Wow! The time really has flown by. I have 3 weeks and some change before I head back to the states. So I figured it was past time for another update. I want to try and give you all a fuller picture of what this time has been so far and I have a decently long list to catch you up on. This is probably gonna be a long one again, so welcome to part one of a series of blogs I’ll be posting over the next few days!
So one of the major things that I have yet to talk about with you guys is a thing called Hineni. Upon arriving in Guatemala, I found out about a new program Adventures Guatemala was starting called Hineni. Hineni is a missionary training program. It is an 18 month commitment to training and discipleship with the goal to be sent to the Middle East as missionaries. Now I’m not sure how many of you might remember this, but in 2018 I felt a strong call on my heart for the Middle East. I even wrote a blog about it, which terrified my mother! If you want to read that story:
https://melissajordan.theworldrace.org/post/refugees-and-revelations
I was so certain at the time of the call to go to the Middle East. So when God called me to Guatemala, it didn’t really make sense to me. Until I got here.
You see, the year I was delayed because of covid was also the year that Hineni was dreamt up and created. If I had been here a year ago I may not have seen the connection between Guatemala and the Middle East. Thankfully God’s timing is perfect. I arrived in Guatemala and during orientation found out about this program specifically designed to train up and send missionaries to the Middle East. There just so happened to be three people here at the very same time as me that were going to the Middle East to build a long-term base. So not only is there a program connected to the Middle East but I also got to meet people who are committed to moving and living in the Middle East long term. To say I was blown away by the connection would be an understatement. I thought that by saying yes to Guatemala meant I needed to surrender the call I felt for the Middle East, but that wasn’t the case. I think this connection helped me to see that my heart was aligned with the heart of Adventures Guatemala. That God wasn’t calling me into surrender but into more. That there was a bigger plan in place than I ever could have imagined, and He had better than I would have dreamt for myself. But that’s not all of it.
So, to rewind for a second, as I was preparing for training camp in august 2017 for my first world race, I was insanely nervous. I reached out to my group of friends and one of them sent me the verse Joshua 1:9 “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”
This verse was exactly what I needed to hear in that moment and helped carry me through. So when I got home, before I left for my first race, I got it tattooed on me. I wanted a tattoo that was based on my faith. So I drew up an idea and took it in to the artist to use as inspiration. He ended up just using my own artwork and tattooing that.
Fast forward to a week or so after arriving Guatemala for my internship, and I’m having coffee with a couple of girls on staff with adventures. We get to talking and they ask about my tattoos. How many I have? Have I ever designed my own? Etc… and I let them know the only one I have designed is the one above. I tell them it’s a watercolor world map with a paper airplane on it and they both stop and look at each other. Then they look back at me and ask if I know what the logo for Hineni is. It’s a globe with paper airplanes.
Y’all… Seriously, only God would make those kinds of connections. How much more confirmation do I really need? It’s literally written on my body. God used a tattoo I got 4 years ago to help me to see that I definitely am where I’m supposed to be. That this was His plan all along. As if that wasn’t enough, God kept affirming me.
Before I came down here for this internship, I felt the Lord asking me to make a list of dreams. I’m not much of a dreamer. I’m more of a realistic goal type of person, but God calls us to have child-like faith. I felt God inviting me to dream without limitations with Him. When World Race America was wrapping up I started a list during a worship session with my team at the time. A list of places I’d like to visit, things I’d like to do. Things that don’t have to be attainable but just wishes. Simply if anything were possible, what would I want? So I grabbed that list, continued expanding it, and when I ran out of room I continued it on my phone.
You can look and see the last time that the list on my phone was edited was on November 27,2020 (I didn’t come to Guatemala until January 2021.) and you can see the first thing listed is a degree in biblical history. You can imagine how I felt when I found out that during the Hineni program the students would be receiving seminary level classes on biblical history. Adventures Guatemala is partnering with a program called Aselsi. Aselsi provides inter-denominational Bible education and ministry leadership training tailored to the unique needs of indigenous, rural pastors, and church leaders. It is a program that upon completion of the established courses, the student will be able to graduate with a Diploma in Bible and Practical Ministry.
Ya’ll! I couldn’t make this up if I tried. Every single one of those moments was like God saying, “I got you. Don’t worry. You didn’t hear me wrong. I did call you here.”
Right now we have 5 students committed to Hineni. They have been in the program for a little over a month now and seem to be thriving. 2 of the students are American, one is from El Salvador, and 2 are Guatemalan. They take language classes, seminary classes, do activations (if this word doesn’t make sense, I explained it in my last blog), they are starting their own ministries in new locations that the base has never been to, and are support raising.
I know that this could probably have been its own blog (I guess it kinda is now…), but I hadn’t even mentioned it so far and don’t want to keep putting it off because it is a huge part of the affirmation the Lord has given me in coming to Guatemala. I wanted to make sure I shared it well with you guys!
Hineni started at the beginning of my second month being here. Once the students arrived, we spent a few days having a retreat with them. The retreat was to welcome them into the team, to remember what God has done, to celebrate everyone’s journey to get there, and to look forward to what the future holds. It was three days of worship, connection, and sharing community culture with the Hineni students. To be honest though, this was also my first opportunity to really spend any time with many of the people on staff. I was able to get to know a few people better simply from being in the same space as them. I left feeling like I got to know people more in those 3 days than I had in the whole month previous. Here’s a couple pictures from the retreat.
Okay… I feel like this is a good spot for a break. Keep a look out for Part 2 coming out soon! The next part will be full of stories from ministry that I really want to share with you guys. I will give a deeper look into what I’ve been doing here and why I feel called into this ministry. So stay tuned! Love Y’all!!!
