Luke 2:19
“But Mary treasured up all these things in her heart and thought about them often…”
This is the first verse that came to mind while I was processing my trip to Guatemala. At the end of January, a group of us were able to travel over 1,000 miles to provide clean drinking water, sanitation lessons, Bible stories, and create relationships with a community of people in Masagua, Guatemala. I went on this trip with a group of people from my church with a non-profit organization called Living Water International. This organization makes it their goal to provide clean drinking water, sanitation lessons, and to serve others! I was only there for a week but I feel like I have a connection with these people that will never be broken. Throughout the week the Lord has taught me more about myself, Himself, and just people in general. I really want to share that with you guys!
First things first, I really can’t put into words how I feel. These Guatemalan people just stole my heart! It has definitely been emotional reminiscing on all that God has done in just one week. I have been sad to leave a place that felt like home to me but I’m happy because the Lord was able to provide this community with what they really need which was clean drinking water. I didn’t know how much this one week would change my life and I honestly didn’t think I would learn as much as I did. But….I have learned a lot and it has been a wonderful journey to say the least! Just like Mary I have stored these special things in my heart and there isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t think about them. Not only were we able to give people clean drinking water but we were able to give them LIVING WATER! Praise God for that! Now every time they drink at this well they will be reminded of your goodness Lord and how you took care of them!
So, the three main things we did during the week was: build the well, provide sanitation lesson, and build relationships. The whole process of building the well wasn’t really easy. During the drilling process we had some issues throughout the week especially with getting through the thick layer of rock. Once we reached about 80ft into the ground we hit bedrock and the drilling process took so much longer. In fact, we even had to get the fire department to come out to pump dirty water into the well so that it would be easier for the drill to get through the rock. Then after we hit bedrock it started to take about 1-2 hours for a 10 foot pipe to go into the ground. Our plan was to make the well around 130 ft deep so that the community could get access to the water table. Although that was the plan, not long after we started digging some equipment broke down. We were hoping and praying we wouldn’t have to take the whole entire drill out to fix it. Thankfully though we had some guys on our team who were more knowledgeable when it came to construction that they were able to fix it just in time. We were finally able to finish the well after 4 days of drilling. At the end of the 3th day of drilling, the 130 foot tall well only 50 ft of water in it. Fifty feet of water is not enough to sustain this communities needs. It was a bit discouraging since we so badly wanted this community to have an abundance of water to sustain them throughout their lifetime. We knew that the next day would be the day we would dedicate the well to the community and we were just really praying that the Lord would provide. And provide is an understatement of what He did!! The Lord overfilled that well abundantly! On the day of the dedication ceremony we checked on the well and the well contained around 110 ft of clean water! It was a miracle! God provided these people with so much water overnight!! That was definitely a really cool experience for my whole team and the community. We were all super encouraged by the Lord’s power and blessing that He has put over this well. The other really cool thing was that a lot of younger boys and men worked with us to build the well. You see this was the biggest event that has ever happened in this area and will ever happen in their lifetimes. So these men and boys not only wanted to be apart of that, but they wanted to build that connection with us! It was so encouraging and humbling to see these people constantly serving US while we were trying to serve THEM.
