Kangas' Experiences in Guatemala

     Well daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaang this week been long and yet it is coming to an end... This week has been so amazing that I am excited to share with you all! Well lets start in the beginning where we had to fly a plane to get here in Guatemala. My first flight was a quite interesting experience mostly because it was a 4 hour ride siting in between two Mexicans that really didn't say a word. Then after that awk flight we sat in the Mexico City airport for it felt like 9 hours was probably only like 6... Then after waiting hours to eagerly get onto the next plane I lost a certain piece of paper which was the key to get onto the next plane. So, with minutes to spare I ran with Nate Kemper all the way across the airport to retrieve a blank copy of the same sheet for me to fill out I ran to the gate and got there barely. That was kinda intense and by this time I feel like it was time to go home but OH NO!
     Now this is where the real adventure starts! After all of our flights and hours of waiting we finally got to Guatemala City. Then unfortunately on the first day I got sick (by the way I was the first...) and had to miss that entire day of fun and excitement... I had this weird sickness which made me throw up and some diarrhea so that day kinda sucked. Then that night we have this thing called debrief where I heard my group talk about their awesome experiences that day and I was really bummed out that I wasn't able to experience those things, but hey I still had like an entire week ahead of me.  By the power of God I was able to get out of my bed and be with my group the next day! Vacation Bible School... The thing that we really worked on during our prep before the trip was always a exciting time. They were all so different but all so much fun. The first VBS I remember well because it was a group of like 50-75 kids that we presented to and at the end was my favorite. Overall we presented the story of David and Goliath, sang songs, and shared our testimonies to about 700 Guatemalan people which is amazing to do in a week! Then when we weren't doing VBS we were either doing work projects for the missionaries that live here in Guatemala which was either painting or constructing a bathroom and many other projects to work on! After being in Guatemala City for a couple of days we got in a bus and went 5 hours into the mountains to another camp located by a town named Santiago.
     The ride there was quite a boring ride but the scenery was outstanding because the mountains here are just aaaaaaaammmmmmaaazzzing! Also out driver Edwin is a absolute boss!!! Driving in Guatemala is just crazy and just every ride feels like a roller coaster! It was Legit! Then after the long hours of riding in a school bus with a sour butt we finally got to our destination. The camp was so cool because we are just surrounded by mountains and just amazing scenery. Now that we are in the different camp we had different projects and whole new VBS experiences! We worked on a pull barn and did our VBS presentations in their considered Central Park where it is a big hub for many people living in Santiago. There were so many different experiences here in the mountains and I am thankful that God allowed me to on this trip.
     God has showed me so much during this trip and I am so excited to bring this home to the states to share with my family and friends. Thank you all who prayed and still are praying for me because it is working and God is AWESOME!

David K.