This week we were assigned to our ministries that we will be working with these next three months. My team and I are working in small village named Bola De Oro (meaning Ball of Gold). It is absolutely breathtakingly beautiful and the people are so welcoming and full of life!
In order to travel from house to house we walk along dirt or rock paths through cornfields, between buildings, and up hills. While here our ministry will involve holding a type of extra schooling for the children of the village. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday twice a day we will be teaching different things including English, Art, Discipleship, and Sports, reaching about 60 kids. But this past week we have been doing a lot of house visits waiting for official ministry to begin on Monday.
We met several families, each welcoming and polite, but each struggling with sickness, lack of joy, hopelessness, etc. It was spectacular to be able to pray for them and see the Lord work in them and their situations.
Guatemala struggles with many issues involving poverty, crime, and oppression. Even the simplest of things can be a hindrance to their growth and wellbeing. For example, many of the households cook on open fires outside under a sort of awning. Children can fall into the fire and get burned; smoke is trapped under the roof and makes the air hard to breathe; it takes a large amount of firewood and time to cook. This Friday we got the privilege to be a part of the installation of two stoves at the homes of families we knew.
This is Josefina. She runs a Christian women’s group in the village and graciously allows us to use her yard for our classroom. We were able to bless her with this stove, and she was overwhelmed with joy. Josefina is such an amazing woman, and all she thought of was how she could use this stove to bless the community around her. She was also super patient with our horrible tortilla making skills on her new stove later in the day!
I’m so so so excited to work in and alongside this village, and I cannot wait to update you all on the ministry we do, because God has already done some amazing things, and it has only been one week! Thank you all for reading, and I just wanted to remind you that if you feel like God is calling you to support me financially my deadline is to be fully funded in December! God bless you all, and have a great week!
