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Solo una palabra. Only one word.


Wow.


I have been in Guatemala for three days. Is it really possible that it could have been so little time? I feel like a different person. My team feels like a family. Casa Verde feels like home. And… news flash!… the same Jesus is here too!


I’m so full I could burst!! I hardly know where to begin to fill you all in on what’s been happening. Every hour of every day brings new things. Learning culture and español, exploring the area where we’re living, meeting people, enjoying new foods, building relationships with my team here… the list is endless. 





Andrea’s birthday party! We played games, danced, ate nachos and cake! So much fun 🙂

 

Today (Monday) was our first official day of ministry (though yesterday was far from uneventful: our first church service en español, a Guatemalan birthday party, and dancing in the evening downpour until we were soaked through). This morning we had breakfast an hour earlier than normal, around 7 am, because Monday mornings are the time when Paul, Hilda, and the rest of the crew have intercession and worship. Hilda gave us a list of prayer requests for the ministry and for the city and shared with us about intercession and what that means. Paul translated his wife’s words for those of us who are not bilingual yet 🙂 We then spent time in groups praying and listening to what God would say to us. After we had all come back together and shared, we began to worship. I told you guys in my last blog about the heart of worship that has been emerging in this group. All I can do is gape when I think back on that hour or so of intimacy with our Creator. Kevin, the 20-year-old Guatemalan who lives here and helps Paul, led the worship time in español with his guitar, but the songs were familiar and we all joined in, mingling tongues in glorious praise for our King. Can I paint the picture?

 

As we sing, different voices break out in harmonies and new melodies, spontaneous songs. Some of my friends stand up, unable to contain their joy, raising their hands in response to the heaviness of God’s presence on us. Others speak out prayers, or begin to clap, or fall to their knees. Tears force their way forward in my eyes until I am crying freely, unashamed, in awe of the love that I feel in my Papa’s arms as we sing “There’s no end to the affection You have for me�.


I wish you could all be there, could sit on the floor or stand in the sticky humidity and not care that you haven’t showered in two days. Not care that you are so far from home and that all your worldly possessions are stuffed in a backpack, sitting in a tiny room with 6 beds that are bunked and fit in like puzzle pieces end to end. Not care that your transportation is a stripped van that leaks in the frequent downpours, and 13+ people pile into the back of it every time we go anywhere.


Because all that REALLY DOESN’T MATTER.


 

Our teams in the back of the van we use for transportation! From left to right: Chase, Katie W, Julie (front), Hayden, Misty, Mark, and Dani (front).


But there’s more.

The main thing I wanted to share in this blog relates to our visit to the orphanage today. This was our first step out into ministry. We arrived in the afternoon around 3:30 to find a room full of children, all under 12 years old, some playing, some napping… We began to make new friends, and then Hilda took some of us girls over to the nursery. Two rows of cribs were lined against the walls, holding the most beautiful babies you can imagine (only made more beautiful by the reality of the things they have been rescued out of). That is where I met Julio. Pastor Rony, who was with us ministering, picked up the little toddler from the playpen where he had been sleeping. Julio instantly began to sob, tears running down his dark, beautiful face. The pastor handed him to me, and at that Julio began to cry even more and clung to the pastor. But it took only a minute in my arms for him to relax and bury his face in my neck as I held him close. Meanwhile, the pastor talked to one of the women in the nursery and translated his story to me.










The little boy who stole my heart! How could you help but not love this kid? 🙂

 

Julio’s mother has been in prison and his father wanted to sell him, so the government interceded, which is how he ended up in the orphanage. Today was his first day there. My heart broke. I could only imagine what this little boy had been through, and his response to my love and embrace was incredible. To my amazement, there was no ice to break. Maybe I was just scared because I’ve never been good with babies and little ones like that, but it took nothing for me to fall in love with this adorable niño. I walked through the outside terrace back to the room where the older children were. There was a soccer game underway now in the cement courtyard with my teammates Julie and Mark, and four or five kids. Julio began to perk up more and more and didn’t hide in my arms anymore. He watched the game and laughed when the inflatable futbol hit him in the head! Then I pulled out my camera and he stared, fascinated, at the screen that captured moments from the scene before our eyes. I talked to him in my poor español, swung him around and let him play with the camera, until he laughed and all tears were gone and forgotten.

 

And then it was time to go. He remained perfectly happy as we walked back to the nursery. When we got inside, I held him as long as I could and he played with my necklace, a delighted smile still dancing between those chubby cheeks. The time came to say goodbye and it ripped my heart out to let him go back to his crib, sobbing and reaching out to me. He had found a moment of security and love and for all he knew, that moment was over forever. All I could think as tears welled up again was to thank God that he is in a good place, and that we get to go back every Monday while we are here.


Tonight my team marveled at what the Lord has done already. Three days?! And we still have almost 11 months of this! I see each of my teammates coming alive. I see them stepping into the roles that God has created them for, becoming the women He destined them to be. And I see a freedom in myself that I thought would not come for months, if ever. A freedom to dance in the rain, let the tears fall in worship, and embrace a child with my arms and my heart.



My team! Me, Misty, Kate, Jen, Katie H, Julie, and Katie W.


And all I can say is, WOW.