I have finally (mostly) gotten caught up on the blogs that I have been wanting to write out and post, so I can tell you about what I really want to tell you: our ministry!
Although the whole squad is together, we all have different ministries that we are working with this month. Most teams have been partnered with other teams, and it has been really cool to experience ministry with not only our own teams, but other ones as well.
We are working with Team Sweet Aroma, in a neighboring town called Chi Chi. Our days are pretty packed. At 7:00 many people (which may or may not include Josh and I 😉 ) get up to do a physical activity or workout. At 8:00, we eat breakfast, which has been prepared by volunteers from the squad. At 9:00, we have squad time/worship, and we head out for our ministries at 10:30.
Our teams (Aletheia and Sweet Aroma), walk down to the end of the hospital driveway, and catch a micro (15 passenger van that usually carries more like 20-25) to the center of town. From there, we catch a different micro, which takes us to Chi Chi. The ride is often super curvy and bumpy, and there are some scary turns, but we've made it every time so far, haha. We also have to pass over a bridge that the ground has eroded within 8ish inches to the bridge. They are working on diverting the road, but we say a little prayer every time we go over it for good measure.
Once we reach the town of Chi Chi, we walk a few blocks, and take a truck up the mountain. There is room for two people to ride in the cab with the driver, and the rest of us ride in the back of the truck. It is really cool, because of course, other than ministry, there are little, silly things that I want to do on the Race. One of them was to ride in the back of a truck in Central America. Check.
The driver of the truck is becoming our friend, and has agreed to pick us up and take us back every day, which is helpful to us because we don't have to spend extra time waiting for the next one to arrive. It is also helpful to him, because this is how he provides for his family. We got to meet his adorable son, Jason, and our contact told us that the drivers don't have much income during the week. So, he is blessing us, and we are blessing him. He also let Jason (our Jason, not his son, haha) drive the truck for part of the way. Please pray for this relationship to grow.
He drops us off at a shop in Patzibal, and we hike the rest of the way. The severity of the hike depends on if we go to our contact's house, or if we go to the medical clinic that our contact has started. Some days, we go hang out at their house for a bit, and other days, we go straight to the clinic to start working. The whole journey takes about an hour and a half, one way.
From what I understand, her clinic is some of the only medical care in the area, unless they want to travel to where we are staying in Quiche. It is mostly for prenatal care/midwife stuff, but everybody comes for different things.
The first day we were at the clinic, some of the kids came with their parents. We played with balloons, drew pictures, and braided their hair. I showed them my pictures of my family (and cats), and they loved learning about mi familia y mis gatos. Some of our other teammates helped out by cleaning out one of the rooms so we could paint it the next day.
Then, we made the journey back to where we are living in Quiche. After we return, we have dinner, then team time, then squad/worship time, and by that time, it is usually 10:30 or 11:00 and time for bed.
Yesterday, we arrived at the clinic, and started painting the first coat. During our time here, we will also paint some murals on the outside of the building, and some other projects around the clinic. Next week, we will teach English at the school.
It has also been really awesome to pour into our ministry contacts. We have made a point to make that a focus of our ministry in Patzibal. They have really been enjoying our company, and next week we will go and stay with them for a few days.
I think that all the teams feel this way, but I really do feel like we have the coolest ministry. We are so blessed. We are living and working in the mountains of Guatemala, and each new day is an adventure.
Josh and I are still at about $13,700 in fundraising. We must have $22,000 in our account by December 1st, in order to continue on the World Race. We have been so happy here, and this is truly our life's calling. Please consider helping us out by donating. We really appreciate it!
Also, if you could pray for me for strength and endurance, that would be great. We are tenting this month, and it wouldn't be a problem except that it gets pretty cold at night in the Guatemalan mountains. Josh didn't bring a sleeping bag of his own because he didn't think he would use it, so we unzipped mine and laid it on top of us. It is not very wide, so we spend the night clutching it as tight as we can, and barely moving. I have been waking up very sore, because I can't move around in the night. It's been reeeeally hard to wake up and have a good attitude for the day. I want to be fully in, but my aching muscles make it hard. So, please pray that we could have good, restful sleep, and that our bodies can relax to make the next day easier.
Thank you, and we love you guys!
