I HAVE MADE IT TO GUATEMALA!!! YAY. I have survived my first week and I am just so full of joy and content with the Lord. Here is a quick update before I dive into my blog- My whole squad (40 students) are living in a super sweet house in San Pedro. We finished our first week of ministry on Friday. My team, Daughters of Zion, is partnering with a local organization and teaching English in schools around Antigua. We get in small groups with the students, speak and teach basic English and then share Christ. Going into schools is going to be my teams ministry for the next 3 months here in Guatemala. I am super pumped and we have already been creating super sweet friendships with lots of the students (: Quick financial update- I am 87.77% supported!!!! OH MY GOLLY. GOD IS SO SO AMAZING!!! Thank you so so so much to everyone who has donated! (:
You may be wondering about the title of this blog. Did I make a typo or mean something else? No, I did not but let me explain. The very first thing our ministry host told us when we arrived at our house was this, “When you finish using the restroom, put your toilet paper in the garbage can- NOT IN THE TOILET.” What a strange thing I thought. It took a while getting used to. There were and still are many times that some of my teammates will forget and have to dig the toilet paper out of the toilet- it’s as disgusting as it sounds. You may also be wondering why am I telling you this gross detail? I have a point, trust me.
I have had some truly amazing quiet times with the Lord since being here in Guatemala. Our house is surrounded by 4 huge and active volcanos. Everywhere you look God’s strength and beauty is radiated. This past week God has been teaching me a lot. He has been showing me how to have a missional life with him. He has been showing me the sweetest friendships with my teammates. He has been showing me that he is all I need and the ultimate provider. I had this idea of what I thought the World Race was going to be like. I had this idea that ministry would be a 9-5 job (it is most definitely not). I had this idea that it would be super easy to be living with 40 people. I had this idea that this trip would be easy (let me tell you it is most definitely not).
Ministry is not a 9-5 job. I have a super cool story I would like to share that happened this past week. Last Wednesday my team was at a school teaching English. The first class that we had was over and we had a three hour break before our next class at the same school. So, we decided to hangout around the school during our break. We headed down to their soccer field and sports area to watch a soccer game that was happening.
Two of my teammates and I sat on the grass, a little further away from the rest of the group. After a few minutes and a lot of stares, three Guatemalan students walked our way. They looked nervous, and we were nervous, but in broken Spanish, we invited them to sit down.
An awkward conversation later, and we were called away from them. Disappointed, because the three of us had not yet built up the nerve to share the Gospel, we left with heavy hearts. After it was obvious that we were not needed in the location that we moved to, the three of us started to talk.
“Can we go back to them?”
“I was just about to say something.”
“We’re called to live missionally.”
This last one really stuck out. Wasn’t that why we’re here? Even during the times that we don’t have a job or assignment, shouldn’t we always be looking for opportunities to share the love that Christ has so freely given.
We decided that we wanted to try and go back to talk to those girls. We started walking over but couldn’t find the same group of students. Instead we ran into a different group of students. We waved them over and started a conversation and it was blessed. Our boldness was so apparent and only through Christ were we able to tell them about Christ, pray together and then have a dance party. Here is a super rad selfie mid dance party with our sweet new friends-
Don’t put God in the toilet. Don’t put God in a box and try and contain him. The race is a lot harder than I thought. Sometimes you need to step back from what you are used to like putting toilet paper in the toilet and embrace a new norm like putting the toilet paper in the trash can. And sometimes when we fail to embrace the new norms and things that God has for us we get a little dirty like picking the toilet paper out of the toilet.
If you want to see some pictures check out my Facebook page and I have an album with pictures so far! Until next time…..
Expecting Great Things,
Bri Stump 🙂
