Well everybody we have been in La Cama Guatemala for a
little over a week now, and our stay has been absolutely wonderful. The people here are so warm and
hospitable, and they are taking wonderful care of us. We are working hard at building the church, but even there
we have seen God’s blessing and provision, for as we have worked, our muscles
have been loose, and it is only later, after a full days work, that we feel
sore at all.
The families here have been blessing us at every turn. The family we are staying with has
literally emptied their house for us to stay in, and the pastor’s wife cooks
all of our meals and refuses to let us help clean up.
While staying here God has truly been teaching me the
blessing in receiving a gift. I do understand that it is better to give than
receive, but in the American culture we usually have a difficult time receiving
gifts or hospitality from anyone. Here in La Cama, they truly live the principle of sowing and reaping. For example, we asked the pastor’s wife
if since she washed the dishes if we could clean up ( in the typical American
fashion), and she refused. She
said that she knew that God would bless her for her giving and therefore she
truly wanted to give to us in anyway that she could.
At first this was difficult to receive. A feeling of guilt settled over my
shoulders and I found myself going before the Lord. In my time with my Jesus I was taught the lesson, that
sometimes in order to bless somebody else I needed to let them to bless me,
because He could do a much better job of “paying them back” than I could.
So my life has been challenged in 2 ways:
- To lay
down my pride and let somebody who truly longs to bless me, to bless me
and thank the Lord that He knows how to bless them back in return far
greater than I ever could. - The
second lesson is to learn to serve my family and friends the way that
these families serve us. They
never miss an opportunity to go out of their way on our behalf. (One lady even went so far as to
pay for a taxi to take her to the nearest town (1 hour away, one way) just
to get us orange juice. We
didn’t ask for orange juice, she just thought that we would truly enjoy
it). If I could walk away
from Guatemala having just learned the lesson of hospitality, I would see
it as a success.
I’m so thankful for God’s work in the lives of the people
that we are staying with, as well as in my own life. Please continue to pray for these families and for this
church. They serve so selflessly,
but they have very little, and desperately need an increase in funds to see
this church finished in any time at all. Also, there is a great need for workers to help, so please be praying
for that as well!!!
Thank you for your love and support, as well as your
faithful prayers!!!
Jordan
