The Adventures of Tristan

Havi, Mindy, Naty, Alan, Darwin and Ronne…. We were toast with you. You gave endless amounts of energy, went without sleep and certainly rushed through your meal to speak to us, speak for us. You translated our hearts, our thoughts and our tears. Many times my Italian hands- ha! I am so sad that you live so far. Thank you for caring for us, the reassuring looks and the watchful eyes over our inquisitive and daring teenagers! Thank you for interpreting our hearts and not always our words that even with the right intention may have been painful to receive. Thank you for tolerating my terrible Spanish and for keeping us out of trouble. You are not “just translators”, you are our friends and the hands and feet of Jesus in a thousand ways! I hope to see you again, but if I don’t, I am eternally grateful!!! Love, the crazy one Havi played worship music on his Ukulele and Mindy is a mom to a sweet baby gurl (she's 6) and her husband is a lawyer. Her dream is to lead these trips! Alan is a...

  Day 5… Tebow Down Guatemala to party with these amazing kiddos!! The school provides basic academics plus life skills training, speech and occupational therapy, music, and DANCE. Students are Special Olympians and spokespeople for inclusivity, and they have such incredible faith and resilience. I was so happy (and so sweaty!!) ) This was just SO awesome

  We had some fun too!!

Day 4: Meet Madison (black shirt)… she’s MY GIRL! We started sponsoring her last year and we have been writing ever since. Madison attends an after school program at CadaNiño. These kids live in a red zone – the mark of a neighborhood noted for gang violence and crime. At CadaNiño, there is more than tutoring, a hot homecooked meal, bible lessons, game time, and STEM classes. There is safety. Inside the four walls of the community center, there are no rivals. And the kids are empowered to then minister to the widowed and elderly in their neighborhood – they deliver food, pray, and help with projects. (I stole Ronne’s words again). Iris went the day before and found Madison as well. She knew that was T’s girlfriend and come on… how cute is that last picture!?!? It took us both a second to recognize each other but there was A LOT of hugging once we did. I’m waiting on pics of us together… (this is when I regret my phone staying in my bag) but at one point she hugged me and told me how mu...

  Day 3, you simply cannot prepare for. We delivered beds to four families. These families cleaned and prepared for us to come. Four families that trusted that we loved them, not judge them, and that wanted to do something kind to make a tiny difference in their day to day lives. These are the days my faith is never more stretched. I’m ashamed by the things I concern myself with on a daily basis. I’m sad and angry that such loving people struggle so much. I’m honored that I was once again able to raise enough money to go and experience being the hands and feet of Jesus. THANK YOU. Ronne shared this and I can’t add better words. “Tonight, we talked about how humbling it is to serve – and we talked about how it must feel for the families we will visit tomorrow to open their homes to strangers, how we feel as we want to serve without reservation and help without hurting. We’ll wonder if we have the right words to say. We’ll hope we haven’t overlooked a need in our desire to do what we...

On Day 2, we were off to the Community Outreach Center of Chimaltenango. The CCC is a Christian community-based program serving the children and families living in extreme poverty in the city of Chimaltenango…many of whom work in the city dump. Physical, emotional, educational, and spiritual support are provided through wraparound care that includes a Montessori program for pre-school students, an after-school program for elementary students, and a tutoring and scholarship program for secondary and university students. The families receive care too, with life skills training, emergency support, and counseling. The teachers and social workers at the CCC are incredible. We’re humbled to get to spend a few days learning from them and serving the kids. (Thank you for the words Ronne!) Here we began to build the beds that we would deliver to a few homes. Beds that our pickleball donations helped make possible. THANK YOU TCA families!! We sealed, we varnished, we did skits and games and hand...