Just a walk down the road from home is the town of Llano. It’s pretty small, maybe 50 houses. The streets are plain dirt, and there’s one road in and one road out, with a walking pathway out the back as a second option.
We’ve spent the last 6 weeks there and we’ve gotten to know and build relationships with several families, and many of the kids.
Carlos lives beside the bright blue house, in front of Llana and her daughter Josephine. Carlo’s older brother had hemophilia, but we prayed healing over him and now he’s out of bed running with the other teenagers in Llano. Carlos is also in my English class. He’s 12 years old and hangs out with the troublemakers, but really he’s one of the sweet ones. His English is a lot better than he lets on, and he’s so good at drawing. On Friday, I was sitting on the floor of a garage with him and a few other kids in our class. They were writing out sentences and vocabulary words in English, and he finished early. He leaned over against me, looked up, smiled and, in English, said “I am happy.” And i looked back at him and smiled and said “Me too”
Mama Rosa lives down the same street, across from her daughter and her children. Mama Rosa’s other son David comes to our English class and brings his little niece Melanie every now and then. She’s only 3 so she doesn’t pay much attention, but she loves to play with us. Last week, we stopped by Mama Rosa’s to spend some time with her and the kids and to pray over their house because they had been having nightmares. While we were there, Mama Rosa told us how her husband had left her, and she’s own her own providing for her family and her elderly father who lives with them. She’s struggling with heartbreak and the weight of provision on her shoulders. And we got to stand in her living room and speak life over her. God is a provider and He’s a God of abundance! He’s a safe place to put your trust! I got to tell her that God is healer and that he heals all broken hearts. He’s comforting and kind. and His love for us is beyond measure. He’s a friend to take your heartbreak to, and He will walk with you through it all.
The sweet, retired pastor with knee problems lives in the bright teal house with all the beautiful flowers in front, right on the corner near Mama Rosa. He’s 83, and his love of the Lord radiates out from him and his smile.
Andrea is one of the adults in one of our English classes, and her family lives just a few houses down from Mama Rosa. Her mom makes tortillas and her dad is a pastor of a church in Parramos, the city just up the main road. Yesterday, we stopped by their house and sat in their living room for an hour just talking about his church and his vision for it. He wants to see the church grow and for more kids to start coming. He mentioned wanting to create a space for the kids to have Sunday school, because right now the church is just one room, and he also wants to create a program to feed kids in Parramos. We got to speak encouragement into his big dreams by just talking about how big our God is. Big dreams can happen with a big God.
Today we visited Maria and her granddaughters. We stopped by to say hello and she served us lemonade! We have only talked to Maria outside her window, so she didn’t even know we were missionaries. We stood in her living room and got to tell her about the spiritual authority we have by being ambassadors for Jesus, and asked her if there was any healing, spiritual or physical, that we could pray for, or if she had any prayer requests in general? She explained to us the pain in her back and the weakness in her hips when she walked up the stairs, and also about her knee problems. So we started praying for healing and guess what? She was healed! Shout out to that spiritual authority, am I right? Before we left we stayed and prayed for her family, ate tostadas with them, and promised we would be back soon. WE. LOVE. HER.
Throughout the week, we visit different houses to just stop in and say hello, bring some company, and to speak life over each family we have come to love.
I love Llano!!!! I can’t explain how much I love Guatemala and how BIG my heart is for this place and these people. All I’m doing is stepping into their lives for 3 shorts months, bringing some light and encouraging them with the words of God.
Each day I swear my heart grows a few sizes bigger.
