A Family in need - Selena

 In our first few days in Guatemala, we met Selena.   We immediately felt a connection, compassion, empathy and the Holy Spirit leading us to connect with her.  Over the following 7 weeks, we have been building a relationship with her, we have got to know her, and her story and it has been cool to see God working in her family.  Here is Selena and her story:

Erin & Matteo

Erin & Selena

At first glance, you can see she is an overwhelmed working mother ( working at a tortilla shop Monday to Saturday to provide food for her family - which is basically an open flame barrel where they make tortillas on the side of a busy highway)  of 5 kids age ranging 10 months old to 12 years old. But as we continued to learn more of her story the layers of grief, trauma, and sadness we felt the pull even deeper to support her. Every person needs a starting point, a helping hand to help move in a positive direction- God led and with the support of FeViva provided essential items to help Selena & her kids. Alongside FeViva Selena received one of their stoves, also a water purification system ( they were collecting water when they could and having water in buckets on her patio but they were always full of bugs or whatever was blown in by the wind- but it is what they had to drink), beds for all her kids, dressers/ storage FeViva had for clothing & items, a new Pilas ( which is an outdoor sink you clean your clothes in, wash your dishes, and have your shower water from. The Pilas is an essential item for a home in Guatemala which she did not have. She had to clean the family of 6 clothes by hand on a rock by her house!!! Also cleaning dishes in buckets of water that she would collect whenever water was available. The water here in Guatemala is sometimes given for an hour or so in the morning or afternoon but you have to catch it when it is on and fill buckets or your Pilas for your water for the entire day or more.) We were able to clean her house ( scrub as much mould as we could off the walls) and created a runoff with rocks for when the rainy season comes so the water would not come into her house but drain down the mountain. This took multiple days and numerous hands for this all to happen. We are so grateful for every helping hand who helped this family receive all these gifts from God- May he be praised for his work through it all. We are so grateful for the full support and care from Melissa & Nelson ( full-time FeViva missionaries) Melissa was basically with us every visit, translating, installing the stove (Nelson as well), cleaning out her house to start over, etc. None of this could have happened without their time and support- we are so grateful. 

 When I first held Matteo and proceeded to have him nap on me the entire service knew something was not " normal" about him. We asked further, Mom knew he was anaemic but had no funds to care for him. Selena was also suffering so with the help of FeViva they were able to take Mom & baby to the doctor and get them both the medication they so desperately needed. It has been such a joy to see this baby boy grow up before our eyes. He was a limp very lethargic 10 months old when I first held his precious body but now this past Sunday - 5 Sundays later he was dancing and clapping along to the worship service- Praise the Good Lord. We pray over this baby that he may grow and develop; may he get all the nutrients he needs to thrive. 

I think the greatest joy of all has been getting to know these kids every part of their lives is heavy and much responsibility is expected of the kids, especially the 3 older boys. We have spent many hours at their house and had the joy of having them in our house; have them for breakfast & play together. At times Caesar the oldest is to care & provide for all 4 siblings; he is 12. To play basketball with him and allow him to act his age even for an hour was a joy to experience. 

                                    FeViva water purification system being installed & taught how to clean.

                                                      Caesar & Anthony with the new stove!

We brought in rocks for drainage and here we are installing a stove

 

                                New bunk bed so every child & mom has a bed now! *This is her entire home.  Previously they had only 1 bunk bed and somehow all 5 kids and Selena were here.

                 Stephen Johnston & his son Parker were amazing the week they were here serving with FeViva. They built the runoff below and installed multiple stoves, basically doing everything they could to help this precious family. We are so grateful for them to jump aboard this train to love this family. 

Amazing Sonia came to love on the kids and help teach them how to help and support their mom with duties around the house.

Her new sink (in blue) called a PILLA - we got for her and installed as she didn't have a place to do laundry or her dishes.

