This was the question I was
asking myself this last Friday as I was sitting in Julieta’s House about to
dine with her and my traveling companion Edgar who speaks little English. Friday our team traveled to Morales,
Guatemala to help a church with construction of their new building and help
promote it to the community. During our
time there from Friday morning to Saturday early evening we dug a footer (the
foundation part of the building) by hand (about 1.5′ wide x 2′ deep) using
rusty, bent up tools; we cut their lawn using machetes, moved cinder blocks from
down the road, and passed out flyers to
the neighborhood announcing weekend events. That night we led a service for them in their unfinished building which
turned out to be a night of powerful prayer and healing for the local congregation
as we laid hands on those who came up for prayer.
Saturday
the men in our group set about for more digging and pick axing for the footer
while the women passed out more flyers to areas that was hit the day
before. In the afternoon we had a rally
for our group and the local kids and youth where we divided into groups and had
small competitions. Let’s just say that
their idea of games and our idea of games look totally different. Keep in mind as well that we are playing all
these games in the construction area of their new sanctuary, so there are tools
around, sharp rocks and fragments of metal amongst the area we are
playing. And what games do we play…Move
as many cinder blocks as you can from point A to point B, followed by a second
game of return the blocks back where they came from. Then we played run on the slip in slide with
sticks poking through and fire ants on the ground as we wait our turn to chance
impalement. Fortunately God had angels
watching over all of us and there were no injuries.
Upon
our stay there we split up into smaller groups and stayed and ate at people’s
houses from the congregation, as it was a blessing to have missionaries stay
with them. Everyone had at least one
other person from our World Race team stay with them, everyone but yours truly
which was an adventure to say the least. I am fortunate to remember enough from 2 years of high school Spanish to
help me through. Although there were
moments of uncomfort and miscommunication, the hospitality and love offered to
me goes beyond any unease I felt the whole time. Julieta had 3 kids staying
with her and a couple other people coming and going so I am not for certain how
many people lived there but the interesting fact is that they allowed me and
Edgar to stay in the apartments in front of their house which they use as an
income and is in fact more spacious and comfortable to live in than their
home. We both had a bed to sleep in and
even a hammock to take a little siesta in.
To
be completely honest about this weekend, I really wasn’t looking forward to
going, I was tired and didn’t feel like having to put up with a lot of
uncomfortable/awkward conversations but God truly blessed our time and I
learned a valuable lesson that despite how we are feeling God chooses how and
when He is going to move in our lives. Julieta and the 3 kids are an answer to prayer.
