Sorry that I haven’t written a blog post yet here in Guatemala!! Life has been so so good here and so much has been going on that I don’t even know where to begin.
I’m living in San Lucas with my team Lavished Warriors and another team from my squad, team Geronimo. That makes 13 people total living in a house together- with actual toilets, showers & a kitchen (we are SUPER spoiled). It is definitely a hard transition going from my life in America, where if I wanted to get away I could just shut my bedroom door, to here in Guatemala where even when you’re in the shower people are still coming in & out of the bathroom. Alone time= putting in headphones and pretending there aren’t 12 other people around you. But really I LOVE this group of people and I couldn’t have asked for a better group. Life with them is always interesting & they all keep me laughing. Besides ministry, we have also been able to travel to Antigua on our off days for church & to look around local markets. Antigua is just a short public bus ride from our house (the saying in Guatemala for the buses is “one more always fits” & it’s true. People keep squeezing on the bus no matter how full it is- it makes for a very squished and sweaty bus ride but it gets us to where we need to go). Guatemala is such a beautiful place and being able to see volcanos every day is a sight I will never get tired of.
I’ve had the privilege to meet a couple Guatemalans and their stories amaze me. One lady, Maria, is an older lady with lots of health problems. She told us about how a couple years back she needed a home for her and her grandchildren that live with her, so she prayed that if God thought she was worthy He would provide her with a house. Maria just kept on praying about this and soon after she received news that an organization wanted to build her a 3 bedroom 1 bathroom house- far bigger than she ever prayed for. She decided to make 2 of the bedrooms for her and her family & 1 for God which is where she holds a neighborhood bible study every week. Despite all of her struggles & health problems, she wakes up every morning and prays for the United States. She thinks about all of us and prays blessings over us even though she is not in the best of times- Maria is an example of a selfless person. I got to go inside Maria’s home and even though she has very little material possessions, she is still one of the most joyful people I know. She is proof that when you have Jesus, you have all you need. Please pray for Maria and her health- she’s praying for all of you in the USA every single day.
Our ministry is teaching English classes in a public school in Zone 18 Guatemala City. Zone 18 is a really broken and rough part of Guatemala. A high percentage of the kids join gangs shortly after they enter middle school. We get to come into the schools and build relationships with the kids through being their English teacher and friend. Through building these relationships we are trying to show them that they are worth it and that people really do care about them and no matter what anyone else has told them- they are beautiful and they are loved. I came here thinking about how I just wanted to be a blessing to others but I never thought about how much the kids would bless me and change my life perspective. The first time I went to the school, one little girl tried to give me her whole lunch- she wanted to give up her meal so that I could have it. So humbling that a little girl with probably close to nothing was willing to give up her lunch for someone she had just met. The kids have shown me so much patience and love- I speak very little Spanish so the kids will try to talk to me super slow and act out the words they are saying so I understand what they are telling me. They could easily just give up and decide they don’t want to put in the effort but instead they are so patient with me & my non-existent Spanish speaking skills. I teach six 30 minute classes a day (we make our own curriculum & then I teach with 1 or 2 other teammates depending on the class) & after each class the kids run up and hug and kiss me on the cheek. Since we are teaching in public schools we aren’t allowed to directly talk about God so I have been learning how to show who God is instead of just telling about who He is. I want these kids to feel God’s love in their heart even if they don’t know that it’s God that they’re feeling. These kids are so worthy and I want them to know that. I am loving teaching and can’t wait to see the relationships that will be built over the 3 months.
I haven’t even been in Guatemala for 2 weeks and my perspective on life is being drastically changed. I have been so blessed by everyone that I’ve been able to meet on this mission trip!
Thinking and praying for all of you back home!! I will try to be better about writing blogs and updating y’all so they won’t always be this long.