Another thing that I really got to be apart of was teaching sanitation lessons to the women and children. The first day we were there, us women took a walk around the community in order to build relationships and to personally invite each and every woman to our sanitation lessons. Not only was it a humbling experience, but I got to see how these women had extreme faith. It inspired me so much to grow closer to the Lord. One woman in particular really blew me away with how much faith she had. A couple months back this woman stepped on a medal rod and it went through her foot. What’s crazy about this story is that she didn’t go to the hospital! When I asked her why she didn’t go to the hospital she just looked at me and told me she already knew the best doctor in the world which was God. It blew me away how much faith she had and how much she trust the Lord to heal her injuries. Not only did we get to invite the women to these lessons but we got to sit there and talk with them about life, hear some of their stories, pray for them, etc. Since the children (for the most part) had school in the mornings we would teach the sanitation lessons to them during school time and then in the evenings we would teach the women. The people in Masagua stop going to school around 6th grade (especially the women). In Guatemala kindergarten-6th grade is free, but then if someone wanted a higher education they would have to pay and move to that area. The only places to really receive a better education was in Antigua or Guatemala City, which was very far away. Not to mention it was expensive as well! The people in this community were only making around $5-$10 a day per person and they would work pretty much all day long. Because of this, these women and children didn’t know much about how to keep themselves healthy and the importance of sanitation. All of the simple concepts of hygiene and sanitation were foreign in their minds. These people didn’t know the difference between clean and dirty water, didn’t know how to wash their hands, didn’t know what floss was, etc. It just broke my heart. Knowing that they didn’t know this gave me more of a drive to teach them. Soooo…I taught them about the difference between clean and dirty water, how to wash their hands, how to brush their teeth, how to floss, how to keep clean water clean, etc. It was so amazing to work with these women and children everyday, build that relationship, love them, and be apart of their lives. I think the women would say the same. We even had a women’s soccer tournament with all of the women in the village (there were about 40 women altogether). Which was such a huge deal not only because women’s role in life is to be a mom and to take care of the kids, but also because sports are viewed as an event solely for men. Once we started the soccer game the men, young boys, our team, and the village stopped what they were doing and watched in awe. My heart was literally so full of joy and thankfulness. Who knew I would feel so fulfilled with simply playing a soccer game even though I don’t like soccer? At the end of each day I even had the opportunity to hand out gifts, t-shirts, toothbrushes, floss, hygiene materials, manicure sets, etc. to these men and women. Wow! You should have seen their faces! They were so overjoyed and thankful for everything that we got. Almost every time I gave one of the kids a gift they would thank me, hug me, and kiss me on the cheek. I will never forget how the love that these people gave me. Those memories are forever stored in my heart and in my mind. I was so honored to teach these lessons, see how happy and thankful these people were, and to make this connection with them that could never be replaced. That meant the world to me! These people meant the world to me!
Throughout the week the Lord has been teaching me so much about myself. In Proverbs 31 a queen is describing what a woman of God looks like to her son. This has been a passage that I really love and this is the type of woman I ascribe to be. So during that week I tried to be more and more like this woman that is described in Proverbs 31. I was able to speak up and fight for these people, work hard, be involved, care for others, be energetic about God’s work, be strong, be selfless in all that I do, be fearless, be faithful, be happy & joyful, show kindness, and most of all love UNCONDITIONALLY. I knew that God has made each and everyone of us to have these qualities. These qualities are within each of us. I didn’t know that they could come out of me all at once for people nor did I know the depth of these gifts that God has given us. It just blew me away as I realized how much God has given me physically, spiritually, and emotionally. I also knew I loved people but I didn’t understand the extent of how much love I can have for others. I started realizing how much I loved others after realizing the whole idea of a heavenly father and unconditional love. My whole life I have struggled with the idea of God as our heavenly Father. I didn’t know how a father is supposed to act, what love he is supposed to be like, or what a father really is since my earthly father hasn’t really been in my life. It is something I always struggled with, but even more so I struggled with this whole idea of unconditional love. If I don’t even know what a father is supposed to be like how am I supposed to understand his love for me? I didn’t really know what unconditional love was until I was able to hold these children in my arms for hours, tell them that I love them, cry my eyes out for leaving them, and feeling that a piece of my heart that was left behind with them. At that moment I realized that I would do anything for this little girl or any of these children. I would pack up all that I own, sell everything else, and move to Guatemala if I had to and if God was calling me to. That’s when I realized I loved these people and especially these children unconditionally. Wow! Boy, was that a big revelation for me. As I was trying to grasp what this meant for me I realized if this is how much I love these kids imagine how much the father loves me and everyone around the world. Just thought of God’s immeasurable love opened my eyes and brought me to tears.
