It feels just like yesterday that I was writing a blog to announce that I was finally in Guatemala + now here we are a FULL MONTH later!!! Yep, that’s right, I have been in Guatemala for an entire month, doing nothing but ministry + getting to experience a new form of generosity + love. I’ve also bonded so much with my sweet team, Ekklesia while here in Guatemala + I can’t even begin to explain to ya’ll how amazing + precious these girls are to my heart, so here’s some super adorable pictures of my new sisters + I at a cute little place called Hobbitenango, which is a place that looks like the hobbit villages!
As we went into this week, my team + I started with our normal routine of teaching at Loving Arms + lesson planning on Monday. Then on Tuesday, we had the opportunity to celebrate Dia del Ninos with the kids we teach at Los Encinos, which is an entire day dedicated to celebrating children. I really admire that Guatemala has a day set aside just to celebrate kiddos because they really are the most precious part of a community. Kids have a beautiful child faith where nothing is impossible through the Lord + that’s something I’ve really learned to take from the kids, to have a child-like faith + wonder in the Lord.
After teaching at the Los Encinos school, my team + I decided to ask the Lord where we should go next + most of us got a calling to visit a local pastor + his wife. (For the sake of keeping the locals’ names private we are going to use the pseudonyms of David as the pastor + Maria as his wife’s name) David is 84 years old + Maria is 73, but they have more life + spirit in the Lord than anyone I have ever seen. Although Team Ekklesia is not overly skilled in speaking Spanish, especially myself, we talked with the pastor + his wife for a couple of hours. While talking to this sweet elderly couple, Maria expressed some of the struggles that they were both struggling with. Maria has many parasites + does not have enough money to get medicine to treat them + David has had many hernias + cannot walk up or downstairs, but only on flat surfaces. After hearing all of the troubles they were going through we did not expect to hear so much joy in their voices + hearts when sweet Maria explained to us that by the grace of God, He will heal them. She continued to say that she had been to specialists who couldn’t truly help her + then she said something to me that will always stick near + dear to me. She explained to us that she wasn’t upset that the specialist couldn’t figure it out because God is the specialist of all + He has her in His healing hands + He will provide her with whatever she may need.
God is the specialist of all things. He can heal our broken hearts, answer all of our prayers, + heal the sickest of people. Before talking to Maria + David, I had been feeling pretty sick for a while but didn’t know why until I went to the hospital + found out that I have a parasite, Salmonella, + a bacterial infection. Usually, I would be very upset to find out that I have all these health problems going on, but when the doctor diagnosed me the sweet words of Maria came back to me “He is the specialist of all things + He will heal us”. So I remained calm, picked up my prescriptions + decide to just trust in the Lord with my sickness as Maria does every single day.
David + Maria decided to welcome us into their home again next Tuesday for a cooking class! We will be killing one of their chickens ( + when I say “we” I mean anyone other than me) + making a soup! This family has grown near + dear to my heart + I can’t wait to see how the Lord moves through them. I also can’t wait to see how the Lord continues to move in me here in Guatemala.
