when I asked God for a fruit of the spirit to make super apparent in my day, he told me he wanted to show me “love.” my response was “wow, okay that was super cheesy and cliche.”
but man oh man did God still work despite my doubts.
our ministry ended up being picking coffee beans. i had never done it before, and let me tell you, i had so much fun! my team and our ministry hosts, john and ilsi, were all out in a field picking these red berry-looking things off of bushes and putting them in a big burlap sack. it was a ton of fun to be able to talk to each other and continue to get to know our ministry hosts!
there was a moment i was walking around the field trying to find another coffee plant we hadn’t picked yet and i saw everyone working and laughing in front of me and i was completely overwhelmed with how much i love these people and this ministry.
wow, God. i love them so much. thanks for putting them in my life.
maddie, now you see them how i see them. i’m giving you my heart.
WWOOAAAHHHHH that really blew me away. God gave me his heart hehe. that’s pretty cool.
after we filled the big fat burlap sack, john and ilsi took us to get some guatemalan hot dogs in chimal. we all got to try “chuchos dobles” or “double hotdogs,” which were 2 hot dogs in 1 bun with steamed cabbage, mayo, ketchup, and some hot sauce on it. i probably would’ve never pegged it as something that i would like, but we all got it bc that’s what john said was the best. and lemme tell you, that was a bangin chucho. we all got to sit in this little tiny burger place that had all sorts of fun cartoon characters painted all over the wall and just be together.
again, i was overwhelmed by how much i love and care for these people.
we still had some time before our team needed to be back home at the mission base, so john and elsie took us to a piece of land they had bought and were still trying to figure out what exactly to build there that would benefit their ministry. we got to walk around and pray for it. powerful, powerful stuff. God is going to do big things on that chunk of land.
this time, God overwhelmed me with his love for the country of guatemala. guatemala is a beautiful, amazing country. the people here are so kind and friendly, and they still need Jesus! he loves them so much!
afterwards, we visited elsie’s friend and ended up doing a house visit there. the family was so kind and immediately offered us cokes to drink and chocolate to eat (yum!). the family told us the story of the newborn baby. he had been born almost 4 months early and was extremely sick for a long time. thankfully, he’s okay now. and we got to pray for the baby and the whole family, for strength and unity and protection and praising God for the miracle he did in this little baby.
this chunky baby was one of the cutest lil things i’ve ever laid my eyes on. i was (again, i’m sorry) overwhelmed! by how much i love this stinkin baby.
yes, maddie, that’s how i see him, too.
when we got home from ministry, my evening was filled with having a movie date with one of my teammates and making fun art for our room.
God AGAIN overwhelmed me with how much i love my team. my sisters. my family.
so yeah, God showed me a lot. he loves every. single. one of us. SO MUCH !!! isn’t that amazing! we’re his kids! he loves the simple moments, the goofy moments, all of it!
that’s all for now. let me know if you have any questions or anything, i’d be more than happy to talk to you! 🙂
love, maddie
