I’ve sat down to try to write a blog about my time in Guatemala more times than I can count. For some reason, I’ve found it incredibly hard to describe to people what it was like down there. I’ve used words like amazing, incredible, awesome, fun, hard, hot. Those words give a small picture, but it really was something you had to experience to fully understand.
Our group from worship track
The bulk of our trip was prayer, intercession, and worship. As a group, we climbed four different mountains to seek the Lord’s heart for His people in Guatemala. I personally participated in three of these climbs, one in Antigua and two near Lake Atitlan. It was a pretty physically strenuous trip, but I think God wanted it that way.
The view from Cerro Panán, the mountain we climbed
Midway through the week, we did our longest climb, around 3 hours straight up a mountain. It was honestly one of the hardest things I’ve ever done in my life, and I know I didn’t do it on my own strength or determination. The whole way up the mountain, my friend Gabe was behind me, encouraging me to keep pushing, that I could make it to the top, that God was my strength. It was a huge blessing to have a brother standing with me the whole way.
Gabe and I after the rough three hour climb
After some tears, a lot of prayer, and three hours, we reached the top. The sight was glorious! I can say without a doubt that the view was all the more beautiful because of the struggle it was to reach the top. One of the things we realized on the way up is that our worship didn’t start when we started singing at the top of the mountain. Our worship started through the sacrifice of putting one foot in front of the other, despite how difficult it was. We worshipped our way up that mountain, and we worshipped our way down.
Meghan, Rebecca, Michelle and I after cliff jumping at Lake Atitlan
We were able to do some fun stuff during our visit as well. We spent an afternoon being tourists in Antigua, from eating delicious nachos to taking a horse drawn carriage around the city square. In Lake Atitlan, we went to a place near the base that is called The Trampoline. Its a giant dock on the side of the island that you can pay $2 to jump off of as much as you want. Its about a 20 foot drop, and scary as heck. We had a blast, though! I’ve now been cliff jumping on three different continents.
My time in Guatemala was a retreat. It was a time of rest and relaxation despite all of the climbing and not very much sleep. It was also a time of discovering what God has in store for my next season.
Part of the CGA program is an internship, a time of going out and putting into action the things God has been teaching over the last season. My internship will be in Guatemala. This summer, I will be serving with the Adventures long-term team in Antigua, mentoring and loving on orphans, and bringing Kingdom wherever I go.
I’m so excited for the opportunity to return to such a beautiful place, and feel incredibly blessed to get to settle in for about 3 months. I will get the chance to invest in ways I didn’t get to on the Race due to constantly being on the move.
Downtown Antigua
In order to be in Guatemala for the summer, I will need to raise $2,100. These funds will go towards my living expenses while in country, things like rent, transportation and food. I was blessed to be given a free flight to Guatemala which cut out several hundred dollars of expenses.
If you would like to support me financially this summer, please click on the link on the left hand side of this page that says ‘Support Me.’ I will keep the fundraising bar at the top of this page as up to date as possible so you all can see where I’m at with fundraising.
Thank you so much for your support and prayers to get me to Guatemala the first time, and to get me back this summer!
The cross overlooking Antigua
