It’s 5 o’clock in the morning. It’s still dark outside as we head to the Atlanta airport. As I sit in the van on the short ride over, everything is becoming real. I am actually about to start the World Race, the trip that has been all I could think about for the last five months.
The night before racers from all four squads gathered for a final worship before being sent out amongst the nations. All week we had talked about the presence of God and for some reason I had been doubting that it would be going with me. As we worshiped, I prayed that God would'nt let me leave without knowing that His presence was with me. He wouldn’t.
We get off our hotel van and head over to a station where a shuttle would pick us up and take us to the international terminal. As we walk up one of my squad mates had started a conversation with a woman sitting on the bench waiting for the same shuttle. I joined in as we explained the trip we were about to go on. Our journey and mission moved her. She said that we were a message from God to her. We asked her where she was going. She didn’t know… She was going to the international terminal to buy a one-way ticket to another country. I didn’t know her circumstances, but I immediately knew we had to pray with her. I resisted, but something told me that we couldn’t afford not to. We put our hands on her shoulders and prayed for guidance and protection for her in this crossroads of her life. She was thankful for the prayer, but something else had happened in me. I left that station with an indescribable peace. Through this divine appointment, I knew His presence was with me.
Soon after we were on a plane and Guatemala bound. After arriving in Guatemala City we loaded all our packs into vans and headed to Quiche, which was about four hours north… or at least that’s how long it was supposed to take. Around hour 3 our vans came unto a complete stand still. Nobody was moving an inch. We got out of the van to stretch our legs when we heard music playing from the building beside us. We “coincidentally” stopped right beside C.O.P.S. Christian Church, which “just happened” to be beginning a worship service.
Our whole squad quickly filled the back half of the building and joined in. Of course we didn’t understand a word the woman leading the worship was saying, but that didn’t matter. The passion that she was singing with was incredible. I had goose bumps all over as we listened to her, once again knowing His presence was amongst us.
After a half hour we walked back out into the road where traffic still hadn’t budged. We learned that 5 people had died in a car accident. A handful of us went near the accident to pray for the victims and their families. After about three hours total of waiting outside the vans in the cold drizzling night, we finally were able to get back on our way.
After a long day’s travel we arrived at Agape in Action, a hospital compound that we would be staying at. Even though it had been raining all evening we came in fully expecting to set up our tents for the month as we had been told. However, because it is Guatemala’s rainy season, the field we were supposed to camp in was flooded. Instead Erv and Sally, our ministry contacts, opened up their extra rooms too us where we are now sleeping in bunks for the month. After a hot bowl of soup that Sally had prepared for us it was time to get some much needed sleep.
I asked God to show me His presence and He made it known before we even left the country, and I know He will continue to be with us throughout this kingdom journey. I went to bed in awe that this was just first day of a 11 month odyssey, hoping everyday would be like this.
We’ve been in Quiche for 4 days now. The town doesn’t get tourists or missionaries very often so we get a lot of curious looks and big smiles as we walk around. The town is largely populated with Mayans whose height averages barely above 5 feet tall, so we feel like giants sometimes.
We don’t start our assigned ministry until tomorrow so we haven’t had the opportunity to interact with locals much. Friday a group of us went into town to help clean up a building holding medical supplies that had been flooded. Other than that we have been exploring the town and taking advantage of our whole squad living together for the month. Today is their independence day and it has been an AWESOME experience. Blog on that coming soon.
Until then, adios amigos.
