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> Heyyyyy from Guatemala!
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> Wow, what an incredible month it has been. The majority of our time was spent investing in street youth and homeless people in differing areas of the city, loving on them in the bus terminals and alleyways they have come to call home. A few nights ago we headed down to one of the main sidewalks where a pretty large group has created a sort of nest area with blankets, and mats. It was about 7:00 p.m and getting dark. We brought a soccer ball to get a street game going, and headed in with open hearts and hands. When we arrived our new friends surrounded our car, calling us by name. We through our arms around each other, we kissed their cheeks and they kissed ours. It’s funny looking back at these last few weeks, I’ve never felt so much affection and desire to hold and embrace any humans in my life. Lice, grime, dirt, God only knows what touched my lips as I kissed their hair and held them into my chest rocking slowly, but oh my gosh are they BEAUTIFUL. Their smiles full of warmth and brightness I’ve never seen, and their eyes so deep and longing and true. Full grown adults would nuzzle their heads into our hugs, or place our hands on their faces while they just rested there. I’ve can say that I’ve never felt more like God was able to use my hands to poor into HIS children, and tangibly show how he feels about each of them.
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> I wish I could share the story of each person I met, because it has rocked me to the core. Brandon, the 18 year old who was stabbed over 15 times while asleep on the street one night, he now speaks and does his drugs through a tube in his neck. I assisted the goal he scored, and can honestly say in all my years of soccer, seeing his face light up and victory dance was the highlight of it all. Carmen, the little girl who lives in a house on the corner of the street, but hangs out with the street people for fun – she is 11 years old. Her beauty is startling, and she clung to me the entirety of the night, a sweeter soul I have not found, but her reality is hell on earth for a front yard, her playground is drug deals and crime. My little sister is 11……her and Carmen’s reality is night and day difference. It brakes me. Sayda, and Manuel, Marcos and Wendy, the list goes on and on. Most left kids, spouses, families and homes, due to shame, disagreement or argument, and never went back. The cloth full of solvent, the common and cheap drug of choice, rests constantly in their hands, as they seek to numb their mind and body every passing minute.
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> I looked up at the stars that night, the Guatemala smog layer hiding half of them, the rain starting to pour down. I felt so confused, but so full of clarity all at once. Each of us so equally broken, so equally in need of love, exactly parallel in the joy of the soccer game, the feel of the rain on our faces. The love, joy, and connectivity present in that moment was truly a situation of heaven meeting earth in a beautiful and life filled fantasy. Yet, the devastation and reality surrounding the moment was like a nightmare.
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> I’m still debriefing, meditating on, and learning what it was that I experienced this month. One thing I do know, is that God is good and people are hungry for the kind of love he pours out. I want to end this blog with a quick story that showcases this truth. A man in the park was walking by and I felt the spirit prompt me to smile and say something. I told him I liked his shirt and ask it what the significance was to him, it was a Nike top which said “Light me Up”. We started talking about the gospel and he told me about all the loss in his life, the way the church rejected him and caste him out, and he told me about his current drug addiction. It turned out he had prayed the night before that God would help him stop smoking. I told him that the church isn’t always a accurate image of Jesus, and that Jesus would never shame or judge. I explained that maybe the stopping of doing drugs would probably be a bonus of learning about how much Jesus loves him and beginning a relationship with the father and him as a special son. He started to cry and blamed it on the Marijuana; I explained that the emotions were a result of being pursued by his father in heaven and his loneliness though overwhelming, was coming to an end. One of my favorite interactions thus far, physically seeing The Lord brake and re-make someone before my very eyes. Please be in prayer for this man and his family, he asked that we lift up his wife who hates Christians, that she would be open to walking this new life with him (I call him Nike man). He left that day not letting us pray for him in front of the drug dealers who watched, but asked that whoever can, be praying for him consistently
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> I can honestly say that this past month may be one of the neatest, but most heartbreaking things I have ever been apart of. I’m incredibly thankful so see the Lord working in such beautiful and unique ways. Leaving for Africa this very morning – My new team “Team Eden” is full of five other amazing people, I can not wait to launch into this next season together. God has been teaching me about his character, and the beauty of humility and trust. Constantly learning and growing. Love you guys, and thanks for your love and support.
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> -Lex
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