My team and I made it to Guatemala! We’ve been here for almost two weeks now. Our ministry this month is working at an orphanage for disabled children. I was very overwhelmed the first day because I had never worked with disabled kids before and was shocked by the kids’ physical and mental limitations. That night I asked God to help me love the kids and see them as He sees them, as His beautiful creations. And once again, God amazed me with His faithfulness in answering prayer. The very next day, the Lord changed my heart and helped me to see them as precious children who need to be loved. There are ten darling children at the orphanage. Check out this link to read the stories of the kids I’m working with: http://losgozosos.org/LosGozosos/Our_Children.html
The second day that we were here, my teammates and I were painting a bookshelf when our ministry contact told us that one of the things she wanted us to do while we’re here is to cut the grass in the field next door. My teammate asked her what she wanted us to cut it with and she nonchalantly stated, “A machete.” So that afternoon we went out to the field with a couple machetes to starting cutting. What she called “cutting grass” really turned out to be more like chopping down bushes and really tall grass and weeds. As I was out there that first afternoon I could hardly believe that what I was doing was really happening. I could have never imagined myself swinging a machete like a baseball bat to clear a field of overgrown weeds. But there I was. Chopping away. At first I was frustrated by the tedious task. But then I realized that this is life in Guatemala. They don’t have huge machines that can chop down a field in an afternoon. They have machetes, and they have a body full of muscles that were made to work. I started thinking about what I was doing, about how much our ministry contact needed our help. I remembered that God has called me to go and serve where there is great need. And there is certainly a great need here. Due to severe financial difficulties, our ministry contact had to lay off a couple employees, and so every extra helping hand is greatly appreciated. After a short while I started to enjoy the chopping.
"Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave–just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." (Matthew 20:26-28)
"The greatest among you will be your servant. For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted." (Matthew 23:11-12)
OTHER THINGS WE’RE DOING HERE:
– Changing the kids’ clothes (about three times a day).
– Helping the kids with physical disabilities do therapeutic exercises.
– Helping the cook prepare meals.
– Setting the table for every meal and serving the food.
– Washing, drying, and putting away dishes after every meal.
– Sweeping and mopping the orphanage after every meal.
– Changing diapers.
– Feeding the kids who can’t feed themselves.
– Painting bookshelves.
– Washing all the windows in the orphanage.
– Daily helping in the children’s school.
– Doing laundry.
– Deep cleaning every room in the orphanage.
– We spent part of one day hauling, laying down, and spreading dirt and gravel to widen the road.
– Another day we went downtown and painted a pharmacy that a friend of our ministry contact owns.
– Daily meetings with my team.
OTHER OBSERVATIONS ABOUT GUATEMALA:
– Everyone has very dark brown eyes. One day I was downtown with our ministry contact, and there was a woman with a baby. And the baby could not stop staring at us. The mother then said in Spanish to the baby, “See, not everyone in the world has dark eyes.”
– Everyone speaks SPANISH! 😀
– All the floors in the orphanage are tile. There is no carpet (except for floor mats).
– The orphanage’s main sinks are outside. There is no sink in the kitchen.
– We have eaten all of our meals outside.
– Toilet paper cannot be flushed down the toilet. It must be thrown in a waste basket.
– All the orphanage doors to the outside are left open during the day.
– The orphanage is surrounded by a high brick wall with barbed wire on top. An armed guard stands outside the gate at night.
– Stray dogs are everywhere.
– Women should not look men in the eye when walking down the street.
– Only prostitutes wear shorts.
– Don’t drink water that comes out of the unfiltered faucet.
– We've eaten liquified beans for dinner EVERY night.
Thank you to everyone who has supported the work that I am doing! Your contributions are being used to make a huge difference! I still need to raise a little over $5,000 by July. So you still have a chance to help fund me as I serve the Lord. If you are interested in supporting me financially just click "Support Me" on the left side of this page. 🙂
