Looking back on my time in Guatemala, I know that there are many things that I learned this month. My team and I were in Huehuetenango, working alongside a medical team from Tennessee. There were times when we were discouraged and didn’t feel like we were doing that much or making any kind of difference. This of course was a lie. And we had the most amazing contacts, Pastor Estuardo and his wife Mirsa, and they made it all worth it for me.
It was easy to see Jesus in both of them. They were a huge blessing to us and did whatever they could to make our stay as comfortable as possible. During our last night with them, Pastor Estuardo took the time to sit with us, both to encourage us and tell us his story. He told us that he believed that God had called each one of us on this trip, and that we will make a difference for Him all around the world. He kind of confirmed for me that I am right where I am supposed to be.
Pastor Estuardo’s story was also an encouragement and a challenge to me. He was saved at the age of 13, and his dad hated Christians and tried killing his pastor with a gun. Soon after he was saved, Pastor Estuardo began preaching in the streets. He became pastor of a church at a young age. For a long time he and his family lived on a salary of 150 Q’s a month, which is equivalent to $18.75 American. At one point, someone blessed them by buying them land and building them a house. Soon after that, God told Pastor Estuardo to give away his car. He had a nice, new car, and at first he fought this and did not want to do it. But he realized that God was testing him to see if he actually loved God, or if he just loved God’s blessings. After he did this, a friend blessed them by giving them a different car. Pastor Estuardo was able to baptize every single member of his family, even his father who hated Christians. Now he oversees 492 pastors in his area. While Pastor Estuardo’s story in itself is amazing, something else he shared with us hit me a little bit harder.
Pastor Estuardo read us 1 Corinthians 1.26 and 28. These verses say:
“Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential ; not many were of noble birth… God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things- and the things that are not- to nullify the things that are.”
Pastor Estuardo shared how he was a nobody. He had nothing worth anything to anybody, but God took him and used him. It was God who brought him to where he is today. He shared how without God, we don’t really have anything to offer. If we do something without God being at the center of it, no matter how amazing it is, it is worth nothing. This was a bit of a wakeup call. On this Race, it is going to be easy to become self reliant and think of our accomplishments as our accomplishments. We need to continually get over ourselves and give God all the glory and put Him at the center of everything we do. Without Him, we will fail.
Jesus was also very evident in two guys we had the privilege of meeting from the United States, Ryan and Josiah. They connected with the two teams who spent the month in Puerto Barios, and when the entire squad met up in Guatemala City and then travelled to Antigua, the rest of us had the opportunity to get to know them.
Ryan and Josiah are your average, everyday Americans who decided to do something different with their lives this summer. They are walking around Central America showing people the love of Jesus. They literally have no money and very few possessions. They go where the Lord tells them to go and do what the Lord tells them to do. They give God permission to move, and God honors that and shows up in HUGE ways. He turns the ordinary into something extraordinary!
The entire squad was encouraged and impacted by them. They love God with absolute abandon and are obedient even when it hurts. Above anything else in the whole world, they desire to honor God and serve him with their entire beings. They have a huge burden for those who don’t know Christ, and every minute of every day they are looking for ways to serve the Lord and reach out to the lost. They don’t have a lot, but every time they were blessed with something, they used that blessing to bless someone else. It was extremely humbling to see.
It is easy to get caught up in self, and forget that we are on The World Race with a purpose and a mission. God loves the people of Guatemala and Nicaragua and Romania and every other place we are going to with an incredible love. And He has given us the privilege of going into these countries and loving the people with a holy love, people who otherwise might never experience this kind of love. Talk about WOW!
