Dear supporters, I am now fully funded for Guatemala! Thanks to your generosity and the $1083 you contributed, in five short days, I get to return to Guatemala! The trip ended up costing $1026, and the extra you have given covers my travel insurance perfectly. Thank you, again, for letting God work through you and provide!
Typing that makes me feel a little out of breath. I didn’t realize how busy I would be this summer. I returned from Albania on July 17, tired and satisfied and very proud and full of love for our team of Ambassadors. The day after I arrived back in Seattle from the Ambassador trip, my family traveled to Orcas Island for our yearly family vacation. And now, I have one busy week at home before taking off again next Sunday night for Guatemala. I am teetering between exhaustion and energy and it’s one of those times where I can’t get through a day without the awareness of God’s constant presence… which is how it should always be, shouldn’t it?
This journey to Guatemala is particularly interesting for several reasons. First, this is the last mission trip I will take for quite a while. It feels like I’m approaching the end of a road. In the fall, I start a new adventure, one that is not ticketed as a “mission trip,” one that will not take me out of the country, and one that will not immerse me in Christian community, day in and day out. I can say more about that adventure later (and with that, the future of this blog), but for now, I just want to say that I feel a twinge of… something bittersweet, I suppose, at taking a break from travel again to be rooted in one place. And so I’m committing to committing to every moment this time in Guatemala has to offer.
Much like the World Race, I don’t know the exact details of our ministry in San Lucas Toliman yet. Our group of 21 from Immaculate Conception and Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Everett will be partnering with Friends of San Lucas, a Catholic mission. The church’s goal is to establish a relationship with this mission in Guatemala by serving however we can, be it on their coffee plantation, in mountain villages installing stoves in houses to improve ventilation and allow for indoor cooking, or just among the people we encounter, in the simple, clumsy, loving ways God gives us.
This trip is also strange because it is occurring alongside another event, a sad one for me. A week before I left for Albania, Tony and I broke up. I don’t want to write very much about breaking up on my blog, but I do want to tell you that Tony and I are both sad and getting better. We are on very good terms. I personally gained lot of peace and healing during my time in Albania. God is taking very good care of both of us and giving us what we need.
It’s amazing, how when I’m the most fragile and hurting and bummed, God shows up the boldest. This sad turn of events made me question whether I should go on the trip to Guatemala. But even in Albania, I found my mind slipping to thoughts and images of Guatemala, of its color and beauty and people. Support from donors came in so easily, and I felt more turmoil at the thought of backing out than going through with it.
And so I am indeed going to Guatemala, leaning on God, with a hurting and healing heart, fairly certain I am going where I am wanted, honored to be included in a church family from a different town and denomination. I eagerly anticipate the ways God will show off come next Sunday. Because God will bring love and healing everywhere, from my own heart to the hearts of those I’ll travel with to the hearts of the many locals of San Lucas Toliman.
Instead of money, I need prayers. Pray for this trip and all the participants on it. Pray for the people we will meet. Pray for health and safety. Pray for me as I look forward to the next season in my life and soon end this one. And pray for Tony and me. It’s a hard, strange, grace-filled time. Praise God.
