Hey everybody!
I hope everyone had a good christmas and new years! I still can’t believe how fast 2016 flew by.
This NYE my squad and I celebrated with a night of worship, a teaching, and an activity led by our squad leader, Hunter. Afterwards some of us watched a beautiful firework presentation light up the Guatemalan sky from the rooftop of where we were staying and others went into the town square to watch the fireworks there. I also got to video chat my parents for a few minutes and that was such a blessing to me!
My team and I have been doing ministry in Chichicastenango, Guatemala for almost two weeks. While last month we did more of a structured ministry working at the orphanage everyday, this month is a little more scattered, as there are many parts to it. The ministry we are helping this month is called New Generation. NG is both a ministry and a church and it is run by a sweet and compassionate pastor named Juan. For the first week of ministry here in Chichi, our team slept in our tents in the upper part of the church and during the daytime we painted the basement and the outside of the building, preparing it for Juan an his small family to move in. During our stay in the church, we found the basement to be freezing, musty, and dark; however Juan’s heart of gratitude and excitement for simply having a roof over his head has made an impression upon me. My team and the team we are doing ministry with this month have been so blessed by Juan’s heart for the Lord and for his community, he wears it so boldly on his sleeve and the joy he carries around is so contagious.
Chichicastenango is a small town made up of mostly Mayan people who still practice all of their traditions and speak in dialect. Juan himself is 100% mayan, but he is a Christian and does not believe or practice what most Mayans do. Juan is very aware and heartbroken for his people here who very much needs Jesus.
On our very first night here in Chichi, Juan informed us that we are in a very dark territory with a lot of witchcraft and spiritual activity. He told us about the gods here and how people take sacrifices to them and burn candles, each candle representing a specific request. Black candles for putting curses on someone else’s life. Red candles for love. Yellow for money, and so on. At first, I found this all to be very intimidating. I knew this kind of stuff existed in the world, but I have never seen it firsthand. I’ve never had to live in town where people worship false idols and place curses on other people’s lives. But this is the battlefield, and this is exactly what I expected missions to be. As we were driving up here to Chichi, the Lord told me “This will be a good month, but get ready for some stuff. I have equipped you for what you will encounter.”
Later that evening, a squad mate of mine shared about her word from the Lord on the way up here too; it was almost exactly what mine was!
Chichicastenango is seemingly a peaceful place, a lot of tourists come here for the beautiful and colorful markets on Thursdays and Sundays, but Chichicastenango is a very dark place spiritually. I have seen it, sensed it and have even felt it in my own thoughts and mindset at times. Despite the darkness that is here, there is no where else I would rather be this month. I feel blessed to be partnering with Juan and being even a small part of the dreams and hopes he has for his community. Juan is one of the most servant-hearted people I have ever met!
Our ministry this month has many different facets. On Friday and Saturday evenings we have youth group. In this, we prepare a message, a testimony, lead worship and teach English. During the week we have school ministry everyday where we teach English and Bible class to 660 students! Oh, how much Jesus we can spread throughout this community with that number! On Wednesdays the local police come over for dinner and we fellowship with them and share with them about the Lord. Again, what better tool than the upcoming generation and police force to influence the community? While Juan’s ministry is just getting its feet off the ground, I feel optimistic that this is a place I can come back and visit in even two years and see drastic change. While his church right now is small and can only fit 100 people comfortably, I expect to return one day to witness 1,000 people sitting under his teachings.
Juan and his wife are some of the most servant-hearted people I have ever met. They both sacrifice 1 meal a day so that they can give 60 free meals away per month to people who need it. Juan and his wife are the light in the darkness here. My heart is full of compassion towards these two as I continually witness their tears and heart as they describe what they hope to accomplish for the Kingdom.
I have more blogs coming as this month the Lord has revealed to me many things to share about! I first wanted to update you all on where my team is this month and what we are doing for the Lord. I have a a lot of prayer requests this month as there are many new changes coming our way, but for now I will only ask for you guys to partner with me prayerfully about the last of my fundraising. My last deadline is at the end of this month and I still have $1,641 to raise. I am still blown away at how much we have raised so far! I am now 90% funded! Thank you all so much for your continued prayers and support; I wouldn’t be here bringing Kingdom on earth if it weren’t for all of you! I know the Lord called me to this trip and He will make a way for the rest of the funds to come in by January 30th. I would appreciate it so much if you guys could continue to keep me in your thoughts and prayers this month and specifically about this subject.
I hope these pictures help paint a small picture of Chichicastenango for you 🙂
