Andrea and Sarah loving orphans

Overview of Guatemala

2008-08-20T10:48:00.000-07:00

Hello Friends and Family,

There is so much to tell all of you about our amazing trip to Guatemala. I hope to give you a general overview here and then do some specific stories on our blog. We will add entries from time to time and some pictures too.

The people of Guatemala are so beautiful and a bit short. The country has a diverse topography and beautiful vistas. We spent only a few hours traveling to another site but it was a lake surrounded by volcanos and it was breathtaking. Overall, we traveled to 5 different orphanages and spent time with the kids at each. We also took a bunch of street kids out to lunch, visited a makeshift village of mudslide refugees and shopped in outdoor markets. The weather was amazing and cool. Each day had a little rain which they welcome as it keeps their amazingly huge vegetables growing. Volcano soil is the most fertile in the world and I have never seen carrots that big!

Over the course of the week we traveled by plane, bus, tuk-tuk (3 wheel taxi), standing in the back of a pick up truck and zip line. Pretty cool. We ate a few traditional foods, but in general we stayed with fast food chains like Burger King to minimize getting sick. All but one of us came back with some stomach pains and the things that go with it, but none of us were wiped out while in Guatemala.

Of the 5 orphanages we visited, 4 of them had vibrant children. They varied in how well they were fed or clothed or how much room they had to run, but the children were friendly and eager to see us. All except for one. Sadly, the one orphanage that had the most money, the best facility and the highest worker to child ratio was the saddest one to be in. When we arrived all the babies were propped up in front of the tv watching christian american kid programming in english. The kids didn't even seem to notice us. When we approached them they tried to look around us so they could see the tv. Very few of them smiled. Most of them had some kind of dried snot or sleep in their eyes and according to Sarah they didn't smell very good. But the facility probably had a million dollar overlook of the scenic lake below.

What I learned from the entire experience was that relationships are the most important part of life. I feel a bit embarrassed to have to admit that, but possessions don't make people happy. Love and care and contact make children feel loved. In the best facility with all their physical needs provided for the children were distant and detached. In the poorest facility we attended with 120 kids for maybe 5 or 6 workers and no place to play, the kids were alive and talkative and friendly. We brought them food and when I went into the kitchen they had no running water and cooked over two propane tanks for 120 kids! My lesson was to re-prioritize my life with relationships at the center and the rest fit in around them. I tend to give myself to tasks and schedules. These things are important but they are not the most important.

The facility we stayed at, Hannah's Hope, was a stark contrast to the big but sad facility. They had a very nice facility that was purposely broken into several homes so the children have a home feel versus an institutional feel. They were in a nice upper middle class neighborhood with their own security guards. (Everyone has their own guard out front with a shotgun, even Burger King). But their secret was their staff. The staff just love the babies. They are called Special Mothers and they treat each child like it is their own. All the babies are on a schedule. Each baby is woken up and fed and bathed in the morning. Then they have matt time where they play with each other or the mothers and then they go for a stroll in shifts. By noon everyone has lunch and bottle and takes their naps. They actually all sleep between 12-2. Its amazing! Each baby is clean and well cared for and happy. They laughed with us and one little girl even slept on my shoulder.

I will introduce you here to one special little girl named Isabella. She is a chunky monkey with wild hair. We are looking into what it would take to adopt her but their are many hurtles and adoptions are currently closed in Guatemala. But for now we would appreciate your prayers for her. She is an abandonment case. Her mother left her in the hospital and just walked away. Sadly though it was probably because she was born after the Jan 1st cut of for adoptions and the mother had no other way to get into an orphanage other than by abandoning her. She is around 6 months old and is as sweet as they get. The fact that she is abandoned makes the process that much more complicated as it make take the courts 1-2 years to verify that she is able to be adopted. Its very complicated and we haven't even discussed the money yet. Please just pray for this little girl that she continues to be well loved and cared for and that God sends many people to love and play with her as she waits for a family. Maybe our family.

I will post some more pics on our blog with stories, but you can take a quick look at our visit if you go to this link and select slideshow. Thanks so much for your prayers and for helping us be the feet and hands of Jesus.

http://picasaweb.google.com/andrea.replogle/Guatemala

Love

Andrea and Sarah

We are home!

2008-07-29T21:29:00.000-07:00

We are home alive and well! Well actually we came back with a few stomach bugs, but things are returning to normal quickly. I wanted to send you a quick update while I put my house back together and rest up.

The trip was very exhausting but amazing and sad and fun and overwhelming and many other emotions. I am eager to show you pictures and tell you everything.

I will write again soon, but I need just a little time to put life back together. Thanks so much for all your prayers of protection and safety. We missed our plane coming back from Texas due to delays in Guatemala but we stayed in a wonderful hotel and one of the couples was celebrating their 5th anniversary that night and got an amazing room due to the mess up by the airline. So God was evident even when things went wrong.

Thanks

Andrea and Sarah

here we are!

