So, my entire last blog was all about the feels and my new turned extremely compassionate heart, which has lead to more tears than I could ever count. In my last blog, I talked about seeing all the hard things, and the last thing I wrote and prayed was to continue feeling the feels. Well, the Lord answers prayers and sometimes He answers them very quick.
I am writing this blog after only being at our new ministry in Guatemala for a few days, but I have already felt the feels, and this time it comes in the form of a beautiful 16 year old girl named Jackie and her loving family. Due to some very unfortunate circumstances, this family went from sending all of their kids to school, to having more debt than can be paid and a lack of funds to educate their children. The heaviness of the room that was completely corrected by the hope they have in Jesus was absolutely incredible. There was not a dry eye in their house as they told us their story of brokenness, of churches refusing to pray for them or help them in any way, and of the wishes they had that their children would be able to go to school. However, they still clung to the Lord. They still thanked God for their family and what they did have, and they prayed that the Lord would provide in numerous ways.
Leaving this house, I didn’t just have the feels, but I felt the Lord laying Jackie and her family more and more on my heart. I want to sit here and write about that room, write about how much it hurt my heart, but the Lord is telling me this story is not over yet…
Fast forward three weeks later, ministry is over for the month. We have said our goodbyes to our hosts and to Jackie. My parents are in town here in Antigua, and we have a full busy schedule ahead of us, but my parents, Morgan’s Mom, Morgan and I have made plans to head back to our ministry site, back to our hosts, and back to Jackie. When the Lord told me this story was not over yet, I questioned it but didn’t think anything else of it, but over the last few weeks I could not shake the feeling that I was supposed to do something. Morgan jumped on board, and we contacted our parents (because we have no income). Our parents were immediately on board and ready to do whatever it took, so they decided to financially sponsor this beautiful girl who has the biggest hopes and dreams.
We had the awesome opportunity to take our parents up there and let them share the news! Jackie didn’t believe us at first, but once she did, it was tears of happiness and joy flowing from every single person’s eyes in that moment. We celebrated with some chocolate bananas and said our goodbye to Jackie, full of hope and excitement for what is to come.
The Lord worked throughout this entire situation in my life – asking me for patience and to trust Him and in my parents’ life – they got to see and understand more of what God’s love looks like. This story was put on pause at the beginning of the month, and I didnt’ know why, but after this past week and reading what my Mom had to say, it all makes sense.
My mom wrote these words about PVT and her experience with Jackie:
PVT Guatemala 2016 is in the books and I don’t even know where to begin! After being separated from our lively daughter for 9 months, we were so grateful and appreciative to have the opportunity to reunite in Guatemala for several days. Being a mission trip “newbie”, I didn’t quite know what to expect. The toilets that had to be used with caution, the exposed wires in the showers that you had to make sure you didn’t accidentally touch while you were showering and the lack of drinkable water out of faucets were all things that were somewhat inconvenient but certainly not deal breakers. The language barrier for those of us non Spanish speaking people proved to be a challenge but not one that we couldn’t overcome. The crowded rides on the chicken bus and Luis’ “short bus” were often hot and bumpy but again, nothing that would keep me from going back. Guatemala is a beautiful country with beautiful, friendly people.
Having the opportunity to watch our group of young adults share their faith and love for God with people of all ages was amazing! Our “kids” taught us how to interact with aged men and women,children with disabilities, orphans and just plain ole’ strangers on the street. They showed us how to express God’s love for them by simply sharing a smile, a warm hug, singing silly songs or just by pounding on a table and then clapping their hands! We worshipped together and heard some of the most powerful testimonies from our adult children that changed my life. Every bit of this was great and I thought I had this “mission trip” thing all figured out until we met Jackie.
Jackie is a young 16 year old Guatemalan girl that Haley had met during her ministry in Chichicastenango. Due to circumstances beyond her control, Jackie’s family was no longer able to afford to send her to school so she had to quit and go to work. There were five of us that left early Monday morning to make the drive to Chichi in order to meet Juan and Evelyn (Haley’s host family) and most importantly, to meet Jackie. When Juan explained to Jackie that her educational expenses were going to be taken care of, her reaction was priceless. We hugged and cried together and loved on each other as God has taught us to do. There was a light of hope in Jackie’s eyes as we celebrated by eating chocolate covered bananas (DELICIOUS!!!!) Needless to say, this was the highlight of my trip.
Jackie taught me that all it takes is one small good deed to make a difference. You can travel far away or you can find someone practically in your own backyard to share God’s love with. And you can do it every single day. There’s that multiplication thing we talked about during worship one night—imagine if every one of our Racers and every one of their parents made an effort to share God’s love with just one person every day from here on out. Then those people would learn the power and presence of God in their life and share it with others. This is exactly what our world needs and for me, it all began with a young girl named Jackie on a narrow dirt road in the little town of Chichicastenango in Guatemala. Bless you Jackie, for you have already blessed me.
I am beyond thankful to God for the feels, for the interruptions, for the words He speaks to me and the ways He blesses me as I follow Him. I am thankful for the way He worked in my heart through Jackie and even more thankful for the way He worked in my parent’s hearts. This is an experience we get to share, and it will definitely go down as the highlight of everyone’s trip. Thank You Lord for Jackie, but most importantly for Your love.
