I’ve been here for a week and this place has already stolen my heart. The colors, the people, the language, I love it all. We just started ministry on Monday and boy is it a dream… way better than I could have ever anticipated.
The past weekend, we had a lot of free time. Saturday night, a few of us had the oppotunity to go to a church in Parramos for a rap night. Let me tell you, it was so cool. Even though we couldn’t understand anything, the atmosphere was so powerful.
Towards the end of the night, we had a large group prayer followed by an alter call. During the prayer, I struggled with keeping my eyes closed, and every time I opened my eyes, they were drawn to one woman across the room. I felt the Lord telling me to pray for her, but fear got in the way because of language barriers and rejection. I told God, if you want me to pray for her, she has to come up to me.
A few minutes passed and I opened my eyes to see her walking in my direction. I was terrified. I don’t know if I actually meant what I had said to God earlier, but I knew if she were to come up to me, I’d have to. In my flesh, I thanked God that she was just going to pray for another girl in the front.
A few minutes later, the rapper who led the night came up to me and began praying with Junior, who is the youth leader at the church and translates for us. To be honest, I couldn’t tell you everything they said. I was so focused on the spanish that a lot of it became a blur. But I do remember that he said that it’s time for my family to rise up and obey what God has been calling us to do. Mom, dad, you heard it here first, all the way from Guatemala. The other thing they said was that where I am is not where God wants me to be at the moment and that He asked me to do something and I need to do it. About a minute after they walked away, the girl I was so focused on came up to me and hugged me. I let her walk away before I went to where she was standing to speak to her. She spoke no english, so we got a translater so I could explain what I felt and what God had been telling me before I prayed.
I wish I could tell you that there was a visible healing that occurred or mountains moved, but there wasn’t. And there doesn’t always have to be. It’s just obeying God and allowing Him to do the work even when we aren’t there. And that’s hard for me to do. I like to see all that comes from prayer, but it’s all about trust. And I trust that God is going to do amazing things in that woman, even when I’m no longer in this country.
To all my supporters: thank you so much for the sacrifice you’ve put into making this trip a reality for me. Ministry is amazing, and my team has been placed with a ministry host that really embraces all of our gifts. God has really given us the desires of our hearts. Please continue to pray for divine appointments with the Guatemalan people so that this country can be a country after God’s heart, and for my squad to have the strength to do ministry every day and lead these people closer to Him.
Much love,
Abby
