Wow I’m not sure where to start. I loved my time in Guatemala. It wasn’t easy, but I learned so much. I learned what it meant to have a relationship with the father, that I’m a daughter of the king, I began to see how much he loves me (a huge thing, and I don’t think I’ll ever understand the extent of this), how to listen to His voice and learning the importance of obeying that voice. And that I serve a loving, miracle working, peculiar yet consistent God who loves me where I’m at, but loves me too much to leave me where I am.
I met some of the most amazing people these 3 months, to name a few: The staff at adventures Guatemala who helped me so much by making me realize what it looks like to be a radical follower of Jesus and made my faith so much stronger.
My ministry host, Elsa who helped me realize how much joy there is in the world and what it looks like to love your community and serve others around you.
My wonderful English students who at the beginning gave me a run for my money, but slowly became my 30 little sisters.
The moms of Calderas, who showed me the meaning of sacrifice. The women who wouldn’t eat so that the rest of the family could have enough.
And my team, who continue to show me what unconditional love looks like. Even though we’re together 24/7 and get on each others nerves, they love me and want me to grow and aren’t afraid to point out the areas of my life that don’t look like Jesus.
All of these people made a huge impact on me these pas 3 months and have radically changed the trajectory of my life. But looking back at my time here, the one person who changed me the most was a woman in Calderas named Ruth. Some of my teammates have blogged about Ruth before, so if you’ve read their blogs, you know Ruth and her heart. But those of you who didn’t (no worries by the way), Ruth is a wonderful woman married to one of the local pastors. She is a woman of faith and boldness and you can tell she loves the Lord, just by sitting in her presence. We met Ruth through our ministry host Elsa, who loves going to houses and praying for her neighbors. She suggested we go and visit. The first time we met Ruth, she was dying of kidney failure. She was in her bed, clearly in so much pain, and was not up for visitors, a rare occurrence in Guatemala. Ruth told us that one kidney failed completely and the other one was following close by. We prayed for her, and left.
We went back every week and prayed for her. The first few weeks we went, we saw Ruth decline rapidly. She no longer smiled and the life in her eyes was dwindling. We went to a funeral one day for a woman in the community who was hit by a bus. Afterwards, we went to Ruth’s house; emotions were high and seeing her in that state, we couldn’t help but think the next funeral we went to would be hers.
Ruth told us that a few months ago, she promised God to stop treatment for her kidneys because it was no longer working. Her family and her decided to leave her life in the hands of the Lord. They said that if she died, it was because God needed her in heaven. And if she lived, she had more work to do on Earth. While she was declining, Ruth told us she so desperately wanted to go to the doctor for medicine, but she held out because of her promise.
The last few weeks in Guatemala, Ruth was walking around. She was smiling, laughing, and talking more than we had seen. Her husband, Eddie told us that Ruth was back to the woman she was before her diagnosis. She said that the Lord told her that because she was faithful in her promise, he was going to heal her.
Ruth showed me what a radical faith looked like. Someone who would trust the Lord so much to leave her life in His hands. She was in so much pain while she was sick, but she knew that the Lord was so much better than her circumstances.
To see someone so rooted in faith was eye opening to say the least. I had to take a look at my life and change my perspective. When things aren’t easy, I’m so quick to give up and do things my own way. Nothing near as serious as what Ruth was facing, yet I cave much easier. Ruth has truly left her mark on me, and my faith has been changed for the better.
I miss Guatemala and all the awesome people so much! But I’m here in Thailand and I absolutely love it! I’ll let you know what I’m doing in my next blog!
Love you guys!
If there’s anything I can pray for, please message me or leave a comment!
