This is announcement blog, and trust me, you want to read it. All of it. Typing this, my heart is bursting with excitement to tell y’all these two announcements.
Announcement one- my team’s ministry has just been adjusted. Our host got a job, so we no longer have a host. We are still working in the same town with fifty families, but we have three main projects now. The first is to continue teaching English on Wednesdays and Fridays. We are able to use the porch of the schoolhouse to do this, and have about twenty kids regularly showing up. Second, we have been building relationships with women since we got to Llano, so we are continuing to cook with women in their houses, sit and chat with families, and really just spend time in each other’s space. In a couple weeks we will be hosting an event for the women in our community, to show them how worthy and important they are. Third, we are working to form a community center in our town. Earlier this week we got permission from a tienda owner to paint a mural across the entire wall of her store that has graffiti on it right now. My sweet teammate Haven has been dreaming and praying about an opportunity to do this since signing up for the race, so she has designed the volcanoes and flowers we’ll be painting next week (pictures to come!). Llano already has a soccer field as sort of a community center, so in addition, we’ll be picking up trash there and starting a soccer league with the guys on our squad.
Announcement two- WE HAD A ROUTE CHANGE! When we leave Guatemala on December 10th, we will not be going to Thailand for two months, then Malaysia for a month, and lastly, to Swaziland for three months. Instead, we’ll be in Thailand for one month, then onto our new country for a month, returning back to Thailand for a month, and then going onto Swaziland. Because of Swaziland’s visa requirements, we have to move into South Africa every thirty days, so after Guatemala, we will be moving every month. The country we’re going to now is Myanmar!! (Yes, it is a real country, that was previously known as Burma). We are no longer going to Malaysia for a couple reasons: one, another squad needs to use the base in Thailand the second month we originally were going to be there. Two, Malaysia doesn’t have very many hosts we can work with yet, so by moving countries, there will be a lot more opportunities for us to do ministry work.
Myanmar’s borders have only been open for three years, and last year was the first year where people were allowed to celebrate Christmas. This is an incredible opportunity for all of us to be spending time with people who had never experienced any part of western culture until the past couple years. I’m super thrilled to have this route change. Never in my life did I think I’d be going to Myanmar, but I know God’s got some big things in store for us by opening that opportunity up.
It’s funny how you wake up some mornings and nothing is the same. That’s been this week for me and my team, and it’s given us a lot of renewed excitement for this life we get to live this year!
If you have questions about either of these announcements, please comment them or email me! And don’t worry, my parents already know about this 😉
Love,
Caitlyn
