On the 5th of March, we begin our travel out of Guatemala to Cambodia. Guatemala has been my home for the last three months and we are entering into our last 1/3 of the race. Guatemala has been a beautiful third of the race filled with lots of love, laughs and things to be thankful for. This blog will be continuing my thank you letters to the places I have been, the people I have seen, and the love that has been shared. SO without further ado, Thank you Guatemala and months four + five + six of the race.
Thanks, Aventuras en Misiones//
Thanks for being a place of peace. Aventuras en Misiones is the name of the base here in Guatemala where we lived for the last three months. Our trek to Guatemala was a really hectic one but the minute you arrived at the base, you could feel the presence of God’s peace here. Here we met again as a squad and built fresh and deep relationships with one another. Here we were poured into and called higher every single day by the people around us, encouraging us and fighting for us. Here we were free to run in the big open field and dance recklessly in the common space. We were fed by two of the most amazing cooks, and on the weekends I learned how to cook with one of my best friends. Here we had hard conversations, good laughs, and found lots of joy in being still. Here we were surprised by our boys and thrown a very special celebration for valentine’s day. We also spent Christmas + New Year’s here. Guatemala was a good place to celebrate. The base housed field days, beauty for ashes events, family dinners and 38 people on fire for Jesus. Thanks for providing peace, new opportunities and most importantly for feeling like home. Thanks God for giving us a place like this to rest our heads every night, mega-squeaky bunk beds and all.
Thanks, Base Staff//
The base was equipped with a team of amazing people who poured into us almost every day of the week. We had deep dives which dug us waaaayyy deeper into the word than I have ever been, worship + a word on Monday nights which filled us up for the rest of the week ahead, and activation days that taught us a thing and then gave us the opportunity to go out and practice the thing. The base staff not only mentored us, but they really became friends with us. They encouraged us every chance they got, and they acted in ways which showed the deep love they had for us as individuals.
Mae, thank you for your hugs and your encouragement always.
Gabe, thank you for always speaking the truth and calling us higher.
Cali, thank you for your helpful pushes in the right direction.
Miguel, thank you for seeking us out and making us feel known + loved.
Kelsey, thank you for always listening and encouraging.
Angela, thank you for your creativity and positivity.
Sabrina, thank you for being that calm voice always in the midst of any chaos.
Thanks God for blessing me with people so willing to pour into me, day in and day out.
Thanks, Junior, Rake + the entire Gomez family//
Thank you for loving us like your own and immediately treating us like family. You were more than just ministry hosts or translators, but you truly became family to us in the past three months. Thank you for always being intentional and for inviting us over time and time again. Thanks for worship nights and laughs and secret deals that if Pablo sings, we will dance at church. Thanks for making us feel like members of your church, and not just people who come in and teach on Wednesday nights. Thank you for becoming our family.
Thanks God for loving the Gomez’s really well so they can pour the love unto others really well.
Thanks, Senior Home//
Thankful for 11 am exercise class and crafting all afternoon. My last experience with a senior home was in Ecuador and we basically had no interaction with the people who lived there because we picked weeds all day. I was very grateful for that time, but when I heard that we would be doing senior home ministry again I can’t even lie and say that I was excited. My experience this time around was much different. We got to hang out with the people that came there on Mondays. We sat and had conversations with them, learned about their life, played waaaaaay too many games of memory match, and got to love on the seniors. I am grateful that my heart wasn’t hardened from my first experience. God really blessed me with these old pal besties and I will miss them every day until we meet again in heaven. Thanks God for redeeming and uplifting experiences.
Thanks Parramos+ Xiomara//
We were in Parramos a few days a week. On Wednesdays, we did English classes and I was called seño. The third graders would gather around Allyson and I at recess and play with our hair while asking us to tell them all the English words we knew. We laughed and ate 1Q tostadas with them and taught them English. I will never forget my third class of the day because whenever Allyson and I would walk into the room they would start to cheer and chant “inglés! Inglés! Inglés! Thanks, third graders for reminding me that I don’t necessarily have to like what I’m doing (I wouldn’t consider myself a teacher at all) to still make an eternal impact. Thank you for loving me and my broken Spanish and bad teaching skills. You gave me the confidence to push through uncomfortable things and actually have a bit of fun while doing it. Also, shout out to Allyson/my team sister/ co-teacher, you were an amazing encouragement to me when I didn’t feel like I could do it or had anxiety about teaching. You’re going to be an incredible teacher someday, sis. Thanks God for continuing to call me outside of my comfort zone and never ceasing to amaze me when I actually take the step.
Thanks, Xiomara, our parramos bestie, for loving us really well. You always made us laugh by trying to set us up with your son and you love sacrificially. We will miss you and your family the most.
Thanks, Los Encinos//
Los Encinos was our village. This is where we got to be relational for basically the first time since being on the race within the community. We did house visits and played with kids and named all the dogs in the village and built up a really good community with the families who lived there. Thank you, Irma, for always so willingly accepting us into your house. Thank you for your sass and for sharing your kiddos with us. You became a friend to us and I will miss your sweet smile every day. Thank you to every family who always invited us in and always made sure we had a place to sit. You love and accept like Jesus because Jesus always has a place for us to sit. Thank you for every laugh, every spin with angel in our arms screaming, every failed soccer match and all the snacks. A beautiful village filled with even more beautiful people. Thanks God for giving us a place to call home.
Thanks, Guatemala//
A place filled with love, hope, and beauty. A place of rich culture and joyful people; People who love deep and wholeheartedly. Thanks God that when I came to Guatemala for the first time 4 year ago you would have it leave an eternal impact on my heart and call me back to live there for three months. Guatemala felt like home. Guatemala was also the hardest three months of my race, filled with anxiety + sorrow + sickness. God continued to bring me back to a place of desperately needing to be filled with Him and I would push it away. Thanks Guatemala for breaking down hardness in my heart, and filling me back up with truth and love when I drained the lies and fear. Thanks for your people that loved me so well and for your culture that allowed my eyes to be filled with awe-struck wonder. Thank you for being beautiful, thank you for feeling like home. Thanks God, that you have given me a heart for a place filled with passion and a place that says I am welcome as I am, whenever I want to come back.
