In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
~Philippians 1:4-6
Where were we?
We stayed at Agape in Action in Santa Cruz del Quiche, Guatemala in tents. We had indoor plumbing, hot water, and our squad cooked our own food. We have been so blessed!
What did we do?
My team worked at an orphanage, Casa de Mi Padre, helping take care of 22 beautiful children! Most days, we were there from 10-4ish and helped with homework, washed dishes, did laundry, played with the kids, and helped cook, but we had the privilege of spending 4 full days there to “run” the orphanage while the house parents took some time off!
Most touching moment:
Having my feet washed by the Guatemalan people during a church service.
Hardest moment:
One of the nights we stayed at the orphanage, a couple of the kids shared their stories of why they were at the orphanage. It was heartbreaking!
Best moment:
How do I even choose?! There are too many!
- Riding in the back of a truck with the whole squad.
- Overcoming my fear of heights by ziplining.
- Receiving a hug from little Jimmy, as he says “I love you, Beth!”
- Pushing Angelo on the swing and hearing him giggle.
- Incredible worship on the dock at Lake Atitlan.
- Hiking a volcano and roasting marshmallows
Most embarrassing moment:
Oh, there are so many to choose from! Most embarrassing was probably the “truck incident.” On a couple occasions, when the whole squad (or at least most of the squad) has gone somewhere too far to walk to, we have ridden in the back of a truck (see picture below). While trying to gracefully get out of the truck in a skirt, I swung my legs over, went to grab the hand of the guy who was attempting to help me out, and proceeded to fall backwards back into the truck. FAIL!
Favorite food:
Chocobananos (aka chocolate covered frozen bananas!) and Crepes (Nutella banana or Nutella strawberry!)
Least favorite food:
All the food this month has been pretty amazing, so I didn’t really have a least favorite. It would probably have to be the pasta (mush) that didn’t quite cook right.
Things I miss this month (other than the obvious family and friends!)
My dad’s sermons
Sarris hard cap
What has God taught me this month?
- I need to make the choice in each and every situation each and every day to choose in and choose joy. I need to choose in to my squad, into my team, and into my ministry.
- If I choose not to face my fears, I miss out on SO much!
- He is the Great Healer and we can be broken healers if we allow Him to heal us and then use us.
- His world is BEAUTIFUL!
Lake Atitlan- an amazing time of worshiping the Lord and building relationships with my squad.
View from the volcano we hiked.
Nutella Strawberry Crepe. These are AMAZING!!!!
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We are traveling to El Salvador TOMORROW. Please pray for safe travel as we leave at 4:00a.m.
