Marine View team members, from front left: Lola, Christie, Suzanne, Lynn, Lisa, Ken, Rico and Clarence. In the back row are Tom, Curt, Brian, Craig, Jeff and “surprise guest” Alan, the 16-year-old son of Marco and Mimi who is attending school in Snohomish County.
The western Washington-based contingent of our team came together this weekend, with many meeting each other (in person) for the first time.
Saturday was our pre-trip “packing party” in West Seattle where we gathered to fill 150 backpacks to present to an estimated 126 school children in Montenagro when we see them next week (we always pack extra just in case). In assembly-line fashion we stuffed these bags with an assortment of regular and colored pencils, jump ropes, glue, notebooks, rulers, toothpaste and tooth brushes, tennis balls, crayons and other knick-knacks.
Once those were filled the backpacks went inside to be loaded into travel bags, where a crew also added potholders lovingly stitched by the ladies of the Hearts and Hands Ministry at Marine View Presbyterian Church, along with hundreds of reading glasses we purchased to replenish our supply at the mission house in Barillas, and solar-powered audio devices loaded with with Bible stories and verses in two languages. Added to that were additional sewing supplies, fabric and hot pads garnered from former Marine View team member Diane Malone from her friends at the Panorama retirement center in Lacey and others, including a local Girl Scout troop.
Diane has made it her personal mission to teach villagers in Guatemala to sew washable menstrual pads. She recently returned from a trip with a Hands for Peacemaking Rotary team from Marysville that built a school in the village of Pal. Diane not only helped with the Rotary club’s school project but also led sewing seminars, along with Mimi Fuentes (Marco’s wife) who heads cooking and housekeeping operations when the teams are in-country.
We also purchased soccer balls and basketballs for the village youth. Each supply bag was then carefully weighed so it wouldn’t exceed the 50-pound airline weight limit – we ended up with 11 or 12 in all, with each close to the mark. After the packing the team was treated to a delicous lunch by team member Tom. Since some of our team members live in Snohomish County, and others scattered in King and Pierce counties all of our team meetings have been online to date. Two other team members live in Idaho, and two more live in Florida. We will meet them at SeaTac and in Guatemala City when we arrive early Friday.
This morning five of us attended services at Marine View, where Pastor Jesse Skiffington invited me up to introduce team members present and give a brief overview of our mission ahead. He then said a prayer of blessing for us and asked for the congregation to keep us in their own prayers while we travel. We set up a display table in the fellowship area, which gave us a chance to chat with members of the congregation directly, a few of whom expressed an interest in joining us next year. We we also grateful for a few donations that will be put to good use!
In tomorrow’s post I will formally introduce the team.
Thank you as always for your support and interest. We would not be going if it was not for all of you.
Cheers,
Brian
May God’s hands be on each of you as you travel to work for Him. Thank you for sharing your ministry so we can pray more specially.