Breakaway Spring Break Guatemala Mission Trip

Trip Update

2011-03-16T23:04:00.000-05:00

Today, half of the team woke up before sunrise to drive to Antigua to help with the construction of what will eventually be a boy's home for young men. The boy's home will provide young men with chances to start over. Many of the boys that will be taken in have no clue what it is like to have a family, and will get to experience that for the first time once this place is complete. We heard some incredible stories from Nathan (Leader of the boys home) that motivated the team to work better and faster than I have ever seen a missions team work. The students worked extremely hard from 8-5 with very little breaks. The activities ranged from mixing/pouring concrete, to taking wheelbarrows full of dirt and rock down a very steep, long hill. Out of all the mission trips I have ever been on, I have never seen such hard work from a team. Nathan is very good at posting pictures on facebook and has already uploaded pictures from today in Antigua. If you would like to see them, go to facebook and search for Engadi Ministries Intl.

Also, to see and hear more about Engadi Ministries Intl, visit www.engadiministriesintl.org. It is worth checking out and will give you an insight of what Nathan's plans are for the ministry, and will also help you understand just why we are so motivated to serve Nathan's ministry the best we can.

Tomorrow we plan on working in Antigua till the late afternoon and then head back to the seminary to be back with the other half of the team. Friday is our free day and we will be returning to Antigua shop, and also have some down time.

We will do our very best to try and update again before the trip is over, but because of no wireless internet, it could be difficult.

We can't wait to be back home with our families and look forward to telling you all about our experiences here in Guatemala. Continue to pray for energy....especially for the leaders :)

-David Read

Team Update

2011-03-16T10:53:00.002-05:00

Good morning. I do not know if you have any updates on our
team. Thought I would do a little update. Half-way through our time here!
Half of us are in the vans on the way to Nathan's. We
have painted a beauty shop in Shalom. Painted yellow lines in the
garage of Shalom, chiseled cement with small hand tools. We have
worked at Liberty House to transform the property into a retreat for
the Shalom youth. We worked with 80 Guatemala kids to clean. Pick axe
moving piles of rocks dirt sand and moved lots of leaves. All up and
down a pretty steep hill! It overlooks paradise. We have cleaned
Rodney's plaza and it will get sealed (scraped gum for hours). The
other team spent last 2 days at Nathan & Claudia's. I am very excited
to go. They said it is beautiful. We stay in a beautiful home. It is 2000'
higher. Antigua has so much history and beautiful Bluildings. Joe took
pictures inside the hardware store. Beautiful carved columns and
shelves and wood interior. They worked like warriors laying the
foundation for the first building! Very emotional and rewarding. They
went thru 12 water bottles in 2 days! We have interacted with youth.
Handed out 50 laundry baskets of food. Went to a long church service.
Lots of worship with lots of heart to hearts and making new friends. Making
incredible life-long memories! I've done a little laughing too. The students
are not complaining at all. Everyone safe & a few folks with allergy
stuff. A great group. Xoxo. Fufi (Ruthie Brower)

Update from Guatemala

2011-03-14T13:47:00.001-05:00

This is John Weidman. No Internet access yet - working on it. Travel was great. Worship with Engadi youth Saturday was great. Sunday worship and delivered food baskets to 50 families all over Guatemala City First team in Antique now safely proceeding with work. Second team at Shalom and orphanage also being safe and determined to serve. Please let the parents know that their students are all performing excellent. We will see at the end of the week, but this group may be one of the best that I have led.

Team Photos + Nathan's Boys' Home Info

2010-03-21T18:15:00.007-05:00

For more information on Nathan's upcoming boys' home, visit http://www.geberderek.org.

Here's the video Nathan showed on our last night:

Here are the team photos that we took this week (click on each picture for full resolution versions).

The team picture taken in front of Shalom after the plaza dedication.

Full Resolution

The final edition of the mural that the team painted at the orphanage.

Full Resolution

Team picture at the base of Volcan Pacaya.

Full Resolution

Friday Update - Maddie, Kylie, Andie, & Closing

2010-03-19T21:28:00.002-05:00

I'll be posting a few select pictures over the next few days, so check back here for those. It's been a pleasure to update you once again. Thanks for reading, watching, and praying!

Thursday Update - Matt & Caroline

2010-03-18T23:21:00.000-05:00

And for further information on the orphanage that we worked with this week, visit http://www.hope4tomorrow.net.

Wednesday Update - Kelsey & Shelby

2010-03-17T23:49:00.000-05:00

Tuesday Update - Spencer & Emily

2010-03-16T18:53:00.003-05:00

We've finally found internet access! Look for videos to be posted nightly. This one is being posted a day later than expected, so Spencer is discussing our events for Sunday. Thanks for your prayers and support -

And remember, if you would like these updates emailed to you nightly, you can subscribe here.

Monday Night Update

2010-03-15T23:11:00.000-05:00

Today was our first work day and it was fantastic. We put in a lot of hard work and got to see God work in visible ways. We're all healthy and our spirits are high. Thanks for the continued prayers, and please pray for energy and enthusiasm tomorrow.

Sunday Night Update

2010-03-14T23:50:00.000-05:00

We had a great day at Shalom Baptist Church today and took food baskets to people in the local neighborhoods. Short update due to spotty Internet (we're working on it), but thanks for the prayers and we already have great stories to share. Everyone is safe, healthy, and happy!

Arrival

2010-03-14T00:10:00.000-06:00

The whole team has made it safely to Guatemala City and we're looking forward to getting some rest after a long day of travel. We'll go to church in the morning and can hopefully provide more updates soon!

Welcome - 2010 Edition

2010-03-11T10:20:00.003-06:00

Welcome to the blog for the 2010 Breakaway Spring Break trip to Guatemala!

Check here for daily updates beginning Saturday, March 13. Updates will most likely be posted each evening, although you can receive an overnight email notifying you if an update has been posted by subscribing here.

Thanks so much for your prayers and support! We look forward to sharing all kinds of great things from the trip.

Trip Recap Video

2009-03-26T12:56:00.002-05:00

For the longer version that was shown at the Guatemala Reunion, click here.

Saturday Update - Volcano Edition

2009-03-22T00:34:00.007-05:00

And for further information on the orphanage that we worked with this week, visit http://www.hope4tomorrow.net.

Here's our final team photo (click here for full resolution version):

It's been a pleasure bringing these to you. Thanks again for the thoughts and prayers.

Friday Update - Hilary

2009-03-21T00:29:00.000-05:00

Thursday Update - Steve & Kacey

2009-03-20T00:23:00.003-05:00

UPDATE: For more information about the orphanage, visit http://www.hope4tomorrow.net.

Wednesday Update - Chris & Taylor + Pictures

2009-03-19T00:13:00.005-05:00

~~Sorry for the technical difficulties~~ - the video has been fixed and is working now.

And for additional updates, be sure to call 918.392.1154 and listen to the voicemail - updated daily.

Tuesday Update - Ryan & Caroline + Pictures

2009-03-18T00:30:00.003-05:00

And please continue to pray for the other teams in Houston, Kentucky, and Mexico.

Check on the Mexico team here: http://breakawaymexico.blogspot.com

Monday Update - Erik & Alayna

2009-03-16T23:27:00.000-05:00

Arrival

2009-03-16T00:58:00.001-05:00

Almost There

2009-03-14T10:29:00.002-05:00

Welcome

2009-03-13T21:15:00.017-05:00

Welcome to the Breakaway Spring Break Guatemala missions blog. We'll update as often as we can.

Feel free to leave comments, and we'll try and pass the messages along to the students!