Day 4 | Vultures, Parties and New Friends

They could not have been more than six feet away, staring down at us from their perches on top of the ornate graves of the Guatemala City Cemetery. "Don't worry," Bob called to us, "the vultures only attack dead bodies." Wonderful! Perhaps the vultures thought that we were just a few more scavengers competing for the decaying food. They had no fear of us. We made our way through the graves to the cliff overlooking the Guatemala City dump. Below us were even more vultures picking through the garbage to find any morsels of food, and with them were the people, the other scavengers. They were dressed in bright clothes so it was easy to watch them scavenging through the white sea of garbage that stretched on and on below us. As I watched them I could not help but remember their faces. Some of those people down in that dump were people that I have met and prayed for, people who the Lord had broken my heart over. I felt my heart twist again as I watched the people run for the newly arriving garbage trucks, so that they could be the ones to find the best items. This scene was repeated over and over as we stood there just watching and realizing the misery of such a life.

After observing the dump we traveled a few blocks away to have a party with some precious children at a small day care called Casita Benjamin. This is a ministry for the families that make their living off of the dump. The children's ages are two through six, and they were so sweet. They hung onto us, played with us, and got to beat the Hello Kitty pinata. They stole our hearts, we did not want to leave. But onward we went to the Potter's House. A place that I had been to only three months before. It is located just a few steps from the dump. It is an amazing ministry for the "scavengers," people in the dump. They call the "scavengers" their "treasures," and try to help them find purpose beyond the trash. These are two ministries that Lord I really fell in love with

Over dinner and during our evening session we got to know four very amazing people. They became our friends. We heard from Glenn and Judy Stewart. Wow! What a couple! They are so real and so ready to serve. Then we heard from two ladies who are teaching at the Guatemala Academy of Guatemala, which we also visited today. (Yes, we do have an extremely full schedule.) Their names were Trisha and Heather, and they shared with us their life story and how the Lord brought them to Guatemala. Heather is only twenty one. Last week she found out that she had enough support to come teach at the school. She bought her ticket on Wednesday and arrived on Friday. Talk about stepping out it faith! Trisha is just a sweetheart. She has been teaching for three years, and she really has a story. She has so much fun! To hear the heart of the missionaries and to see them live their faith out everyday is such an amazing blessing.

Julie Wood