Ladies and gentlemen, we have finally touched down in Guatemala. We piled into a brightly striped bus and drove to a gated community to spend the night on our air mattresses and sleeping bags. I use the word gated loosely. This wasn’t your typical gated community. Barbed wire along the houses and shards of glass lining the walls hardly emits a fuzzy feeling that one might associate with a gated neighborhood. I wasn’t scared though. Sleep and hunger makes other things fade into oblivion. We were served an incredible dinner prepared by the sweetest woman who also notably blows the horn like she has the lungs of a 10 year old. It was awesome and the worship on the rooftop was legit. Did I mention there was a volcano in the background? Yep, it was incredible.
The next morning, a chicken bus was scheduled to pick us up at 10am to take us to Santa Cruze del Quiche. The phrase “hurry up and wait” was lived out today. A couple hours after the set time, we loaded the bus and began the fast paced, five hour ride through the Guatemalan countryside. We took the hairpins like champs and our driver was slicker than Dale Jr.
I’ve never been in a third world country where I’m on “other side” of the resort wall and what I saw today humbled me speechless. The level of poverty wasn’t what I expected (ohh expectations) but neither were the smiles. In America, the rich and famous are plastered on magazines with scowls and Starbucks in hand, looking miserable. Yet today, I saw smiles bordering on joy as women carried their babies in sacks as they sold fried papayas on the streets of Quiche. The difference was stark in comparison. They find joy even amongst their lack and it's beyond inspiring.
That bubble I wrote about in my first blog busted wide open this afternoon.
We’re tenting 60 deep this month at Agape in Action- a ministry with a hospital and a bunch of other neat things tied together. We’ve literally set up a tent city, complete with our very own guard. We have running water- yippee! And a kitchen. As I write this, I’m sitting with my headlamp on and rain is pouring against my tent. The local moths must have heard I'm a rookie because they've flocked to my lamp light since I left my door errr tent flap cracked open.
Some of my squadmates made the best spaghetti I’ve ever eaten and tomorrow begins our first day of ministry. I’m tired, dirty and in a country where I don’t speak the language or understand the culture yet I couldn’t be more excited or peaceful. God is blowing my hair back revealing so much truth and I can’t wait to see what happens this month! His mercies are new and real every morning and His faithfulness and grace are far greater than anything I can comprehend. He has showered His love like a waterfall and I'm sitting under it gulping in the blessings and receiving the grace He loves to give just because I'm His kiddo! (but I'm not drinking the local water, no worries, mom 🙂
Love yall!