I also learned so much about the Lord during this week. God is a God on a mission to save his people from all over the world. Even from the beginning that was and still is His mighty plan. I knew God was a global God working in and through people’s lives all over the world but this week I got to actually see that in action. It’s one thing to think or know that God is a global God, but to see Him in action changing people’s lives was a totally different thing. I have started to realize that the things that matter the most to us in life just really doesn’t matter or shouldn’t matter as much as it does. All of these commercials about new products, these wars on race, conflicts over who said what when, etc doesn’t matter in the end. I was able to see things that I didn’t even know were happening in the world. I saw people who have no water, nothing materialistically valuable, etc. but instead they had everything and more. I was just in awe of God’s kindness, beauty, grace, love, peace, and power. Even though I went on this trip to serve I feel as if the Lord has also put these people in my life so that they could bless and teach me as well. I knew God did miracles, but throughout the week I got to see God fill a well up completely overnight!! It was right before our eyes! Even some Bible stories that I have known all of my life became real for me. For instance, there was a point in the trip where I was sitting down with 30-35 kids hovering around me all at once. Then all of the sudden this 2 year old little girl named Jennifer started run and she tripped and fell. Instantly she started to cry and a little boy took her by the hand and brought her behind the school to calm her down. Although I was already with so many kids I got up immediately to go find her, hug her, and hold her. It reminded me of the parable of the lost sheep (Luke 15:3-7). When 1 of the sheep get lost the shepherd leaves the 99 to go find that 1 sheep. I was just in awe that just like this little girl gets lost and I find her even more so does our Father make it a priority of His to pursue His people. Another passage that I thought a lot about was the passage in John 4 when Jesus talked to the woman at the well. This was the longest encounter that Jesus had with someone that was recorded in the Bible. Plus she was a woman, a prostitute, poor, lost, single, and seen in society as the lowest of the lows. I read over this passage many times while thinking about what we were doing. We were building a well, but not just any well. A well that quenches thirsts; a well that will give LIVING WATER. I was praying that not only would it sustain their physical thirst, but their spiritual thirst as well. I prayed that these people would get an abundance of water and that every time they get clean water from this well that they would remember all the Lord has done for them and praise His holy name.
Lastly, I have learned a lot about people. No matter your race, ethnicity, background, beliefs, etc. we are all the same. That is something I have heard so many times, but again I was able to experience that and what that really means. You would think that when you travel to a different country that there would be so many difference, but that’s not always the case. Yes, there were many difference like language, culture, looks, etc. but those are all physical differences. Inside we are all the same. We were all made to long for a relationship with God, a community, love each other, etc. These are the types of things that bring us together. Being around these people made my heart so happy, welcomed me, and more than anything I felt connected. I didn’t know I could connect, love, or even just relate to these people as much as I did. Amidst the language barriers and the cultural differences I was able to realize that they are part of my family of God as well. It was just such a beautiful thing to feel connected like that. Also, these people were the happiest, most loving, faithful, and grateful people I have ever met. These people were able to see that they don’t find their joy in the situation, but it is in God that we find our true joy. More than anything I wanted this love, joy, and happiness that they had all the time. Even though I didn’t know these people very well I feel as if God taught me a lot through them and I couldn’t be more blessed for the community of Masagua, Guatemala.
This trip was a great trip for so many reasons! I was able to learn and take a lot away from this experience and more than anything my team and I were able to change 200 people’s lives forever. It may not seem like a big deal to the world, but it is a big deal to me. These 200 people are God’s children as well. In God’s eyes changing one live or even just being apart of one life is such a huge deal. These 200 people also changed my life. I was able to learn so much about unconditional love, faith, the whole idea of living water, about myself, about God, and about people. There is no words to really describe how I feel and it’s hard to even explain into words what happened. It was that humbling and amazing! Thank you all for being apart of this journey with me, for your prayers, your resources, your love, and your encouragement. I am so encouraged by this trip and I hope that you are encouraged too by how God is working in third-world-countries such as these. No matter how much evil is in the world God is working for the good through it and is changing people’s lives forever. Praise the Lord, for He is good in all that he does! I am forever grateful that I got to meet this community and love them with all of my heart just like Jesus has for all of us. This isn’t my “goodbye” but it’s my “see you real soon”. I love every single person there, I won’t forget y’all, and all of these precious memories will forever be stored in my heart! I want to thank all of those who have supported me financially to impact on these people in Masagua! I has truly been a great learning experience for me and I know that so many people’s lives were changed because of what the Lord was able to do through us. Thank you Lord for this opportunity and thanks to Living Water for letting me be apart of the Lord’s work in Guatemala.
1/25/18
(Part of my personal journal entry):
“As her mom drove off she watched me as long as she could through the windshield window and waved. Then that was it…she was gone…and my heart broke into a million pieces yet again. I can’t explain in words how I felt. I’m crying just sitting here thinking about it. I learned something today that I have never felt or experienced before…unconditional love. I had unconditional love for those kids….love that goes beyond borders.”
All My Love,
Courtney Andexler
