal magnetism : )
Each evening the kitty came around. The next night we were eating
in our dining area, had the door open. The kitty peeked its head
around the corner but did not come in.

I didn't see it the last few days of the trip. The morning that we
were leaving, a couple from the team came to my room and said they had
a surprise for me. With them was the kitty. She had showed up the
evening before, meowing outside their door. They gave her some tuna
and left the door open, thinking she'd want to leave. But she stayed,
she spent the night on the husband's chest. Boy, was I jealous! It
must have been someone's pet, the kitty was very clean and very
friendly.

For those of you who remember my bad experience boarding my dogs last
year when I went to help the Katrina animals, I had a great one this
time. A new one opened up last December. A guy and his mom had built
a home on 10 acres a few years ago, he used to be in construction. He
built a very nice kennel on the land. The building looks like a house,
large windows and big kennels. He put a lot of thought into the best
way to set it up. I didn't see the cat area but he explained that
somehow the inside air is circulated outside, so the cats can breathe
fresh air and not stale air. When I dropped the dogs off, he said
there was 1 cat there for 1 month. The owner was an 81 yr old man, and
he was going on his honeymoon!

The dogs were not stressed at this kennel, and he said they were his
favorites so far. They didn't chew up the bedding or potty in the
kennels. He would let the dogs wander the building / his office while
he was there, and there was a run he let them out in at least 3 times a
day. I can tell they got a lot of attention, even the chow mix didn't
seem to miss me. I've always been told that he gets sad/mopey when I
am gone.

Going back to my awful kenneling experience last Oct., I mentioned a
little bit about it to him. How my dogs were stressed and when I
mentioned it to the owner, she commented "I was wondering why someone
would abandon their dogs." He didn't want to speak badly about anyone
but he did mention a groomer in the area had worked for this lady for 2
years and told him "She is evil."

Hope everyone is well.

Purrs,
Theresa

Welcome back. What an interesting experience you had in
Guatemala. Our church quite often sends teams to Central and South America
for mission work. I would love to work with the American Indians. Am so
glad to hear that your experience with the new kennel was so good, you will
feel much more comfortable leaving your dogs there. Loved the stories of
the pretty gray/silver striped cat and the cat and his/her owner who was on
his honeymoon!
Charleen
Mr. Pumpkin
Aggie Marble
Victor Velcro

"theresa" wrote in message
oups.com...
I just got back from 10 days in Guatemala. Two years ago, my church
decided to sponsor a church in Guatemala and this was our first mission
trip there.

What an awesome trip, and what a beautiful country! The people are
very friendly and very open to God. The missionaries we were with said
since they've been there (2 + yrs), 80 churches have been built. They
run a facility called the Chapel Factory. They get the rebar (steel)
and roofs ready for new churches. They have 8 full time nationals
working with them and depend on teams to come from the states to help
build the churches.

We were sponsoring a church in San Cristobal, which is currently
meeting under a tomato tent. They had purchased land, we provided
money to build a security fence around the land so they could start
building. The purpose of this trip was to help them lay blocks for the
walls.

When we arrived, the missionaries informed us that the church was not
ready for us. They were really worried that we would be upset, but we
knew there was a possibility that we wouldn't be able to work on this
building (permits, etc.) They did have another opportunity for us.
Another church, also in San Cristobal but in the city of Quetzeltenango
(sp?), which is 4.5 hrs from Guatemala City. They had a building but
needed a roof, which they had been praying for for 2 years. The people
approached the missionaries a couple days before we arrived, so they
asked us if we would be willing to help them. And of course we said
yes. This was really cool: prior to our trip, one of the guys on the
team had looked up San Cristobal on the internet and began praying for
them. As it turned out, the San Cristobal he had been praying for was
the one we helped put a roof on! The people had been fasting for 2
weeks, I believe, prior to our coming.

This was such a cool experience. The people were so grateful and the
pastor's mother, wife, daughters, etc. fixed us an excellent lunch for
the day we were there. The guys on the team got a roof on the building
in about 8 hours or so. The women worked in a lot behind the church,
picking up trashing and leveling the ground so the children could play
back there. We also did some activities with the children.

