Amy's Beat

Amy's Beat
I groove to the beat of my own drums!

Saturday, September 22, 2007

The Campout

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Last weekend, some of the other youth coaches at church and myself took several of our teens from the youth group on a campout. We had an excellent time. We got there and set things up, and then played several rounds of dodgball. That was fun, as it had been years and years since I had played dodgeball! Then one of the teenagers, Rachel, taught us a game called human pinball. That might sound painful, but actually it was not bad at all. It is basically a different twist on dodgeball, and it is always cool to learn new games. After several rounds of dodgeball and human pinball, we changed it up, and got a game of kickball going on. Again, it had been years since I played, and it was fun. Of course, it made it even better that my team won. I think it was something like 10-14. I am still having fond memories of those games.......for the first three days after that, I was so sore I could hardly walk! And still now....a week later, I have a rather large, purple bruise on my left leg where Jeremy beaned me with the ball twice in the same spot! Thanks Jeremy for the fond reminder of the lovely time we had at the campout!

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Most of the Thrive band was at the campout, so we all decided to bring our instruments, and we set them up in the barn there on the property. We had a good time jamming....just for fun on Saturday night, and then we put together a bit of a musical worship time for our Sunday morning church that we had out at the camp. That was quite enjoyable also. I even took my new guitar and got to play around on that and learn a few new things.



Saturday night and again on Sunday morning we played yet another new game...again, with Rachel leading the way. It is sort of a card game, and it is called Mafia. It would take forever to explain it on here, but just suffice it to say, it was a ton of fun. It is only the luck of the draw as to who is the Mafia for each game, but out of I believe 10 games, I was mafia at least 7 times! It was crazy! I had a good time though, and have already told several others about that game.

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I could go on and on, but I am sure my readers are getting quite bored by now! So, I will say, the food was great...thanks Angelique, the Sunday morning worship and lesson time was nice....well I was kinda in charge of that, so of course I am going to say it was nice! It was indeed fun teaching out there in the open around the morning campfire though. Quite a difference from being in Sacred Grounds (our teen meeting spot at church). Listening to a varitey of teens and adults sing karokee....well....it was........not too painful I supposed. haha! And just spending quality, uninterrupted time with some of the most wonderful teenagers around....priceless!

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Monday, September 17, 2007

the latest UPDATE...

Well I just wanted to drop in a little update for those I have not told yet. I have received enough donations so far to buy my plane ticket to Guatemala. So, I have my ticket, have my passport and am ready to go! Now I just have to wait until January....bummer. I guess that is good though. I still need time to raise money for my accomodations, food, and travel within Guatemala. I was concerned about having the money quick enough to get my ticket before prices went up, and God did provide, and I know He will provide the rest as well. He knows my heart, and knows that I am doing this for His glory and not mine, so I believe that He will help make it happen.

Friday, September 7, 2007

the BIG trip

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For those of you who don't know, and many of you do, I am heading out to Guatemala in January to work in some orphanages and show love to the kids who have no home and no parents. I will be going to an orphanage called Hannah's Hope. I will do crafts and play with the kids there, and visit with and do Bible studies with the young ladies in the House of Hope, which is a place connected to Hannah's Hope where young mothers learn how to care for their child and also learn work skills so that they can go out and get a job to properly care for themselves and the baby.

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I will also be going into the Guatemala Ghetto and take sack lunches to the very poor children, and just try to show them some of the love that Jesus has for all of his children. Then I will also go to another orphanage, much poorer then Hannah's Hope, where at the present there are around 96 kids and 1 adult! Can you even imagine a ratio like that? I am sure there are days and days at a time where those poor kids do not have any kind of adult interaction at all. I long to be there for those kids, to hold them, to show them that someone cares........and ultimately if I could, to bring a few of them home with me!!

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Now, in all reality, I know that I cannot bring any of them home, which is a huge part of my decision to go down there. Most folks know that I want to adopt very badly, and yet cannot, so I have decided that since I cannot take in a baby who has no home, I can at least go and be the best Jesus to these kids as I can.........and hopefully, even if this is the only glimps of Jesus that they get, that it will be enough to bring them some joy, and when they are old enough, to remember this joy, and seek out who Jesus is, and come to a relationship with Him.

So, there ya go............I have been wanting to share about this in my blog for those of you who don't know about it. Also, for those if you who do, maybe this gives you an even better glimpse into why I want to do this, rather than just the fact that I am doing it.

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About Guatemala - for anyone interested:
Fast Facts...
Full Name: Republic of Guatemala
Capital City: Guatemala
Time Zone: GMT/UTC -6 ()
Languages: Spanish (official)
Religion:
Roman Catholic
Pentecostal
Mayan-Catholic fusion
Indigenous Mayan beliefs
Currency: Quetzal (Q)
Geographic coordinates: 15 30 N, 90 15 W
Area: 108,890 sq km
Area - comparative: slightly smaller than Tennessee
Land boundaries: total: 1,687 km
Border countries:
Belize 266 km
El Salvador 203 km
Honduras 256 km
Mexico 962 km
Coastline: 400 km
Climate: tropical; hot, humid in lowlands; cooler in highlands
Terrain: mostly mountains with narrow coastal plains and rolling limestone plateau (Peten)
Elevation extremes: lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m - highest point: Volcan Tajumulco 4,211 m
Natural resources: petroleum, nickel, rare woods, fish, chicle, hydropower
Natural hazards: numerous volcanoes in mountains, with occasional violent earthquakes; Caribbean coast extremely susceptible to hurricanes and other tropical storms
Environment - current issues: deforestation in the Peten rainforest; soil erosion; water pollution Environment - international agreements: party to: Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
Geography - note: no natural harbors on west coast
Population: 14,655,189 (July 2005 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 42.4% (male 3,185,037/female 3,033,947)
15-64 years: 54.2% (male 4,019,052/female 3,928,984)
65 years and over: 3.3% (male 226,745/female 261,424) (2005 est.)
Median age:
Total: 18.47 years
Male: 18.25 years
Female: 18.71 years (2005 est.)
Birth rate: 34.11 births/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Death rate: 6.81 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Total population: 1.03 male(s)/female (2005 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
35.93 deaths/1,000 live births
Life expectancy at birth:
Total population: 65.14 years
Male: 64.27 years
Female: 66.04 years (2005 est.)
Total fertility rate: 4.53 children born/woman (2005 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 1.1% (2003 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 78,000 (2003 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths: 5,800 (2003 est.)
Ethnic groups (2001 census):
Mestizo (mixed Amerindian and Spanish - in local Spanish called Ladino) and European 59.4%
K'iche 9.1%
Kaqchikel 8.4%
Mam 7.9%
Q'eqchi 6.3%
Other Mayan 8.6%
Indigenous non-Mayan 0.2%
Other 0.1%
Languages:
Spanish 60%
Amerindian languages 40% (23 officially recognized Amerindian languages, including Quiche, Cakchiquel, Kekchi, Mam, Garifuna, and Xinca)
Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write (2003 est.)
Total population: 70.6%
Male: 78%
Female: 63.3%