Month 2 of the race is half over, and my mind is being blown by the amount of growth, change, and experience that can happen in such a short amount of time.
But the point of this blog is not to share all the intimate details of my team and I (check back next week). It's to share all the little details of this month… boring to some, but I always loved reading these blogs before the race, so here it goes:
Ministry:
This month we are in San Pedro, La Laguna, Guatemala. The village is on Lake Atitlan, a very touristy place. Team Hebron is partnered with Team Mashach, and our contact, Pastor Antonio, has given us the freedom to create our own ministry. Kind of a crazy thing to happen in month 2, but our team went to the Lord and he gave us a game plan.
The tourists in this area are here for more then the lake and shops. The majority come to this area to use drugs and go on or continue their 'spiritual' journey. You'd be hard pressed to find a tourist over 30 or one who doesn't look like a hippie. Some of the nicest people I've met so far, but with a very twisted view of God, and practices that mirror witchcraft, Buddhism, Hinduism, and idolatry all wrapped up in one.
So what is our ministry this month? Tourists! It may seem kind of strange to fly thousands of miles only to minister to tourists, but when there is such a concentration of people with the same spiritual/flesh issues in one place, it actually makes perfect sense. So we have been forming relationships with them, sharing our lives and stories, praying with them, and showing what a true Christian life looks like. We are almost 2 weeks in, and so far it has been great to see the eagerness they have to learn about us, and watch their hearts and minds open.
There are also a few kids who have stolen our hearts. They sell nuts and bracelets on the streets to make money for their families. They sell from 9am to 9pm with one break for food, cannot read or write, and have never had a chance to experience childhood. So we talk and play with them, hug and love on them, give them a seat in the shade of the corner coffee shop when we're there, and pray with them daily.
Accommodation:
This month we are living with a pastor and his family. He has a wife, teenage daughter and son. The house was built to hold missionaries, so there is enough room for the 13 of us (3-4 per room). Our house is on the hillside above the village… so we get in our workout everyday by walking to and from the house at least once (picture a hill in San Francisco as our driveway). The bugs aren't bad here, just a normal amount of mosquitoes, spiders, and creepy crawleys. There is no internet at the house, but plenty of internet cafes in the village. You can find pretty much everything in the village… except for coffee mate, conditioner, and body wash (the world uses bar soap). Overall, we are ridiculously blessed by our home and contact this month.
Food:
Nothing really interesting to write about food this month. One of my teammates ate a spider on a dare (boys will be boys), but that's about it.
The pastor's wife makes us dinner each night, and she is very happy to accommodate a vegetarian. We buy and make our breakfast and lunch separate from the family and it usually consists of cereal at the house and tacos in the village. And when one of us gets constipated, which actually happens a lot, we buy smoothies from the sketchy street carts in hopes it will solve the problem.
I think that's about it for the details of this month. If you have any questions just leave a comment or send me an email!
