Life in Guatemala has been incredible. But I realized I haven’t shared what a normal day here actually looks like! We do ministry Monday through Friday and we have the weekends off.
Everyday my day starts at 6:30 am. I get up and have my quiet time with Jesus. At 7 we eat breakfast as a squad and have devotions together. On Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays we have worship in the mornings together.
Afterwards we all pack our lunches and head to ministry. My teams ministry doesn’t start until 1 so most days well go early to find something to do. Around 11 we get on a chicken bus. Let me tell you, riding a chicken bus is quite the experience if you didn’t grow up doing it. A chicken bus is a school bus that they brought down from the states and repainted it a bunch of different colors. They shove as many people as they can on it. Sometimes you’re standing on the top of the seat so the money collector can get through the aisle, or sometimes most of your body is hanging out of the door because it was so full but they insisted there was more room and you have make it home in time, and sometimes your teammates get thrown up on halfway through the ride and you have to buy them new pants. Its always an adventure, but we love it.
We have to take two buses to get to our ministry. At our first bus stop we met a sweet old lady named Maria Elena. One day she invited us in and asked if we would pray for her. She has a really bad foot infection and we’ve been helping her take care of it everyday before ministry. Most days we stop here just to help her with her foot and some days she even teaches us how to cook and we eat together. She always gives us sweet bread that she bakes. We play soccer with her sweet granddaughter Evelyn, and usually get laughed at because were so bad, and sometimes we even get to take her to school with us.
At 12:30, we get on another chicken bus to go to ministry. Our friend at the bus stop knows just enough English to tell us hi and point to what bus to get on. We get to the field where we do ministry. We help set up the desks and welcome the kids as they start showing up. Right now its summer vacation for the kids in Guatemala so we’ve been doing a three week vbs. During the school year we helped teach math, English, and bible.
School is from one to four everyday. We help serve them food and then we split them up into groups. The first week was sports, last week was art, and this week is bible.
Our ministry hosts have been incredible and have been so welcoming. We each split up with one of them into the different grades and teach them for the day. Everyday is something different and we usually don’t know what were doing until we get there but the kids are always so excited to see us, it makes everything worth it. Some days were sitting in a circle helping them paint, other days were serving them food, and most days were getting beat really bad in a soccer game. The kids are always so happy to see us and in our broken Spanish we’ve created a lot of really good relationships.
At 4 we give the kids a snack and head back home on a chicken bus. At the first bus stop our team stops at our favorite tienda, a little store, to get some ice cream. The second bus is always so full but we always find a way to get on, the locals always laugh at us. We get home around 5 and eat dinner as a squad at 5:30. Then we have the rest of the night for team time and to just spend time together. Being with the whole squad is so special, its not common on the world race to be with your whole squad this much.
Were learning what its like to live in community and what is really means to live a life on mission. Were seeing different sides of Jesus through each other everyday. Some days are harder than others, but each day its about choosing in. And some days not choosing in is way easier. There are days when going to ministry is the last thing I want to do. But I’ve learned that each and everyday choosing in is always the better choice, its worth it every single time no matter how hard. My team and I have seen so much growth in each other by living this way everyday. Its not about our own selfish desires anymore, but learning how we can love each other and push each other to become who we were created to be.
The days go fast but God is teaching me so much in my day to day life and is preparing me to live this way when I go home. We only have 8 days of ministry left in Guatemala before we go to Thailand! Im going to miss this place so much but its just the beginning and I can’t wait to see what the lord has for us in the next 6 months.
Please continue to keep my team and I in your prayers during our last two weeks here! Thank you to all my supporters who are continuing to pray for me, it means so much to me! Miss you all!!
