Our time in Guatemala began with a great story. Through a series of miscommunications, our brand new team found ourselves at a bus station in Guatemala City with no where to go. Without even a beat of panic, we devised a plan to go to Antigua until we heard from our ministry host. Upon arriving to Antigua, we all fell in love simultaneously. This city brought us peace unexplainable. It was like taking a breath of fresh air.
The following day, we met with May and Tanya, who both work at the AIM base outside of Antigua. They were helping us bridge a communication gap between us and our host. We planned to leave the meeting and make ministry in the park with some worship. May had a similar plan. She came prepared with hair supplies and established relationships with the young girls of the park.
For the next few hours, we laughed, braided, and talked with young girls and their mamas (and got lice). Until Bri met Licda, the woman who stole our hearts for the afternoon.
Licda looked like every other woman in the park. She has a wide smile, a contagious laugh, and an arm full of colorful things to buy. She truly connected with Bri and invited us to meet her family in a neighboring village. A short bus ride later and there we were: San Antonio, Guatemala, in a beautiful space that Licda calls home.
This story is Licda’s to tell. She began to pour out her soul to us and we, as a team, recognize that it is worth telling. Through Bri’s almost fluency and our broken Spanish, this is Licda’s story:
She grew up in an abusive household with an alcoholic father. He used to beat her severely using whips and belts. He often suspended her and tied her up. Her tears welled as she recounted her father’s alcoholism. He frequently stole household items, such as plates, just to sell them and feed his addiction.
Her story jumped to the joy of her life: her children. Her three children are named Carlos, Heidi, and Diego. She was married to a man that did not treat her as she deserved. He left her for another woman, sending her into a depressive and, at times, suicidal state. She was pregnant with Diego, though she didn’t tell her now absent husband. Diego would never know a father figure. She was scared and alone. She found herself on her knees, asking God what she was to do. She wasn’t hearing from God and she so desperately needed Him.
She couldn’t understand her bible. She prayed to God every day and begged him to speak to her. Though she felt far from Him, God began to give her dreams and teach her scripture. She was now able to understand passages such as Psalms 23 and 91, which comforted her in her time of need.
Now, she is striving to live like Jesus. Thanks be to God, she was blessed with her home rent free. Though her parents were absent, they gave her the property. This is unique in this area of the world. Because she was blessed with a large home, she opens it to many. Besides her three children, three other women currently live there. Her ill mother, her disabled sister, and a woman named Maria, who has no family of her own, are blessed by Licda’s kindness. She truly opens her home to everyone and lives out the gospel with her minimum wages.
Licda knows that following Jesus does not come without suffering. She scrambles to make ends meet each day. To educate her daughter, she had to take out loans to pay the 1000Q tuition each month, an equivalent to $130. She still owes the equivalent to $500. This man comes to her house and asks her to pay 100-200Q each day. She is not always able to pay him. He threatens to kill them regularly if she does not pay.
Each day, Licda wakes up early to sell bracelets in Antigua. She comes home to bring lunch to her family and then returns to sell more until 11PM. When she gets home, she doesn’t get to rest. She makes more bracelets for the next day. When we took the bus back to Antigua with her, she mentioned that this was her only time to rest and napped the whole way.
Through her constant exhaustion and struggle to provide for her family, she still remains obedient. As we walked with her, she showed kindness to a drunk man on the street and preached to the poor. She took in six American girls that just wanted to love her, and ended up blessing them much more in return. She dressed them in traditional Guatemalan outfits and called them beautiful. She introduces them to her friends in the park each day. She is a friend, which is something we hold dear out here.
We will return to Antigua at the end of the month to meet our parents! My hope is that when I walk through Central Park with my mom and dad, Licda’s smile catches my eye. My prayer is that my parents can be blessed by her friendship as much as I was.
