Guatemala Facts

Guatemala V.S United States Capital	Guatemala City	Washington, D.C.
Population	13,002,206 (July 2008 estimate)	303,824,640 (July 2008 estimate)
Languages	Spanish 60%, Amerindian languages 40% (23 officially recognized Amerindian languages, including Quiche, Cakchiquel, Kekchi, Mam, Garifuna and Xinca)	English 82.1%, Spanish 10.7%, other Indo-European 3.8%, Asian and Pacific island 2.7%, other 0.7% (2000 census)
Religions	Christian (Roman Catholic, Protestant), indigenous Mayan beliefs	Christian 78.5% (Protestant 51.3%, Roman Catholic 23.9%, other Christian 2.3%), Jewish 1.7%, Buddhist 0.7%, Muslim 0.6%, other or unspecified 2.5%, unaffiliated 12.1%, none 4% (2007 est.)
Literacy rate Definition: Age 15 and over can read and write.	Male: 75.4% Female: 63.3% (2002 estimate)	Male: 99% Female: 99% (2003 estimate)
Percentage of population using improved drinking water sources	Urban: 99% Rural: 92% (2004 estimate)	Urban: 100% Rural: 100% (2004 estimate)
Percentage of population using adequate sanitation facilities	Urban: 90% Rural: 82% (2004 estimate)	Urban: 100% Rural: 100% (2004 estimate)
Climate	Tropical; hot, humid in lowlands; cooler in highlands	Mostly temperate but tropical in Hawaii and Florida, arctic in Alaska, semiarid in the great plains west of the Mississippi River and arid in the Great Basin of the southwest; low winter temperatures in the northwest are warmed occasionally in January and February by chinook winds from the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains.
Percentage of population urbanized	48% (2006 estimate)	81% (2006 estimate)
Life expectancy	Male: 68.22 years Female: 71.86 years (2008 estimate)	Male: 75.29 years Female: 81.13 years (2008 estimate)
Under-5 mortality rate	41/1,000 (2006 estimate)	8/1,000 (2006 estimate)
GDP per capita	$5,100 (2007 estimate)	$45,800 (2007 estimate)
Monetary unit	quetzal (GTQ), U.S. dollar (USD), others allowed	U.S. dollar (USD)
Number of people living with HIV/AIDS	78,000 (2003 estimate)	950,000 (2003 estimate)
Percentage of population living below $1 a day	14% (1995-2005 study)	Data not available

Sources for facts: The World Factbook, 2008; The State of the World's Children, 2008

More Info. About Mission Trip

This were I will be staying Guatemala.







On briomissions.com they posted pictures of were I will be staying in Guatemala. It is a beautiful place in Antigua, Guatemala and the resort is called The Guatemala Resort.

I Am Almost There!!!!!!!

Hi Everyone!

Yesterday I sat down and made sure that I was paid for all the gingerbread houses and that I had dropped-off all the gingerbread houses when I noticed that I was a lot closer to my goal than I thought I was. After confirming with my mother, the math-whiz, I learned that I had only $112 to go before I reach my goal. Thanks to all of you I was able to get my payments in on time and some of them before time. I am now working on my April payment and hopefully I will have that done before April 1st. Thanks again for all your prayers and donations.

Sincerely,

Morgan

Gingerbread House Ideas

Here is a few ideas on decorating your gingerbread house.

Sponsor Letters

Shortly after starting my gingerbread house fund raiser, my dad and I sat together and composed a sponsor letter. Using the Brio's idea of a sponsor letter and my friend, Mrs. Kirby's idea of a sponsor letter, I created my own. A few cartridges later I had completed and mailed out all my sponsor letters and was praying that I might get a few responses. God showed how he provides when four people answered my letter on the same day. Thanks to the sponsors that helped me, I have been able to pay off my December payment and January's payment as well. Thank you to all my sponsors out there!

Its Raining Gingerbread Houses

Thanks to everyone, I surpassed my goal of 100 gingerbread houses and was blessed with 118 gingerbread houses. In all, we had three major drop-offs - Orange County, Church, and Friends. In Orange Country, we dropped off thirty-one houses and most of them were assembled. The largest drop-off was at my church with a grand total of forty-eight gingerbread houses. The third major gingerbread house drop-off was with neighbors and friends; the grand total of that drop-off was thirty-nine gingerbread houses.

How did I receive so many orders for gingerbread houses? In the beginning of November, I had eighty-two gingerbread houses sold. I thought I did pretty well and was satisfied with that number. God had different plans. About two weeks before I delivered the Orange County drop-off, three people asked if they could still buy a gingerbread house. Shocked and surprised, I added three more gingerbread houses on my list. A couple days after my first drop-off, I received several calls requesting gingerbread houses. Again I was shocked. Orders for gingerbread houses kept flowing in like the water over a dam. This happens a couple more times and I had lost count of how many gingerbread houses I sold. After counting them, imagine how baffled I was, I had surpassed my goal. I want to thank all my neighbors, friends, and my church for being such a great support for my mission trip. Yes, I am tired of pounding gingerbread into molds :).

Eat Guatemalan Style

Here are a few recipes that I found on Compassion.com I have not tried them yet but they sound delicious.

