Greetings from Michigan! That’s right, we are back home, safe and sound. Although our day of travel was a long one (we were up at 3:30 a.m. so we could be to the airport by 5:00 a.m., and then did not arrive back home in Muskegon until 11:30 p.m.), we did not have any trouble with flights, customs, or immigration, so that is a God-send. Oh, and Dan and Wendy Trach picked us up from O’Hare airport with a nice little surprise of cold, bottled water and yummy heart-shaped brownies! Thanks guys!
The purpose of this blog is to bring a little bit of closure to our adventure, although there never is closure to such an eye-opening, life-changing experience. And time is needed to digest it all. So much of what we saw seemed so contrasting and conflicting. As to the area itself, within blocks there may be tin shanties, dirt floors, places with no electricity or clean water, a Best Buy or McDonald’s or Pizza Hut, or the largest city dump you can imagine, all surrounded by the most beautiful mountains and volcanoes, trees and flowers; no wonder we were so confused.
And the same could be said of the people. So much danger and crime (one of the Guatemalan missionaries was robbed on her way from the ministry house one day while we were there!), yet so much love and hope; so much poverty, yet so much resilience and determination; no wonder we can’t figure it out.
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