A lot has happened very quickly over the past few days for my team and I. Saturday (3/14) we got to our new ministry site in Chichicastenango, Guatemala around 3pm. We had time to settle into our new home for the next 6 weeks. We then went to pastor Juan’s house to hear about his ministry and his testimony. I was so excited to begin working and serving with this organization. Juan has such a heart for the Lord and he trusts Him completely. God has also promised that so many good things would happen in Guatemala so everyone was ready. At 6pm we were eating dinner when our team leader, Sarah, got a call from Jodi (our squad mentor). My team and I held our breath because we had been warned the day before that conditions were changing fast with the coronavirus and that we could have to move at any time. When Sarah got off the phone she said that she had news for us. Myself and a few others immediately started crying. We knew what that news was. Sarah read an email from Jodi that said all of the world race teams are being brought home ASAP. Countries all around the world were starting to close their borders. The decision was made to bring home all of the missionaries that were on the field because it is hard to know the severity of the virus in developing countries. We were supposed to fly home the next day. Suddenly what we had thought would be our life for the next 6 weeks turned into only one day. I was so overwhelmed with emotions and questions. Why would God bring us home when we were about to begin His work? How am I supposed to handle such a lifestyle change in a matter of a day? What am I going to do for the next 6 weeks at home?
The past couple of days has been hard but God is still good. He knew this would happen before we even decided to come on this trip. He gave us an awesome team of people to go through this hard transition with. My team and I could easily have a bad attitude about this whole thing but instead we are choosing gratitude. We’re thankful for the time and opportunities that we’ve had. Thankful for the relationships and forever bonds that were formed. Thankful that God is making a way for us to come home just hours before they close the border. Thankful that we get to be with family sooner than we thought. Thankful for so many things. I think maybe God allowed this to happen so that we can recognize that the mission field is at home as well as in Guatemala. Maybe we need to be home to minister to the people in the states that are living in so much fear. Who knows why this happened, maybe I will know in a few weeks, or years, or maybe not until I get to heaven. I can trust God in the unknown. I can be okay with not knowing right now but still thankful that God let me experience what I did. Thank you to everyone that has supported me on this journey. I will be posting a blog soon about some of the ways God has grown me over the past 7 weeks. This was a time that I wouldn’t trade for anything.
We fly into Florida today, then Georgia later tonight. We will have a debrief for a couple days and I will be flying back to Texas on Wednesday (3/18). I ask for prayers for safe travels and that God will prepare our hearts for life back home.