Salsa

Ingredients:
1/2 onion
1 pepper
1 16 oz. can tomatoes
1 Tb. butter
Salt to taste

Boil half the pepper and one quarter of the onion until soft. Add canned tomatoes then blend in a blender. Next saut?he rest of the onion and pepper with the butter until softened, then stir the blended mixture with the saut? mixture. Add a small amount of salt to taste.

Guacamole

Ingredients:
2 avocados, peeled
1/4 cup onion, chopped
1 tsp. salt and pepper
1 tsp. fresh lemon juice
1/4 tsp. chicken powder or more to taste

Mash avocadoes (leave the seed in the bowl to keep them from getting dark) and mix with all other ingredients.

Beans

Ingredients:
1 Tb. butter
1/4 cup onion
1/4 cup red or green bell pepper
1 16 oz. can black beans
2 Tb. water
chicken broth to taste
salt to taste

Fry the onions, pepper, beans and water in the butter. Add a small amount of chicken broth and salt to taste. Stir constantly until most of excess water evaporates.

Guatemala History

Long before the Spanish arrived in, what we now know as Guatemala, the Mayans flourished throughout Guatemala. Temples and other unique buildings proved that they once were a great people. The Mayans were declining when the Spaniard Pedro de Alvarado conquered them. The first settlement, which the name translated in English is City of Santiago, was destroyed because of an earthquake. The second colonial capital flooded in the year 1542. Instead of building over the second colonial capital, the survivors built Antigua, located near Almolonga, which became the second capital in 1543. Later during the 17^th century, Antigua became one of the wealthiest capitals in Central America and also started the first university in Central America, Universidad de San Carlos; this university is a prestigious school known for medicine and social expertise. Because of the capitals location, it was venerable to earthquakes and in the year 1773 was destroyed by two earthquakes. Unfortunately these two earthquakes caused Antigua to be vacated and the third capital, Guatemala City, was founded in La Hermita Valley in 1776.

After several years underneath Spanish rule, Guatemala broke free on September 15, 1821 but Guatemala was not done with changes. The country occasionally had representative government but most of the mid-19^th century until the mid-1980s the country was in constant struggles with dictatorships, insurgencies, coups, and stretches of military rule. This constant struggle with Guatemala government caused high crime rates, worsening corruption problem and a multitude of other things. Although all this is in the history of Guatemala, a new government was established and has given hope to the Guatemala people. Please pray that I might be able to reach out to these hurting people.

Sadly Guatemala history is totally different than how our forefathers created our nation. Since our forefathers built this nation on Biblical standards we have been able to be blessed by God and help other nations. Once we turn away from Biblical standards we will plunge into darkness.

More About My Sponsored Child

Griselda lives in a place called Villa Nueva which is home to about 200,000 people. The house structure is much different than a typical American home. Instead of tile or carpet floors usually the floors are made of packed dirt. The walls are made of wood and the roof is corrugated iron. Griselda’s family is faced daily with illness such as malnutrition, tooth decay, parasites, and respiratory illness’. Every day Griselda’s father, if employed, works as a laborer and earns about $150 per month. Griselda’s everyday chores include gathering firewood, a kitchen helper, running errands, and cleaning. During her free time she loves to draw, play basketball, play with dolls, play house, and singing. Surprisingly her activities are much like those of American girls her age. By sponsoring my child I have given her a multiple of gifts. A couple is Bible teaching, medical check-ups, first aid, recreational activities, tutors, crafts, books and clothing. The hardest months for Griselda and her family are March and April. Please pray for Griselda and her family.

Meet My Sponsored Child

I have been sponsoring Griselda for six months now. I have received a few letters from her and found out that she loves playing with dolls, playing basketball, and playing house. Her favorite soda is Pepsi and she also enjoys eating fried chicken. The photo above is a a drawing that I had received from her last letter to me. My sponsored child is eight years old and her birthday is in March. One of the things that we have in common is how we both love to draw. I hope that I will be able to visit her when I travel to Guatemala.

Gingerbread Houses all in a Nutshell

In the next two days I will be delivering the rest of the gingerbread houses. So I am doing the last minute preparations like assembling the gingerbread houses, making the kits (putting the icing in Trader Joes' paper bags with tip and coupler ) and making sure that I do not forget anyones' order. Keep praying that I will be able to finish the last couple of houses and hopefully I will fill everyones' order.

All in all, this was a wonderful experience trying to get people to buy a gingerbread house and through it all I had my share of challenges. I was thrown off a whole week because of a death in the family, and also a fire placed us outside our home for one and a half days (and silly me forgot the sign-up sheets). But through these challenges, God showed how much he loved me with giving me strength to spend hours pounding dough into the molds and my awesome, support group - my family and friends. My Mom helped me organize the paperwork, my sister, Andrea, used her talent of baking and worked side-by-side with me and with aid of a friend, my brother-Connor- was my sales person, Alexander helped me put all the ingredients into the mixing bowl and other odd jobs, Mrs. Kirby helped me with getting the word out and being the drop-off point for my Orange County deliveries, and finally my dad for helping me with this blog and numerous computer problems. I am truly blessed for such a wonderful church family!