Lampeter team finishes week at Viña Studios

SOLOLÁ — We bade farewell to the Lampeter United Methodist Church team from Lancaster County, Penn. yesterday, enjoying two cakes with them in the morning and exchanging gifts in the afternoon.

Appropriately, the LUMC team gave soccer balls to several of the Viña Studios’ crew. Several members of the Lampeter team work at Wycliffe Bible Translators’ regional office there in Lancaster County. So the soccer balls they gave have the phrase, “Jesus Loves You,” written in 40 different languages from around the world. The Viña staff, soccer afficianados to a man, was quite excited over those gifts.

Pastor Dave Nissly received a “Dedito” finger puppet mounted on a block of wood with a Guatemalan flag as a memento from their week working with us here. I didn’t realize just how much painting was going on till I stepped out on the roof and saw Youth Pastor Mike Yowler and Carl Campbell painting. When Mike blew his nose and red paint came out, he realized just how much the air-gun paint sprayer was dusting it up.

One enjoyable aspect of the team’s stay was their eagerness to try some of the local fruits and snacks. We shared pitaya, a cactus fruit with purple meat and small black seeds, similar to kiwi fruit (but a lot less hassle to eat); lichi fruit, a hairy little red ball (native to Southeast Asia) which has sweet white flesh inside and “rellenitos,” platano stuffed with black beans and rolled in sugar.

The team left us here yesterday to work at the Eagle’s Nest Orphanage, where they have been staying. Tomorrow, they’re headed across Lake Atitlán to San Pedro La Laguna where they’ll visit a church and tour around a bit.

It was a pleasure to have the team here, and their eagerness to finish as much work as they could was a welcome blessing. Mike, Carl and Dave were pounding away late afternoon Friday, trying to install a stubborn wooden box they had constructed to cover unsightly overhead piping. The staff was quite pleased here with the quality of the Deditos characters and set work done by Sue Hoiland and her daughter Heidi, along with Kelly Becker and Linda Nissly. The new curtains look great, too, ladies!

It had been nearly a decade since Sue had visited Guatemala, but she told me she hopes it won’t be nearly so long before her next visit, perhaps even next summer.

Thanks, you guys, for the lift you gave us this week! May the Lord bless and keep you and make His face to shine upon you. See you next year?

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While the team was here, Sue’s daughter, Heidi, acted as the team’s designated photographer. I thought she did quite well. Here are a few of the photos she shared with me.