2008-07-21T16:23:00.000-07:00

Hi guys this is Sarah and we are in Guatemala! We are in our guest house that used to be the girl's house but all of them are home now and we are so close to the two baby's houses! We are there alot! We are on day two! We have had some guatemala tortias and some guatemala'n pizza! In Guatemala we can't eat the fruit becuse it has some sort of bactirea that we can't deal with! So we have to eat only the fruit that we get from the stor! Man its so cool down here! We also are near the todler's house and we have a lot of fun! Today we went to a place with about 100 kids! Boy are we tired! But when we got back we wanted to hold babys! But they go to bed at 5:30! So we left becuse they where almost asleep. So now we are just hanging out at our house and we have a good house! We have good plumbing and we all have good sized beds! Want to know a little spanish, Bebe is baby and nino is kid!
Ecspect me soon!
Sarah.

Time to go!

2008-07-18T23:58:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow we head down to Indy for a very early Sunday morning flight. We will actually arrive in Guatemala by noon. I dislike 4 am very much, but all for Jesus! (and yes it's 2:45am right now)

We have packed as carefully as we know how and to the max of our suitcase limits. As a team we are taking a number of different activities to do with the kids. We have bubbles, art supplies, bracelet materials and coloring books and crayons. Sarah and I are in charge of music, teaching 4 square and kissing babies. Our suitcases are filled with soccer balls, jump ropes, sidewalk chalk, little footballs, playground balls, kids t-shirts, girls dresses and teddy bears. Sarah is taking a very special little rag doll that she sewed together herself for some very special little girl. We are eager to meet her. We are also taking one our guitars to leave with Hannah's Hope orphanage where we will be staying.

As a team we are also taking children's books. They are very sturdy spanish hard bound Usborne books. The kids will love them. I think we have around 100 books that we will be able to donate to the different orphanages we are going to.

As many of you know, our trip was in peril just a few days ago due to poor communication on the part of the stateside missions group. As we have discussed things further, we all feel more and more peace as we get closer to leaving. God provided the important contact info we needed and assurance from the right people that we will be well taken care of and that security is well thought out.

So please pray for us. I've listed some specific things to pray for, but overall we know that short term missions is more about what God does in us then through us. But we serve a mighty God and He can do anything!

Prayer Requests:
- Sarah is getting anxious about the chance of having things stolen.
Please ask God to calm her heart and hold onto the things of this world loosely.
- We are doing a good bit of traveling within the country.
Pray for safety in travel and good weather.
- The team has not had a lot of time together and one girl is joining us from Kentucky.
Pray for team unity and a servant's heart in all of us despite the many difficulties we will face amongst the poor.
- Sickness is always an issue with weak American stomachs.
Ask God for good health and wise choices on what to eat and not eat or drink.
- Neither Sarah nor I have ever seen severe poverty. While visiting with the kids, we have been instructed to step away from the children if we are overcome with pitty or overwhelming emotion.
Ask God to help us see them as He does and be His hands and feet if only for a short time.
- I suspect Sarah will need a lot of processing time.
Pray that I am listening to God when I help her talk through what she sees and is feeling.
- We are leaving a husband a sister and 2 brothers at home. We will all miss each other greatly.
Pray for my heart especially as I have already felt like crying with just the thought of leaving them all.
- All our papers are in order, but customs is not irrelevant.
Pray we sail through without too many questions.

Thank you all for your love and support. A special thanks to Karen and David Gilliam who came over last night and taught us some wonderful spanish kids songs. They even let us record them so the whole team can learn them and then notarized some important paperwork. You guys are amazing!

We leave Sunday July 20 and come back late Saturday night July 26th. I will get some early feedback to you a few days after we return.

Serving Jesus together,

Andrea and Sarah

We raised it all!

2008-07-18T23:57:00.000-07:00

God is so good. We raised all the funds we needed and were able to use the little left over to buy supplies for the trip. Thank you so much!

So Close

2008-04-27T18:07:00.000-07:00

We are almost there! We officially have raised $3315 so only $285 left to go. God has been so good to us and our friends and family have been so generous. Thank you for praying for us as well. Currently, we have a friend collecting children's books in spanish that we can take down. She has 25, but is praying for 40. Please pray with us as this is an extra special treat to take these books down. In the near future we will start gathering items to take and leave at the orphanages. We will let you know what they are next month if you would like to contribute.

Thanks again!!

Support Raising going well!

2008-03-21T20:19:00.000-07:00

Hello Friends,

I wanted to let you know how well support raising is going. We have raised $2200 of the $3600 we need for both Sarah and I to go to Guatemala. Thank you for your prayers. We are both currently trying to pick up more spanish so we can enjoy our time with the orphan children even more.

Please pray for our last $1400! Thanks

Our first gift!

2008-02-25T22:15:00.001-08:00

Today we received our first gift towards our trip. I am very excited to show Sarah how God provides for us as we step out in faith. Please pray for us as we need to raise $3800 for both of us to go.

L.O.V.E - Loving Orphans Very Effectively

2008-02-18T17:18:00.000-08:00

Hello! I'm Sarah. I have been dreaming and praying that I could help orphans in other places! I LOVE little kids and the closest I have been to an orphan is a neighbor foster kid. But I love them all the same. My mom says that I have a mercy gift. So this is my chance to show love to more than just one.

Sarah, age 12

Welcome

2008-02-17T19:00:00.000-08:00

Welcome to our blog! We are so excited about our upcoming trip to Guatemala with the Global Orphan Project. Be sure to check back for updates on what we are learning and how are support raising is going. Sarah will be posting as well under my close supervision as she is not fully trusted to post alone just yet.