Dishes we brought back to clean thoroughly; we were also able to do all her laundry to give her a much-needed break and fresh start with laundry!

The house in the middle is her home..1 bedroom for all 6 of them, about 250sq ft.
The property and inside were in very rough shape when we got there.  Dirt floors (this is before our cleanup) Her whole front of her property was full of water because of drainage issues so they would get muddy everytime they walked in or out.

Her house constantly floods so we built a trench and a rock wall for the water to divert.

   We are so grateful for all the support & time that Melissa & Nelson ( FeViva full-time missionaries) have poured into Selena & her family. 

                 FeViva hands out these food/kitchen essential bags to families in need.

                                            Selena received one on stove installation day!

Taking a new bed over to Selenas

Praying over Selena & family at FeViva church

We lift this precious family up to you God; may you be their refuge in times ahead and the father of love they desperately need. 

We took the kids for a morning so Selena could go to the Doctors with Matteo.

                                          I will miss my Matteo & Monserrat snuggles.. 

Evento comunitario para niños - Kids Community Outreach Event

Over the last 2 weeks, we have been visiting families in remote villages.  We have spent countless hours each day meeting new families, praying for their needs, and providing help when required.  Our other purpose was to invite them to our kid's event on Sunday.  For any family with kids we would give them invitations for all their kids ages 3-12.  

We handed out about 200 invitations over a 2-week period.  We visited countless homes and got a very good sense of the village, and its very tough living conditions.

We were welcomed almost always with open arms.  Everyone stopped what they were doing, chatted with us was welcoming, and many we prayed to understand their needs.

Lots of preparation went into the event, getting food ready for the kids (12 giant watermelons - the largest you have ever seen) 200 frozen jello packs, and preparing a drama of the good Samaritan, craft for 100+ kids, slip and slide, and all the things that go into planning an event.  In tandem with our favourite Guatemalan Sonia!

On the day of the event over 100 kids came plus their families!  Here is a video of the event.

Here are a few pictures of the event:

What in the world are we doing here in Guatemala?

No...seriously what are we doing here in Guatemala?  We have asked ourselves this question more than a few times…but here we are.

We are being stretched each day to get outside of our comfort zone, but we are trusting in God to show us His purpose and rely on Him to overcome our fears.  Here is what a typical week looks like for the Zilkie Family.  

Monday:

We have started our Mondays with a walk of the village (It's all village, but just outside of the Fe Viva complex).  As a family,  accompanied by Sonia (a clinical psychology student and staff member at Fe Viva), we walk around and meet families in the communities, we pray for their needs for their health.  The families have been so welcoming and it has been very eye-opening to see the living conditions and true poverty of many of the families in the immediate area adjacent to Fe Viva.  This has been our favourite thing by far...connecting with people, meeting new people, praying for their needs, giving a word of encouragement, seeing their family dynamics, seeing their hospitality and their willingness to stop whatever they are doing and just stop and talk with us.  *(Now after having been here for a while, we see the people that we have met,  in the community and we can continue to connect with them outside of their homes).

Here are some photos of a few of our village walks meeting families.

Community walks meeting families

w/ Sonia

Our entire family has been teaching an ESL-style course. All of us have been involved.  We break into small groups with Micah, Amara, Erin and Jay all leading a group of 5-6 kids and working on different basic English sayings. Our focus has been practising speaking with proper pronunciation.  The current ESL teacher is a temporary replacement and knows very little English.  She replaced the previous ESL teacher who left over a year ago.    It has been very difficult to get a long-term ESL teacher. *We are not teachers…and teaching English to people who don't speak any English is very difficult.   (Up until this point we had Grandpa Wayne and Grandma Val helping us with this but they are gone on Feb 20th).

Jay taught a 45-minute lecture course on starting a business and becoming an entrepreneur.  It is a high school and college level course that is supposed to be bilingual.  There is a business program and an accounting program.  However, the English level is equivalent to about grades 1-2 and they dont have the basic levels to have a conversation so there was a translator to help with the presentation.

