It’s Saturday, and I am in a coffee shop with my laptop, eating overpriced food. My school backpack is at my feet, and when I took out the lip balm I always keep in the front pocket, it almost felt like I was back at school, bracing myself for a long day of homework.
The difference is I am not in New York. I’m in Quiche, Guatemala. I’m not drinking coffee from the Krafted Cup. I’m drinking a “zapote” smoothie, whatever that is. I saw it on the menu and asked what it was, and the lady smiled at me and nodded so I said “Bueno. Quiero.” And I’m not doing homework. I’m writing to a couple hundred people to tell about our ministry this month (I’m also thinking about Bulgaria this May and working on learning the Cyrillic alphabet! Anyone have pointers?).
As I’ve mentioned, we’re working at Agape in Action this month, a ministry run by an early World Race alum that works in hospitals. But like last month, we’ll have opportunities to do a number of things. Next week, my team will be serving at the hospital on site. We’re not exactly sure what this will entail yet, but we went there yesterday to introduce ourselves and managed to fix two carts and meet a 12-year-old girl named Sandra who was in a car accident on December 27th and has been in the hospital ever since. She, like much of the indigenous population here, doesn’t speak Spanish, but K’iche. We were able to gather, however, that she is bored out of her mind, so our first priority will be to visit her on Monday and bring some music and games.
At the hospital, they need to prepare all materials by hand, and there’s a woman who works in the sterilization lab cutting bandages and preparing instruments for surgery. Sally, our ministry host, told us that it’s grueling work and her hands get sore from doing the same motions all the time, so we’re hoping to help her out too.
Hospitals are probably my least favorite places, but this one, despite its concrete floors and flickering lights and donated linens, doesn’t feel as scary. It’s not impersonal, for one. We were told to walk around and just say hi to people, and everyone said hello and was helpful in showing us where things were. The maintenance men were kind enough to give us those carts to work on, though they probably could have done them in half the time with half the people. It just felt like a nice place, despite its lack of what we would consider necessities.
We’ll spend a week at the hospital, and we’ll also be on cooking duty, which is a job in itself since we have 44 people to feed and one tiny refrigerator. We go to the grocery store daily, and start cooking two hours before meal times. Yesterday at the store, we were instructed to get 40 boxes of cereal. Yes, 40. 32,000 grams of cereal for our breakfasts. We need to walk back to our home, so yesterday, Nicole got smart and asked to borrow the shopping carts, which they gave us when she handed over her ID as collateral.
Our whole squad is together this month, and we live in our tents and have part of a compound to ourselves. It’s really, really nice. The best part is the hot showers, which are located indoors in clean, painted rooms. Santa Cruz Quiche (pronounce it KEE-chay) is a medium sized town with internet cafes, a bustling market, and a beautiful church I have yet to visit. We are very comfortable here, and after a month with very little internet, we’re all looking forward to being able to communicate more.
I wish I could include more pictures on my blog, but I have yet to find an internet connection that is good enough to get them up quickly. I am taking pictures and making videos, so I’ll post them when I can. For now, just know that the slideshow I’ll have at the end of the year will be fantastic.
Please be keeping me and my team in your prayers. Prayers for health are appreciated–there are a few of us who are adjusting to life 7000 feet above sea level. On the way here from Antigua, we had a bus ride through the mountains that scared some people, so be praying for peace and continued safety for us all (we were all fine and no one was hurt, just shaken!).
Be praying for team Brazen Hearts. Pray for peace in our hearts and among each other. As fun as it is to live with 43 other people, it can be draining and complicated to make time to be together as a team. Pray that we continue to grow closer and more honest and loving with each other this month!
Finally, send a bunch of thank you prayers up to the Big Guy for showing us himself every day! We certainly made changes and were changed last month in Honduras and I expect even more of it here. Thank God for the changing hearts, deeper trust, adventurous spirits, and relentless kindness we’re both experiencing and sharing.
And for goodness’ sake, pray for Sandra, that she can get out of that hospital bed and not be bored anymore.
