Guatemala, what a beautiful place. Last month was a little bit different than all my other months on the race so far. My team was asked to do something called “Unsung Heroes” for the month. Unsung Heroes is a month where your team does not have any specific ministry planned and no assigned contacts to work with. The goal of the month is to find a person, an “unsung hero,” in the community you are living in and partner alongside of them to bring the Kingdom of God and to connect them with future World Race teams. The goal of Unsung Heroes is to spend time asking the Lord where He would like you to go, who He wants you to talk to, and what He wants you to do. You go out into your assigned city and hope to find ministries or people who are really living out the heart of the Lord and bring lift and support to their life and their ministry!
It is a little bit nerve wracking to do Unsung Heroes everyday for a month; not knowing exactly how things are going to go, or if you will even meet any of these Unsung Heroes. I am so thankful the Lord moved and worked in amazing ways!
I want to share one story out of many from this month. A girl named Jenny Kate from our squad heard of a couple that was serving people in the landfills out in some of the poorest areas of Guatemala. She heard wonderful things about them and contacted them to learn more about their ministry.
We met up with the wife, and heard her heart for what their ministry does and how she and her husband and a few other people serve the people living in the landfills of day-in and day-out. This sweet couple has a new, little, baby girl, and seemed full of joy, yet exhausted and ready for help. After hearing her heart for the Lord and passion for the people who live in these impoverished places, we were able to go and visit the landfill site where they minister and partner with them for a couple of days to see first hand what they do and to help with a few projects.
We entered the village where this landfill was and saw the conditions of the people living there. We saw children and families who were living engulfed in the smog of smoke left from burning rubber, plastics and other unhealthy fumes. I witnessed men and women digging through piles and piles of trash in the burning hot sun, working to separate trash to make an equivalent of $3 a day to feed their families, and looking to salvage some food found in the trash for their dinner. It was so hard to look at the conditions and realize the reality they live every day.
While there, I was able to see the one-room homes that were being built by this ministry for the families in-need, and the services they offer to help these people build a better life for their families. We helped to dig out a septic system in the ground, and were also able to help prepare and serve food for the soup kitchen they offer weekly for the community.
Without going into all of the details, this ministry is serving every day out in harsh and difficult conditions, giving it their all, and showing the love of Jesus to people who are in dire need. They help out the families who are choosing good and healthy life decisions, and are sending their children to the school they now run for the community.
I can’t tell you how happy it made my heart to think—this is what the World Race is all about, and I get to be a part of it. The goal of the Race is to find missionaries who are serving the Lord with all their heart, come alongside them, and give them some aid and relief for a little while. Our goal is to encourage them, learn from them, and to grow in the process. I often wonder how we end up serving where we are serving, and who found these ministries in the first place… and now I see where the process begins and the heart that goes behind it. I love getting to be a part of that and to see the weary and worn-out look on these sweet missionaries faces wiped away with the excitement and anticipation of teams coming to them in the future and helping to further the Kingdom of God in their ministry!
We saw the Lord bring so many connections to the World Race this past month and do so many amazing things, and I am honored to have been able to be a part of that. I can’t thank you enough for all of your prayers and encouragement for the last 5 months. The Lord is working through all of these prayers, and will continue to do even more amazing things in the future.
Missing you all,
Cherish Kibler