Tuesday:

We teach an ESL Class on Tuesday, so we have to prepare what we are going to teach and get our materials printed and ready to go.  We are teaching the same cohort of students so we are getting to know them.

They have a women's bible study for some local women so Erin has been going to that and building some friendships with some of the ladies who are young moms.

Wednesday:

Teaching another ESL Class.

There is a discipleship class on Wednesday evening led by Nelson for some community members from 6-8pm.

Teaching English in small groups and practising speaking, the whole family was involved!

Thursday:

We are teaching an ESL class every other Thursday.  

Friday:

Erin and Jay are teaching volleyball.  As part of their physical education curriculum, they are required to learn volleyball.  So they asked us to lead the volleyball classes.  We have had an absolutely great time running these.  From the absolute basics of bumping and setting to starting to play games.  The ages range from 14-18.  Since this is really their first time they are at about a grade 5-8 level without any real understanding of the basic rules and fundamentals,  like 3 hits.  This has been an absolute joy and a ton of laughs doing this.  Micah has been a great helper with skills and a great assistant.  The PE teacher doesn't speak any English so we have had a translator for most of the classes and we have basically led them all as she observes the skills we are teaching. (Keep in mind most people look 1-3 years younger than kids from Canada).

Each Friday night is a prayer time with some community people.  We get together and chat and then pray over each other's needs.  It has been very rewarding to learn about the community of people around us and their needs and then to be able to pray for them.

Saturday:

Every Saturday is a youth group from 6-8:30pm.  We have been leading this each week and will continue to do so.  The kids range from 8-15 years old.  We have done worship songs, played games, and had a talk each week (translated).  The games have been very fun for the kids, like limbo, musical chairs, sumo wrestling, crab walks, and wheelbarrow races.  At the end of the night, we hand out a little treat, and we actually walk all the kids back to their houses.  Since there are no street lights, we are literally walking in dark areas and taking these kids back to their homes.  It is pretty cool actually.

We had the privilege of installing a smokeless stove which took up most of the day (see smokeless stove blog)

Sunday:

We have been going to the Church connected to Fe Viva each Sunday.  We go for pre-service prayer at 9.   Erin has led the Sunday School (no surprise), with various programs, games and other fun things that she does.  It is outside so it's a bit different but very interesting and Sonia the children's pastor is able to assist us with the translating.

Erin teaching Sunday School (outside)

*We have been helping to plan a large community event for about 200 kids.  Our family has gone all over the area and gone into people's homes to invite them to the event.  We are preparing a drama, games, toys, food and more.  

Spare Time:

Most of our spare time is spent with our kids, playing at the park, but really there is no spare time as washing clothes and hanging them on the line several times a day, and cooking and cleaning up from meals, and attending meetings, and cleaning up our accommodations etc. leaves little time to spare!!!

We were able to go to a waterslide one afternoon for Izaiah bday which was a blast.

We went to Antigua on our 1st full day off which was also a lot of fun.  

Jay spends every moment not doing these things working so he is managing a lot, but thus far has not been disruptive to his business, and we are all thankful for their support...its been a huge blessing!

Other Notable Items aka Fun Facts:

There are no hot showers

It is 33-37 degrees every day.  Which sounds wonderful except the humidity is outrageous, we are not near an ocean and we are 200m above sea level.  Its very hot.  We have A/C in the bedrooms but can only use it at night.

There was a planned power outage for an entire day that affected a huge area, and it was 37 degrees that day so we weren't able to use any fans in the house.

Driving, walking, or anything on the road is slightly terrifying. Scooters are full to the brim with people, no helmets.  The most we have seen is 5 people on a scooter - going way too fast all over the road (no headlights at night).

Today we walked around the village and as we walked we ran into people & neighbours we now know by name and it's a wonderful experience to be a part of their world!