Guatemala 2025/26

I made it safely to Guatemala yesterday (after another delayed flight!). I’m happy to be safe and sound and the difficult travels are quickly becoming a distant memory…even though it was literally yesterday.  ​Casa Bernabé is such a special place. I don’t even have the words to describe it. Often times team members describe it as an oasis.  Yesterday, I had the privilege of spending the afternoon with a house family that I met my first year here and formed a special bond with. They opened their Casa Bernabe home and their hearts to our team and it was beautiful to see the Lord so clearly working through them to touch the lives of several boys with already many challenges and traumas in their short lives. When I met them 4 years ago Casa Bernabe was their only home. They had no other place. Over the last several years they have shared countless testimonies of how God has provided for them. I heard stories of acquiring land. Then, materials to build a foundation. A while later, ...

​Yesterday was a very long day of travel! My first flight was delayed due to a mechanical issue which caused me to miss my connecting flight to Guatemala. They had no other flights that day and wouldn’t put me on another airline. So, I flew to Miami (that flight got delayed 3 hours as well), they put me up in a hotel, and I’m back at the airport this morning. This has been exhausting and I’ve been struggling with a lot of anxiety which is causing severe bathroom issues. Please pray that those are resolved quickly!!!!  On my first flight yesterday, the wheels were just about off the ground when the pilot slammed on the brakes and we taxi’d back to the gate. Turns out there was an “open door” warning that popped up when we were about to take off. This led to waiting on mechanics to do more inspections, etc. I’m glad to be safe and trying to see the positive, but I am not a good traveler so God is really testing me! It was fun (and a little too early) waiting at the shuttle this morni...

 ¡FELIZ AÑO NUEVO! Time for PARTY PREP!  This year our menu was pulled pork, mac 'n' cheese, coleslaw, and an Oreo pudding dessert. Everything was delicious, but to be honest the dessert was almost a huge disaster.  We were supposed to be able to get it ready in about 3 hours or so.  Um, not so much.  Ingredients are a bit different in Guatemala!  First, we discovered that the pudding mix was actually flan mix, which is quite a different texture (more gelatin-like).  Next, when we read the directions it said it had to be boiled on low to medium heat until thickened.  Well, there's this other difference at Casa Bernabé called altitude.  Everything takes longer (or doesn't work) at a higher altitude.  After 2 hours of stirring we had burnt pots and pudding the consistency of chocolate milk.  To say I was freaking out would be an understatement.  In a last ditch effort to save the dessert, we stuck the pots in the freezers and hop...

​We weren't sure if we'd have the opportunity to serve in a local village called Jocotillo this year, but one of our leaders made it happen!  It was a privilege to serve the hungry.  Thanks to the generous financial support of so many people, the team was able to provide $4000 in corn, beans, rice, sugar, and salt.  Thank you, God, for providing food for the hungry. We estimate that we passed out about 300-400 bags of food.  Each bag included 5 pounds of corn, 5 pounds of beans, 3 pounds of rice, a small bag of sugar, and a small bag of salt (if my memory serves me correctly). This should feed a family of four for about 3-5 days. Keep in mind that this may be the ONLY food this community has access to for a while.  Also, most do not have an easy way to boil water (or access to water) so cooking the food is a huge task in and of itself. The majority of the community in Jocotillo works picking pineapple.  We were told that working sun up to sun down would ear...