Hi readers!
This blog is going to catch you up on what I have been up to since the last time I wrote, about 3 weeks ago maybe?
Anyways, a month in the life of me. Well, we left El Salvador on Sunday, February 1, 2015, and took a 6.5 hour
bus ride to Antigua, Guatemala, where we were reunited with the rest of the M-squad. We stayed in a hostel for 5 nights because we were having month 1 Defrief. Our squad mentor and squad parents and squad coach all flew out to meet us and help us process our first month. This was a great 5 days. I had one-on-one meetings with everyone who serves in a leadership role. These meetings were optional but I love spending quality time with people and so I took advantage of these meetings. It was a great time to reflect on the previous months ministry and how God is working in my personal life.
You see, I have believed for far too long several lies about myself that Satan has used to keep me from “succeeding” in ministry and being free to be me. Some lies that I believed were:
– I’m not worthy/enough.
– I have to earn God’s love.
– I’m ugly.
But, I am choosing to no longer believe these lies because they are not true. Here are the truths:
-God’s Word also says that I am valuable (Matt. 6:26).
-We can never be separated from God’s love (Romans 8:38-39).
-God’s Word says that “I am fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14).
There is a lot more to this story and I would love to share it with you if you’d like… just let me know.
Side note: Check out the song called “The Word” by Sara Groves.
After Debrief, we were picked up by our next ministry contact. His name was Dave. He is the man in charge of GO! Ministries that is a non-profit organization in Guatemala in which we have had the privilege of working with this month. German is his assistant. Dave had to go back to the states this past Wednesday to tend to things at home and so German is in charge now.
Since I have been in Santo Domingo Xenacoj, we have been pretty busy. Dave liked to give us challenges and to delegate and drink coffee. Dave started this ministry in 2010 and visits Guatemala roughly every month for a week or so at a time. GO! Ministries has a website and a Facebook page which you can find by searching it. Also, there is a GO! AIM page that is newly created where you can find some pictures (coming soon) of the things that have been happening while my squad has been here. If you want to learn more about GO! Ministries then check out the sites.
GO! Ministries has several pillars and one of them is called GO! Buy and Sell. I have chosen to be a part of advancing/starting up this pillar. This is going to be a way for GO! Ministries to employ some of the residents in Xenacoj and earn a profit to help fund GO! Ministries. Basically, we (Justin, Ryan, Kelly, & I) will be gathering data about products that are marketable, taking pictures of said products, finding producers to make said products, and figure out a reasonable price to sell items for, etc. My job will be to catalogue all of this information. There will be an online store eventually once we get all of the information and as products become available for purchase.
On top of GO! Buy and Sell, we (all squad members) are writing a book for GO! Write. We are all responsible to write approximately four pages double-spaced. It can be about anything pertaining to ministry here in Guatemala. I will post my entry as a blog after I finish it… probably after this month ends. How cool is that though? We get to be a part of writing a book that will be published via amazon.
Another aspect of ministry is helping with one or both food programs that take place at local schools where GO! Ministries feeds roughly 300 students daily (when food is available, which is most days). Sometimes these meals are the best meal the child will eat all day. It usually consists of rice and/or beans (in some form) and home-made tortillas.
The other day we got to go visit three villages. The first one contained about 20 families. We first went to the school and some of us played catch and soccer with the students. Then, I wandered across the street because there were 6 kids that were younger there just playing. The mom was “downstairs” getting ready to do the dishes and I volunteered to help. It was an honor to serve this woman, who was also very pregnant. We could not communicate real well because I am still learning the language. (If you think about it, pray that I learn the language quickly so that I can engage more in conversation with those I come in contact with, muchas gracias!).
The second village was full of children. We stopped outside of what looked to be a school. GO! Ministries has just established connections with this village and hopes to start a feeding program there as well, soon. The kids were just getting out of school when we arrived and there was a large dirt soccer field and several people from the squad played soccer with whomever wanted to play… I stood back and took some photos (look for them on my Facebook page). We were supposed to go back the next day to meet the mayor and mingle more but there was car trouble with one of the vehicles so it got cancelled/post-poned for now.
The third village we visited has many widows there. The group I was with was: Justin, Mel Jo, Mollie, and Lauren. We went to a very old woman’s house and spoke with her for about 15 minutes. We learned that she has a few children, and one of her sons comes by often and helps her out when he can. She appeared to be Catholic because of the items she had in her living room. And, when we asked if we could pray for her, he response was “I don’t think that God hears my or your prayers”. She basically pushed us out, but before we left, we asked if we could return and she said yes…so, please pray that our next visit will be better. Also, in that village, a family abruptly lost the father/husband that morning, and so there was a new widow in the town. One of the teams was assigned to go visit her, but she was not at home, nor in a place where she would be able to do anything but mourn. Please keep her and her children in your prayers as well as they adjust to a new life without a husband/father.
Well amigos, God is up to some pretty aweosme things here in Guatemala via GO! Ministries and I am thankful that we get to be a small part of His plan for this country.
I am still in need of about $600 of financial support and would greatly appreciate your prayers as we face obstacles and language barriers constantly. Also, please pray for health for my squad. Muchas Gracias!
Misha