While there, we got to visit Antigua. Unfortunately, we didn't spend
as much time there as I would have liked. We mostly visited the jade
factory and shopped at the marketplace. That was fine but I would have
loved to have roamed the streets and look at all the old churches and
buildings that are there. We did get to buy Antigua coffee, Starbucks
best seller, for $3.50 / lb. I wish I had bought more than 3 pounds!

On Saturday, we flew to Flores and took a tour bus to Tikal to visit
the ruins. That was a great day, very interesting.

Now for the cat moment: Our first evening at the compound, a beautiful
gray/silver striped cat came across my path. The missionary said she
had never seen it before, so I told her it was my animal magnetism : )
Each evening the kitty came around. The next night we were eating
in our dining area, had the door open. The kitty peeked its head
around the corner but did not come in.

I didn't see it the last few days of the trip. The morning that we
were leaving, a couple from the team came to my room and said they had
a surprise for me. With them was the kitty. She had showed up the
evening before, meowing outside their door. They gave her some tuna
and left the door open, thinking she'd want to leave. But she stayed,
she spent the night on the husband's chest. Boy, was I jealous! It
must have been someone's pet, the kitty was very clean and very
friendly.

For those of you who remember my bad experience boarding my dogs last
year when I went to help the Katrina animals, I had a great one this
time. A new one opened up last December. A guy and his mom had built
a home on 10 acres a few years ago, he used to be in construction. He
built a very nice kennel on the land. The building looks like a house,
large windows and big kennels. He put a lot of thought into the best
way to set it up. I didn't see the cat area but he explained that
somehow the inside air is circulated outside, so the cats can breathe
fresh air and not stale air. When I dropped the dogs off, he said
there was 1 cat there for 1 month. The owner was an 81 yr old man, and
he was going on his honeymoon!

The dogs were not stressed at this kennel, and he said they were his
favorites so far. They didn't chew up the bedding or potty in the
kennels. He would let the dogs wander the building / his office while
he was there, and there was a run he let them out in at least 3 times a
day. I can tell they got a lot of attention, even the chow mix didn't
seem to miss me. I've always been told that he gets sad/mopey when I
am gone.

Going back to my awful kenneling experience last Oct., I mentioned a
little bit about it to him. How my dogs were stressed and when I
mentioned it to the owner, she commented "I was wondering why someone
would abandon their dogs." He didn't want to speak badly about anyone
but he did mention a groomer in the area had worked for this lady for 2
years and told him "She is evil."

Hope everyone is well.

Purrs,
Theresa

Wow, welcome back! What a nice and busy trip you had. I'm glad you were able
to bring much joy to your missions. Glad to hear you found someone nice to
care for the furbabies. I have always admired missionaries, I think they
bring so much to the people they administer to.
Lily & her mama

--

Irulan
from the stars we come
to the stars we return
from now until the end of time
"theresa" wrote in message
oups.com...
I just got back from 10 days in Guatemala. Two years ago, my church
decided to sponsor a church in Guatemala and this was our first mission
trip there.

What an awesome trip, and what a beautiful country! The people are
very friendly and very open to God. The missionaries we were with said
since they've been there (2 + yrs), 80 churches have been built. They
run a facility called the Chapel Factory. They get the rebar (steel)
and roofs ready for new churches. They have 8 full time nationals
working with them and depend on teams to come from the states to help
build the churches.

We were sponsoring a church in San Cristobal, which is currently
meeting under a tomato tent. They had purchased land, we provided
money to build a security fence around the land so they could start
building. The purpose of this trip was to help them lay blocks for the
walls.

When we arrived, the missionaries informed us that the church was not
ready for us. They were really worried that we would be upset, but we
knew there was a possibility that we wouldn't be able to work on this
building (permits, etc.) They did have another opportunity for us.
Another church, also in San Cristobal but in the city of Quetzeltenango
(sp?), which is 4.5 hrs from Guatemala City. They had a building but
needed a roof, which they had been praying for for 2 years. The people
approached the missionaries a couple days before we arrived, so they
asked us if we would be willing to help them. And of course we said
yes. This was really cool: prior to our trip, one of the guys on the
team had looked up San Cristobal on the internet and began praying for
them. As it turned out, the San Cristobal he had been praying for was
the one we helped put a roof on! The people had been fasting for 2
weeks, I believe, prior to our coming.

