Guatemala… what an absolute gift from the Father. When signing up for the World Race, I was not overly excited for this part of the race, I didn’t know much about Guatemala and was honestly expecting it to just be okay and I was most excited for Ethiopia, Thailand, and Malaysia to come. All of my feelings changed immediately as I Got into Guatemala and got to know the base staff here in Guatemala at Adventures in Missions, when I got to know all the people in my village where I did ministry, and when I got to see all the beautiful sights here.
The Adventures in Missions base staff were the best and most surprising gift I have received from the Lord in Guatemala. I have never met such genuine people who want to pour the good news of the Lord into you like these people. They love you so well and just want you to get the most out of every moment here in Guatemala. Kevin and Tanya are the base elders who basically are like our second set of parents who keep the base running and make sure we get everything we need. On Tuesdays and Fridays, Kevin would come in every morning at 7:45 and do “deep dives” with us. Deep Dives were a time where we would look at about 4-6 verses in a chapter of the bible and just really study every word and see what the Lord was trying to communicate to us through these verses. We did some of Luke and Philippians while here in Guatemala and after doing deep dives for 3 months with Kevin, it’s something I will do for the rest of my life. You would be so amazed how much you could get out of a couple of verses when you take the time to really understand the meaning and significance behind them. So, thank you Kevin for expanding my understanding of the Bible and for teaching me so many life lessons that I will take with me across the world. We also had a lot of other base staff members who would come in on activation Thursdays and do a teaching, which we would then take out with us onto the ministry field and do what we had learned. With that, I just want to personally thank Kelsey for teaching me about my true identity in the Lord, I want to thank Angela for showing me how to speak life onto everyone I meet and for reminding me that all people are the children of the Lord and we need to see them that way, and thank you Junior for helping me discover the voice of the Holy Spirit. Activation Thursdays challenged me and expanded my dependence and love for the Lord like no other. Last but not least, thank you Teresa and Sandra, our Guatemalan cooks, who prepared so many delicious meals for us and it made it a priority of theirs to let us know that they cared deeply for us. While here, I got really close with Teresa while making endless amounts of corn tortillas and attempting to speak spanish with her. Every night she rode the chicken bus home and we would chat on facebook messenger until she made it home safe and sound and we would always end the conversation with a goodnight message. Thank you sweet Teresa for working to be my best friend by teaching me spanish and to make amazing tortillas. Here’s a picture of us below ??
Los Encinos, my second home. For the last week of ministry in Los Encinos we wanted to fulfill the vision of unity that the Lord had given us for Los Encinos so team Ekklesia decided to throw a community dinner with the entire village. As we served tostadas to the community we also got to stand in front of the entire village and tell them what we were all thankful for and even got to do a teaching about how Jesus literally died for us so that we could be united! I got to speak about their hearts and this is what I wrote: “I have seen so much love and unity of Jesus in this little but mighty community. There have been countless times where we have been welcomed with open arms and loved deeply. Although we came in as strangers we are leaving Guatemala as a part of your family. I want to thank each one of you for always protecting and loving us as a family. Thank you for allowing us to come in and cook many meals with you and share our testimonies with you. Thank you for also being a town where when it was raining we could run into your house and just talk about our lives and God. Thank you for being our home away from home.” And that basically sums up how grateful and how in love I am with Los Encinos. The photos below are of the community dinner and the family that always welcomed us in when it was raining and made us feel like their own daughters.
Not only did Guatemala bless me with an amazing base staff and ministry village but also with amazing and wonderful surroundings hat made me feel so much closer the Father. While being here in Guatemala I decided to full send it and do every adventure that was possible! This includes hiking volcano Pacaya and roasting marshmallows at the top over lava, and of course hiking the 3rd highest volcano in Central America, volcano Acatenango!!! While doing Pacaya as a warm up hike in preparation of Acatenango, I got to appreciate all the Lords beauty around me and really just thank Him for all the work He has done in my life and in others lives while I’ve been staying in the beautiful country of Guatemala. I got to thank the Father not only for the external becaury around me but also the inner beautyi saw in everyone around me. Acatenango was made known to everyone as extremely difficult but rewarding and this is exactly why I did the hike. I wanted to be pushed by the father just like I had been pushed during ministry here in Guatemala and I wanted to see the beauty that all the hardship brought. Hiking Acatenango took 5 hours to get up and then we set up at base camp and watched Volcán Fuego erupt all night long, which yes it is amazing to see a volcano erupt but watching it all night long is something amazing. After sleeping on Acatenango we hiked back down the next day. This is a lot of time to be surrounded by nothing but the beauty of the Farher and I really just got to spend those many hours of really hard hiking thanking the Lord for not letting my scoliosis or asthma get in the way of His beauty. No matter the challenge I faced the Lord had me. I’ve gained a greater appreciation for hiking because it’s made me realized when I’m surrounded in the Lords nature I’m better connected to Him and I’m not distracted. I get to just sit with the Father and talk with Him. Here’s some beautiful photos from Acatenango:
All in all Guatemala poured into me, revived my identity in the Lord, and opened my eyes to wonder. I leave with tears in my eyes but with also so much appreciation and love for this beautiful and unified country. Jesus speaks shalom over Guatemala.
