I’m alive and well in Guatemala! I’ve been here for two and a half weeks, and can’t get enough of the cobblestone streets, old and beautifully colored buildings, and the friendly greetings of ‘Buenas!’ as you walk down the street. I’m finding that what they say at launch is true: the days are so long but the weeks are so short. As a result, I have way too many stories to tell, so I had to pick one of many to share with you this week in my blog!
Our daily routine in Guatemala while sharing the house with my whole 40 person squad included breakfast, worship in the front yard, and then a short lesson from one of our squad leaders. One morning, my lovely squad leader Kali shared a spiritual routine with us that she enjoyed and challenged us to try it. In the morning, she spent time listening to God for a piece of scripture or a simple word. The small word from God would usually tie into the rest of her day in some way and bring her closer to God.
That morning I tried it for myself. After a lot of frustration and unwillingness, I felt the word ‘tender’ put on my heart, and a moment after, the word ‘entender’, which in Spanish means ‘to understand’. This was really significant because for the past few days in the schools, all we had been doing was breaking off into small groups and speaking with them in English so we could get to know them. Coincidentally, I had ended up speaking way more Spanish than any English at all. I felt like God was telling me to have a spirit of tenderness in these conversations; that I would have to be tender to understand/entender.
After that experience, I was feeling pretty positive about the practice of listening for a word and enthusiastically did so the next morning. I was feeling on top of the world and was so excited to spend time with the Lord. The first word I thought I heard was ‘honey’, but I wasn’t really too sure about it. It was very specific and I wasn’t sure how that was going to effectively have meaning in my day. Before I had time to pray some more, it was time for breakfast, and I got distracted.
I didn’t really think about the word until much later in the day. I had been through a morning of classes followed by some shopping in the market. As we were walking to the bus, I started to feel guilty because I hadn’t thought of any of this all day long. I started to think about the word ‘honey’ and pray as I walked. Not more than ten seconds later, I was passing by a section of fruit stands and saw a jar of honey at the tables.
I didn’t know what to do, so I just kept walking towards the bus. On the inside, I was freaking out. Should I go talk to them? Is this really a real word or am I just making this all up? My friends and I got to the bus and sat down. My body was still but my mind was racing as I tried to decide if it was too late to get off the bus. Partly because I didn’t want to feel guilty all day and partly because I was really curious about what would happen, I decided to go. I asked one of my friends to come with me back to the fruit stand, assuring the rest of the group that we’d be back in two minutes or we’d just catch the next bus. Before the bus had left the terminal, I jumped out of my seat and was quickly walking toward that jar of honey with an exciting anticipation that I hadn’t yet felt in Guatemala.
At the fruit stand, there were two women dressed in the traditional dresses you see a lot of the vendors wearing at the market. I started asking how much the fruit was and how they were doing, trying to get a conversation started. They were not very responsive, and I started to suspect that they didn’t speak Spanish, which was a problem because I barley speak Spanish. It’s common for people who live in villages to speak Kaqchikel, a Mayan language, as their first language and only know some Spanish. I decided to just buy a papaya and head back to the bus. I was glad I had come to the fruit stand. Even though nothing had come from it, I figured if I hadn’t, I would have felt bad about it all day.
By the time we returned, our bus was gone and we had to wait about 5 minutes for the next one to arrive. When we got on, we were followed by two schoolgirls, both about 16 years old. I immediately thought that maybe that was the reason I needed to get off the first bus, and quickly started a conversation.
So began the most fun bus ride home I’ve ever had. We were asking each other questions about each other’s lives, telling jokes, and laughing a lot. They genuinely wanted to talk to us, which is something that I hadn’t experienced much of at the schools. Eventually, we had to say goodbye as their stop arrived.
As I was eating the papaya from the fruit stand later that day, I thought about what had happened. I still wasn’t sure if this situation, from the word ‘honey’ to my fear to talk to the women initially to missing the bus because of it, was all planned out perfectly so I could meet those girls or if it resulted from my being more aware of my surroundings and looking for a way to share the Kingdom. Either way, I felt that God was woven into this situation and I treasured meeting those girls! I still pray for them every day and look for them on the bus home J.
MINISTRY UPDATE!!
Life in the schools has been amazing! I go to a few classes a day at two different middle schools/high schools called Inebe and Sel. I help a woman named Ellen who works for the ministry I’m staying with (Nueve Generacion) to teach basic lessons in English. A lot of what we do is just getting to know the kids and having fun with them! One of the things I’ve loved about my ministry is lesson planning. I’ve found that I love going to a coffee shop and brainstorming how we can best help them learn while still enjoying it; it’s something I’m really passionate about!
Over these weeks we’ve found that we serve best in the schools with a small amount of people. As a result, I haven’t been serving with the six girls that are on my team, but with two girls from the other team that is staying in Antigua. It’s worked out very well and makes me even more excited to come home and eat dinner with my team!
A FEW FUN FACTS ABOUT MY WEEK!
- One Saturday on an off day, my team went into the city to get tattoos and piercings (don’t worry Mom, I didn’t get anything). While we were there, I met some girls from the Peace Corps that were serving in Guatemala. They loved talking to me about what they were doing and were very encouraging. One of them gave me her contact info so I could get in touch if I needed to! A few minutes later, I met a group of kids from Guatemala City that were part of some kind of Scout group. They were very nice, and we talked for a while. The next day, I ran into them in the city, and it was such a crazy coincidence! I still talk to them and am hoping to see them before I leave Guatemala.
- My team and I have been going to a church that meets in a nightclub! The church is called Shoreline and it reminds me a lot of home. It’s funny to worship in a place that has a mural of Snoop Dogg on the wall and is called ‘The Lucky Rabbit’ J.
- Since I haven’t had wifi and I didn’t bring a book to read, I’ve been reading stories in the Bible a lot. It’s become really comforting to read stories that I haven’t really thought a lot about since childhood like a novel. I’m super interested and loving every chapter! One of my goals now for these nine months is to read a big part of the Old Testament.
- The coffee here makes me feel crazy. It must be different than what we have in America because I literally can’t think for two straight hours after I drink it!
- I just turned eighteen here! I felt so loved both from my people here and my people at home. Thank you everyone for making it so special!!
Thanks for reading! You can be praying for my family and I because we miss each other a lot!
With Love,
Abby in Antigua 🙂
This is a game we’ve been playing in the classes. The kid’s love it!
The girls we met on the bus!
