Updates Here, There, and Everywhere

 A lot of headway has been made over this past week in regards to completing this project. On the legal end, I have contacted a personal family friend who is a tax attorney for Klein, Thorpe & Jenkins Ltd. and received excellent advice. Until this organization in incorporated (again, I am not sure if I will file) I am not liable for anything. Thank goodness! In regards to protecting my final binder/idea, I do not have to copyright but can have on file Confidentiality/Disclosure Form(s) if I do present to an already well established organization. Again, very good advice! On the academic end, Professor Berger who is overseeing my work, suggested that I "keep on keepin' on" with my work and to begin the academic research on the area of Zacapa once I return from my upcoming trip to Guatemala. Which leads me to my next point...

On October 4th I will be traveling to Guatemala along with a group of dentists and members of Crossroads Community Church. I am hoping to get a lot accomplished while in country. For my work, my goal is to perhaps conduct interviews of those who live in Conevisa. The purpose of these general interviews is to get a further understanding of the community to evaluate the conditions. Academics can only go so far in research and I truly believe that having an academic understanding of any world problem is not enough to accurately address the issues. You need to be on the ground talking with the locals and not just reading an article about them. (Side note- this has been a hot topic of discussion in my International Studies Capstone course) Another goal I have is to complete/type up the general business plan. For the purpose of my project, the business plan I am defining as: the outline of how a church is to do a trip to Conevisa i.e. what to expect, the schedule, the packing list, the area where they will be serving, contacts, etc. Any international mission organization has their own business plan, so this is nothing "new". I think that this will be the most fun to type up! While in Guatemala, I am not sure how great the internet connection will be... I will try to blog as much as possible if there is indeed a good connection.

~Please keep our team in your prayers~

It is fitting to quote Ignatius of Loyola today:

Go Forth and Set the World on Fire