We haven’t even been in Guatemala for a week yet, but the Lord is already teaching me so much. At launch, we had the opportunity to buy necklaces with a ministry called keys for the journey engraved with a word that had been prayed over specifically for each individual’s race. My necklace says chosen. As I was praying over what the Lord wanted to teach me through that word, I came across John 15:16 where Jesus says,
“You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you may go and bear fruit – fruit that will last – and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. This is my command: Love each other.”
Since being here, I am continuing to learn daily about what it looks like to find my identity solely in Jesus, because He’s chosen me to be his daughter, and throughout scripture His people are called beloved, holy and blameless, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, heirs to the throne, ambassadors for Christ. The Lord has been teaching me that from the overflow of spending time with Him, understanding his word, his voice, his nature, will I find an abundant love that I can pour out to others.
On the second day of being in Guatemala, I asked the Lord what He was going to teach me through my ministry. My team of 7 amazing women will be ministering to a community outside of Paramos, a village up in the mountains, described by our hosts as “further up, further in.” Our base elders told us they received a word from the Lord that “praise would be brought back to the hills,” and we are simply going to be loving on the people in these communities, teaching English, visiting homes, helping with sports ministry, and covering the villages in prayer and asking the Holy Spirit for guidance on where he wants to lead us every day. Yesterday was our first day of ministry and we went into a village outside of Paramos in the mountains where I met three precious girls and their families. They gave me a marshmallow, and we talked about favorite colors, activities, playing soccer, and our families as they gracefully responded to my broken Spanish and my many questions of “Como se dice….” We played tag with a stick, and their laughter was contagious and warm from deeply rooted joy. I am so excited to see how praise is brought back to these beautiful and lush hills. Even from my short first day of ministry, I could see so much promise and hope here in Guatemala and I can’t help but see it as a land flowing with milk and honey. The spirit of the Lord is here and He is moving. He has the power to bring his praise back to the hills, and I am so thankful revival and salvation is in his hands and not my own.
After asking the Lord what He was going to be teaching me through this ministry, He told me, “I am teaching you how to love.”
After sitting and meditating on His words and scripture about love, I realized how skewed my view of love is. I thought I knew how to love people, but Romans 12:9 says that “love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.”
Loving others is not possible without knowing the love of Jesus. Loving people is going to be an ongoing lesson throughout the entirety of my life as I have to refine the selfishness in me that doesn’t want to be sincere, cling to goodness, be devoted and honoring, or put others’ needs before my own. Love is choosing to lay your life down for others, for the sake of them knowing Jesus and being the best version of themselves. Love is seeing everyone as a brother or sister, royalty, loved by the father. Love isn’t sugarcoating so everyone likes you, its not being kind to someone because they can do something for you, love isn’t about making yourself look good or feel better. Love is wholeheartedly genuine, never self seeking, and always traces back to a wellspring that is found in the love of Jesus. Because apart from Jesus, we can do nothing.
I still have a lot to work on, but I am beyond enamored by the reminders of the love of Jesus evident in the joyful smiles of the people of Guatemala, conversations with strangers, the passion and determination for revival in our ministry hosts, learning how to make homemade corn tortillas with my new friends Teresa and Sandra, playing soccer and volleyball in the open fields of our base, and the willingness of the people of Guatemala to open their homes and be hospitable to a few gringos.
So, week one, the Lord is teaching me how to love because He is love, and “love is the fulfillment of the law.”
We can love because we are chosen in Him, and if we are chosen to be his sons and daughters, his greatest command for us is to love him and love others no matter if you’re in Lucas, Texas or Chimaltenango, Guatemala.
Thanks for reading this today. Please be in prayer for my team and my squad as we start our ministry, that we would have open hands and open hearts in all circumstances and that we would joyfully serve as the hands and feet of Jesus. Pray for the beautiful people of Guatemala and that the Lord would prepare their hearts to be open to him and that praise would be brought back to the hills here.
Til next time,
Mallory sailer
