As our time in Guatemala came to a close,I was expecting a lot of emotions, mostly from myself, but also in general. It is so hard to pour all of your love into a city and then leave and go to a new one after a month. My prayer for Antigua as we were leaving, was that the love of God would spill over the city and bring freshness and life to a dark place.
Most of our ministry in Antigua was purely relational. We did a lot of visiting with the elderly, a lot of playing with kids at the hospital, and a lot of working in schools. In the schools, we did teaching about Christian values and character and we got to share the gospel a little, but not on an intensive level.
Our last day of ministry, both teams drove about an hour and a half away from Antigua to teach at a school all day. Each team taut about six, 45 minute classes. By the end of the day, we were so tired of saying the same things over and over again, and tired because we had started at 5 that morning. But as it was time for our team to teach our last class, I began praying to be refreshed and that the Lord would bring something new to put before us.
A girl named Stephanie walked in the door to the classroom. She had a hardened exterior and she looked tough, like others would be afraid of her. Throughout the class, as we asked questions, she would always be one of the first to answer. Her brilliance was shining through, even though she wanted to appear to remain tough.
During the lesson, as we were talking about values and where your values come from, Stephanie asked a question that no one was expecting. She asked a question about being sexually abused. Nothing about her question had to do with what we were teaching about and looking back, I believe that the Lord prompted her to ask while we were there.
At the end of the class, many of the women in the room were prompted to pray for Stephanie, but I knew that it was going to be me, I began talking to Stephanie about how God restores purity and about the bug plans He has for her. Her response was: “I don’t think that God could still love me.” my reply was, “You have no idea how deeply He is in love with you, but you just have to accept His love.” then I led her in a prayer to receive the Lord as her Savior. She is now a part of e Kingdom.
What a beautiful way to end our time in a beautiful city.
Now we are in El Salvador, and I am so sorry I haven’t been blogging enough. I am resolving to blog more, so expect one in the next day or two explaining our ministry and some of the fun we’ve been having serving in Santa Tecla, El Salvador.
Much love.
sisk
