Hey all!
Soooooo…. Here’s the big shout out from Guatemala! I’m here! In the port town of Puerto Barrios, sitting in McDonalds with my team for the month (my team, Cherished, and Team Lionsong are here together, so we are a family of 13 for now :). We arrived late last night, exhausted from 26 straight hours of travel (between shuttles, buses, trains, sleeping in the airport, and then a 7-hour bus ride through the mountains of Guatemala!). All of which made our accommodations feel a little like heaven! Our hosts had laid out notes of “Bienvenidos� and little bags of goodies on each of our bunk beds, and had a dinner of spaghetti and corn tortillas waiting for us. Paul, our ministry host, is originally from Florida and has been ministering here for five years in a multitude of ways — his is the only ministry in the area other than local churches. He and his wife Hilda, who is from Honduras, immediately made us feel at home and both of them have been super helpful in orienting us to the culture and area where we are living. We will be doing a variety of outreach and ministry while we are here, something different every day! It ranges from prayer and sharing in churches, to orphanage and nursing home visits, outreach to prostitutes, and visiting the children who live in a dump nearby. The first question he asked us was, “Do you guys know about spiritual warfare?� If not, I think we are about to find out. As he told stories and described the corruption and poverty he has seen, it became very clear that this place is desperately in need of the freedom that only the blood of Jesus can bring. After a long conversation with Paul, Hilda took us outside to prepare for children’s ministry. For the next hour or so, we sang in the lawn in front of Casa Verde (the ministry house we are staying in), filling the whole neighborhood with exuberant Jesus music in español. Kevin and Diane, two young people who work with Paul in his ministry, taught us several songs and skits. Across the street, little kids danced along with us, laughing and watching us crazy foreigners. It was such a freeing moment after all the stress of traveling, getting to know and trust my new community, and adjusting to the culture. The light-hearted singing and dancing came to an end with all of us breathless and sweaty, and then some of the girls brought out a guitar and cahon. All 13 of us were soon singing songs of worship to the Lord, exalting in His goodness and reveling in His love for us. We sang until dusk slipped in and fireflies danced in the lawn around us.
More to come! And pictures! Love you all!
