Five Days in Guatemala - Day One

Robyn and I went to Guatemala last week as part of a 6-member missionary team from our church. We visited several different facilities associated with Buckner Orphan Care International , part of the agency formerly known as Buckner Baptist Benevolences. Our mission was to be the presence of Christ in the lives of the children we met, to show them some love and attention, and to be encouragers. Our flight left Houston on Thursday morning and arrived in Guatemala City around 12:30 p.m. We were picked up at the hotel and taken to check into our hotel, Quinta Real. This property is managed by a Buckner board member and is a 4-star hotel. It was quite possibly the nicest hotel I've ever stayed in, and it certainly had the most comfortable hotel bed I've ever slept in. Robyn & I both took advantage of the jacuzzi in the bathroom, too!




Then we loaded up into our wheels for the week, a 15-passenger van, to go to Buckner's office, which is in a home in a nice residential area. But it was hard to tell much from the outside, since all of the homes are enclosed with walls topped by razor wire. This neighborhood was by far the cleanest area we saw in the whole city.



At the offices, we met several Buckner staff members and two young ladies who are the first residents of their home for teenage mothers. Carmen is 16 and has a son named Daniel, who was born in January. Carmen was in a government orphanage when Daniel was born, and he was dropped while in the care of the orphanage and suffered a skull fracture. Buckner stepped in and has gained full legal guardianship rights for Carmen & Daniel.




Vidalia is only 13. Her precious little girl, Leslie, was born in March. Vidalia was raped by her stepfather, and her mother didn't believe her story, so she was sent to an orphanage, not knowing that she was pregnant. Buckner has also gained legal guardianship for Vidalia & Leslie.



After a traditional Guatemalan (NOT!) lunch of chicken nuggets and french fries from Pollo Campero (which is owned by a Buckner board member), we piled into the van and visited the just-opened boys' transitional home in the same general area as the Buckner offices. Two young men had just moved in a few days before and were pleased to show us around their new home. Our next stop was the transitional girls' home, across town from the offices and in a much less desirable neighborhood, where eight girls currently reside. Four of them had birthdays within a week of our visit, so we threw them one birthday party after another to help make them feel special and loved. Each of these girls has come from a difficult background and is being given a chance at having a productive and successful life by being in Buckner's care. They attend school either at a local school or with a tutor (those who are too far behind to attend regular school). They range in age from about 16 to 23. One girl, Mirna, has just finished chef school and will start working soon at the restaurant in the hotel where we stayed (she had planned to go to Dallas to live and work, but her visa was denied). Jennifer will finish university in October and will become a teacher. Celeste dreams of being a lawyer so that she can help others through the legal battles that she has already faced in leaving her family of origin. Yet, despite their tragic histories, these girls were gracious and loving in greeting us, and their smiles made us feel very welcome, indeed. We took them out for dinner at Pizza Hut and began learning more about them and trying to communicate God's love to them. We were extremely grateful to have one or two translators with us at all times! Here's a picture of Theresa, Mirna, & Danya.



After dropping the girls off at their home, we went back to the hotel for a good night's rest after a busy day. Robyn was especially glad to get back to the hotel, since her nose had been completely stopped up all day long, and she needed her nasal spray and cold medicine!