Hey friends and family! Sorry it has been so long since I have posted an update, it has been pretty busy since leaving Peru and arriving in Guatemala! Since arriving in Guatemala, we have been helping out at a local school. The school is an all English school and provides opportunities for children in low income households to learn English and get a private education. There, we are teaching the teachers English and helping with projects in the classrooms and building.
And while ministry there is going great, there is a different story I want to share with you today. Today, I want to share with you the story of our friend Edwin.
On Saturday, my team and I had plans to spend the day in Antigua and visit a coffee plantation and go out to lunch. Well, the Holy Spirit had VERY different plans for us.
That morning, we arrived at the street corner where the shuttle bus picks people up for the coffee plantation tour. After waiting for a while, we realized the coffee shuttle isn’t coming.
Long story short we decide to just go another day. As we are deciding this, a man is hobbling down the cobblestone streets using a crutch and occasionally stopping to take breaks. As he passes I say hello and ask him how he is, to which he replied, a bit tired. Then, a stranger ran up next to him and helped him cross the intersection, and Maddie, my teammate joined in helping him. She gets him across and then starts up a conversation with him.
He tells her he has injured legs and an injured arm. She asks if there is anyway she can help and he says that he needs new shoes, because his are falling apart. He tells us that you can buy them in Chimaltenango, a city about an hour away from Antigua by bus.
After getting lunch, Maddie, our other teammate Caela, and I decide to go to Chimal and find him the shoes he needs, and then meet back in the park with him the next day to give him the shoes. So we headed to Chimal.
When we arrived, we googled orthopedic stores, and google maps had no answers. So, we set off on a mission to find him the shoes. We eventually stopped in a small doctors office just outside the town square, where we met Dr. Flora.
Dr. Flora is a sweet middle aged woman, who runs her own practice. We explained that we were local missionaries and we needed shoes for our friend, and after some more conversation she begins writing a doctors note to get Edwin into an orthopedic specialist in Antigua without a wait or appointment. The three of us kinda just looked at each other as she wrote because in that moment we were sure he just needed shoes.
After she wrote the note, Flora tells us that she has a daughter and granddaughter in Texas and she asked us to pray for her and her family. She was so kind to us and meeting her was such a blessing.
After meeting Flora, we continue on our mission for shoes. We stop at a local pharmacy and ask a man there, who directs us to Melody medical supply store. He says it’s closed on weekends, but we decided to just try anyways. So, after a long walk and a few wrong turns, we find it. Upon approaching the store, we assume it is closed, but push on the door anyways. The door opens! We go inside and explain to the two woman working what shoes we need. They first bring out a boot for a broken foot, then bring out hospital slippers, and lastly bring out knee braces.
The three of us look at each other with confusion and a hint of dismay, when Caela pulls out a picture she took of Maddie and Edwin. We look at the picture when I say that it seems like he has shredded ACL’s and tendons, to which Caela replies how painful and sad.
Then, Caela made the realization that we should just take him to the hospital and get him real help. I mean, Jesus literally calls us to care for the sick, so that is what we will do.
We thank the ladies at the store, and hop on a bus back to the base we are staying at. On the ride home, we talk about how the next day when we see him we will offer to take him to the hospital in Antigua. Then, Maddie puts two and two together. She explains that there was a reason Flora gave us the letter of recommendation. We are supposed to get him help!
The next morning we set out with a mission. We head to the park early and find Edwin. He works in the park, taking polaroid pictures for tourists to earn a living. We meet up with Edwin and explain that we couldn’t find the shoes and we want to take him to the hospital. He explains that he needs to work and doesn’t have time, and then goes on to explain that he already has had surgeries. He explains that because of the way his bones are, surgery doesn’t help.
We ask him to take some polaroids of us so that he isn’t totally taken away from his work while he is talking to us. We even take one with him! Then, he goes on to explain that he used to not be able to walk at all. He used to crawl on his hands because the pain, but the strength of God is what made him able to walk. He explains that he loves his life because of God and is happy because of the Lord, his savior.
We ask if we can bring him back lunch, and then we ask what he wants. He replies “chicken!” in the sweetest broken English. Edwin also tells us that he needs media botas (which translates to half boots, not media motas- what we thought was a shoe brand). He actually just needed ankle boots to support his legs.
Later that afternoon, we return with chicken and boots, and our lunches as well. We all sat together in the square and ate lunch together. We asked him about his family, and found out that he has a wife named Gloria and a twelve year old daughter. He tells us that it is too difficult to go home to his family every night, so he stays in Antigua and visits them about once a month.
As Edwin finished up his lunch, we gave him the shoes. He was so thankful and kept thanking the Lord. We told him that he was so strong, and he said no God is. Every time we would encourage him, he would point back to the Lord.
As we were giving him the shoes, another vendor in the square came over. We asked Edwin if he was his friend and he said no, he is my brother in Christ and we talk about God together. The man introduced himself and said his name was Javier. Javier told us that because we gave his brother a gift, he wanted to give us gifts, and he ended up making us beautiful bracelets with our names on them.
After all this, we asked if we could pray with them. So, we all grabbed hands and Edwin and Javier began to pray at the same time in Spanish. Caela, Maddie, and I decided to start praying in English with them.
And wowza that prayer was one of the most beautiful moments I have ever experienced. I literally felt the Holy Spirit moving in my body, and was so full of joy in that moment that I couldn’t even find words to pray, I just stopped and smiled.
All in all, I learned so much over the course of two days. I learned that I don’t know ANYTHING. I see people all over the world and I assume I know what they need, but sometimes they really just need a friend and some shoes. I learned that I tend to think that people aren’t happy because of their situations, but Edwin showed me that even though every day is hard, there is joy in everyday.
I learned that the Holy Spirit is at work big time. Through the timing of waiting on the corner for a bus that didn’t come which lead Maddie to meet Edwin, to Flora who wrote us the doctors note that ultimately helped lead us to the realization that we have no clue what Edwin actually needs, to enabling us to find Edwin several times in the giant, crowded town square with no problem, to finding the shoes, to praying the most powerful prayer between 5 people and 2 languages.
I learned that just like we had searched for two days for ways to help Edwin, the Father does that with me in tenfold. He pursues me relentlessly, no matter the cost. He knows what I need, and through his unending grace and unexplainable love provides.
(this is the polaroid we took with Edwin in the square)
