08.04 Saturday - Out in the pine trees of Santa Rita

Tojolobal: Plan de Ayala/Santa RitaToday was a day to remember. The town where we worked, Santa Rita -- which took about 20-30 minutes of bumpy dirt-road driving to reach -- was in an area like none that we had seen thus far. It was farm and cattle land on rolling hills.  Many houses were decorated with flowers in their yards. There were pine trees everywhere and it was very refreshing to the eyes. The main crop was still corn, although the locals seemed to have more agricultural training then those in the other villages.We held a medical clinic on the front porch of a shed and did a kids program for the whole group as they waited in line. The encouragement that our team receives from just serving the Lord and the local people in a practical way has continued to be a joy to watch and be a part of.-Kyle[Today we also reached the bittersweet point of having to say goodbye to the first team member to depart: the irreplaceable Nate H., a wry, helpful, and insightful presence to our team. His departure reminds us that our time here is short.]