This was such a cool experience. The people were so grateful and the
pastor's mother, wife, daughters, etc. fixed us an excellent lunch for
the day we were there. The guys on the team got a roof on the building
in about 8 hours or so. The women worked in a lot behind the church,
picking up trashing and leveling the ground so the children could play
back there. We also did some activities with the children.

While there, we got to visit Antigua. Unfortunately, we didn't spend
as much time there as I would have liked. We mostly visited the jade
factory and shopped at the marketplace. That was fine but I would have
loved to have roamed the streets and look at all the old churches and
buildings that are there. We did get to buy Antigua coffee, Starbucks
best seller, for $3.50 / lb. I wish I had bought more than 3 pounds!

On Saturday, we flew to Flores and took a tour bus to Tikal to visit
the ruins. That was a great day, very interesting.

Now for the cat moment: Our first evening at the compound, a beautiful
gray/silver striped cat came across my path. The missionary said she
had never seen it before, so I told her it was my animal magnetism : )
Each evening the kitty came around. The next night we were eating
in our dining area, had the door open. The kitty peeked its head
around the corner but did not come in.

I didn't see it the last few days of the trip. The morning that we
were leaving, a couple from the team came to my room and said they had
a surprise for me. With them was the kitty. She had showed up the
evening before, meowing outside their door. They gave her some tuna
and left the door open, thinking she'd want to leave. But she stayed,
she spent the night on the husband's chest. Boy, was I jealous! It
must have been someone's pet, the kitty was very clean and very
friendly.

For those of you who remember my bad experience boarding my dogs last
year when I went to help the Katrina animals, I had a great one this
time. A new one opened up last December. A guy and his mom had built
a home on 10 acres a few years ago, he used to be in construction. He
built a very nice kennel on the land. The building looks like a house,
large windows and big kennels. He put a lot of thought into the best
way to set it up. I didn't see the cat area but he explained that
somehow the inside air is circulated outside, so the cats can breathe
fresh air and not stale air. When I dropped the dogs off, he said
there was 1 cat there for 1 month. The owner was an 81 yr old man, and
he was going on his honeymoon!

The dogs were not stressed at this kennel, and he said they were his
favorites so far. They didn't chew up the bedding or potty in the
kennels. He would let the dogs wander the building / his office while
he was there, and there was a run he let them out in at least 3 times a
day. I can tell they got a lot of attention, even the chow mix didn't
seem to miss me. I've always been told that he gets sad/mopey when I
am gone.

Going back to my awful kenneling experience last Oct., I mentioned a
little bit about it to him. How my dogs were stressed and when I
mentioned it to the owner, she commented "I was wondering why someone
would abandon their dogs." He didn't want to speak badly about anyone
but he did mention a groomer in the area had worked for this lady for 2
years and told him "She is evil."

Hope everyone is well.

Purrs,
Theresa

theresa wrote:

I just got back from 10 days in Guatemala. Two years ago, my church
decided to sponsor a church in Guatemala and this was our first mission
trip there.
snip
Purrs,
Theresa


Welcome back, Theresa.
Best wishes,
Polonca and Soncek

On 2006-02-28, theresa penned:
I just got back from 10 days in Guatemala. Two years ago, my church
decided to sponsor a church in Guatemala and this was our first
mission trip there.

Glad you had such a fun and rewarding time!

--
monique, who spoils Oscar unmercifully

pictures: http://www.bounceswoosh.org/rpca

theresa wrote:
I just got back from 10 days in Guatemala. Two years ago, my church
decided to sponsor a church in Guatemala and this was our first mission
trip there.

