The past weekend was absolutely unbelievable! We got to sight see the famous city of Antigua & take part in the Independence Day celebration. Antigua is beautiful. Like WOW! We explored indigenous markets and got to go to cute coffee shops in the midst of pouring rain. You know those colorful busses you see in all the movies? Yeah, like the ones in Nacho Libre! Our team took them to go to Antigua – we packed into the space that didn’t really exist and it was beautiful.
On Sunday we got to our host’s church. It was such a blessing! There was live worship & then the whole service was a recording from another church that is broadcasted every week to most Spanish-speaking countries. Our host had little radios for our teams to use, which aired an English translation of the service. It was a bit strange sitting in church while we all had headphones in.
& it was good.
Because of Guatemala’s Independence Day, our ministry officially started on Tuesday. We got better schedules for which classes we teach and when. We teach 6 English classes a day to the students, play with the kids during recess, and teach an adult class that we offer for the teachers during the afternoon. We leave our home at 7:10 and return at around 4:30-5 depending on traffic.
God has shown amazing provision as most of us show up to school very tired (mentally & physically) and after much prayer and total reliance on His strength we smile with the kids, sing Head Shoulders Knees & Toes time after time, & get to build relationships with these kids in hopes that it will impact the decisions that they will make in their future.
Our purpose in partnering with these schools goes beyond just teaching English, but creating a better and strong relationship between the three schools in Zone 18 (the poorest zone in Guatemala city) & Nathan (our host and head of the ministry). Through that relationship, Nathan and others who are apart of the ministry can impact the lives of these boys.
Boys in Zone 18 are the ones who typically never go beyond 7th or 8th grade, have experienced some sort of abuse, taken part in sexual abuse and often times killings, and later on become active members in gangs. Nathan’s passion is to reach the heart of these boys before that life becomes a reality & to help them make decisions based on positive values and morals so that they have the opportunity to become the men that they can be. He has also started boys Bible study in which he gets the opportunity to not just teach the characteristics of Jesus but what a life looks like when you walk with Jesus.
All in all- I am loving Guatemala, I am loving our ministry, I love working with my amazing teammates.
& it is so Good.
