Let me begin by saying..wow..what a week!!
As we entered this week me and my team were not sure what was going to happen once we reached these mountain villages. From our discussion with our translator Manuel (who tries very hard), we knew this week was going to be very confusing and was not going to follow any time line whatsoever.
At training camp, we were told to lay down all of our expectations for what we thought ministry may look like or our need to have a schedule of events for the days. This week within our first ministry proved to be a huge test for our team because we were all thrown out of our comfort zones from the beginning and asked to fully rely on our faith in God.
We visited two seperate towns this past week. So far we have been lucky to have families who open up their homes and allow us to stay with them instead of sleeping in tents during the night.
Our first town was full of life and hospitality. At the beginning of the week our team came in contact with a group of young college age men, who we grew very close to in the two days we hung out with them. We were very blessed by their presence and enjoyed their company and laughter. I know for me, when I travel to different cultures, I have a vision in my head of people my age not being anything me at all…I was quickly reminded that just because we speak a different language..these guys were totally on our teams level of silliness and wanting to have genuine friendships. Every single one of them was full of artistic talent, whether it was with music, art, dance, or photgraphy…they had so much they could use to glorify God.
At one point during the week we took a day to hike into the mountains and bond with all of the guys. This was a 3 hour hike from our village to the point they were trying to reach(which was a hot spring next to the river) As we hiked we were told we would be crossing a river and we might want to bring just some flip flops for this occassion…as it turns out.. during the 3 hour hike we crossed the river 17 times and at some points the water was up to our thighs. Not once were the boys annoyed (well that we know of because of our lack of Spanish) haha but they always made sure to help us across the river and they even carried our water, food, and other supplies for cooking lunch.
The scenery during this hike was so beyond words that it felt as if God was walking alone and listening to all of our conversations we were having with the guys. God is such an artistic person, I cannot even imagine how he came up with some of the creations that we saw during that day.
At the end of the two days Justin (our team leader) shared his testimony with the boys and talked them about being a man of God and how important it was for them, as influential people in the community, to use their artistic talents for the glory of God.
For everyone who reads this blog, please keep this group of guys in your prayers that they can come to know the love of Christ and that they will be witnesses in their community.
Also pray that the other people we came in contact with during this past week can have some discipleship in some way after we have gone.
I will post pictures as soon as the internet is better but for now, thank you so much for your prayers and thoughts as we entered this first week of ministry.