What an awesome trip, and what a beautiful country! The people are
very friendly and very open to God. The missionaries we were with said
since they've been there (2 + yrs), 80 churches have been built. They
run a facility called the Chapel Factory. They get the rebar (steel)
and roofs ready for new churches. They have 8 full time nationals
working with them and depend on teams to come from the states to help
build the churches.

We were sponsoring a church in San Cristobal, which is currently
meeting under a tomato tent. They had purchased land, we provided
money to build a security fence around the land so they could start
building. The purpose of this trip was to help them lay blocks for the
walls.

When we arrived, the missionaries informed us that the church was not
ready for us. They were really worried that we would be upset, but we
knew there was a possibility that we wouldn't be able to work on this
building (permits, etc.) They did have another opportunity for us.
Another church, also in San Cristobal but in the city of Quetzeltenango
(sp?), which is 4.5 hrs from Guatemala City. They had a building but
needed a roof, which they had been praying for for 2 years. The people
approached the missionaries a couple days before we arrived, so they
asked us if we would be willing to help them. And of course we said
yes. This was really cool: prior to our trip, one of the guys on the
team had looked up San Cristobal on the internet and began praying for
them. As it turned out, the San Cristobal he had been praying for was
the one we helped put a roof on! The people had been fasting for 2
weeks, I believe, prior to our coming.

This was such a cool experience. The people were so grateful and the
pastor's mother, wife, daughters, etc. fixed us an excellent lunch for
the day we were there. The guys on the team got a roof on the building
in about 8 hours or so. The women worked in a lot behind the church,
picking up trashing and leveling the ground so the children could play
back there. We also did some activities with the children.

While there, we got to visit Antigua. Unfortunately, we didn't spend
as much time there as I would have liked. We mostly visited the jade
factory and shopped at the marketplace. That was fine but I would have
loved to have roamed the streets and look at all the old churches and
buildings that are there. We did get to buy Antigua coffee, Starbucks
best seller, for $3.50 / lb. I wish I had bought more than 3 pounds!

On Saturday, we flew to Flores and took a tour bus to Tikal to visit
the ruins. That was a great day, very interesting.

Now for the cat moment: Our first evening at the compound, a beautiful
gray/silver striped cat came across my path. The missionary said she
had never seen it before, so I told her it was my animal magnetism : )
Each evening the kitty came around. The next night we were eating
in our dining area, had the door open. The kitty peeked its head
around the corner but did not come in.

I didn't see it the last few days of the trip. The morning that we
were leaving, a couple from the team came to my room and said they had
a surprise for me. With them was the kitty. She had showed up the
evening before, meowing outside their door. They gave her some tuna
and left the door open, thinking she'd want to leave. But she stayed,
she spent the night on the husband's chest. Boy, was I jealous! It
must have been someone's pet, the kitty was very clean and very
friendly.

For those of you who remember my bad experience boarding my dogs last
year when I went to help the Katrina animals, I had a great one this
time. A new one opened up last December. A guy and his mom had built
a home on 10 acres a few years ago, he used to be in construction. He
built a very nice kennel on the land. The building looks like a house,
large windows and big kennels. He put a lot of thought into the best
way to set it up. I didn't see the cat area but he explained that
somehow the inside air is circulated outside, so the cats can breathe
fresh air and not stale air. When I dropped the dogs off, he said
there was 1 cat there for 1 month. The owner was an 81 yr old man, and
he was going on his honeymoon!

The dogs were not stressed at this kennel, and he said they were his
favorites so far. They didn't chew up the bedding or potty in the
kennels. He would let the dogs wander the building / his office while
he was there, and there was a run he let them out in at least 3 times a
day. I can tell they got a lot of attention, even the chow mix didn't
seem to miss me. I've always been told that he gets sad/mopey when I
am gone.

Going back to my awful kenneling experience last Oct., I mentioned a
little bit about it to him. How my dogs were stressed and when I
mentioned it to the owner, she commented "I was wondering why someone
would abandon their dogs." He didn't want to speak badly about anyone
but he did mention a groomer in the area had worked for this lady for 2
years and told him "She is evil."

Hope everyone is well.

Purrs,
Theresa


Welcome back, it sounds like a great trip.
Suz&Spicey