“We must head into the country that has no clear trail. This chapter for exploration takes us into our own heart into our deepest desires” I read this in the book “Wild at heart” I feel like it really describes what is going on in my life. I headed into Guatemala with no clear trail and no idea what to expect with this being my first time on a mission trip and out of the country. Going into this I thought I would just help people and make a difference where I go but now I see it’s much deeper than that. Doing this time here is digging deeper into myself, really finding my heart, and what this life we have is about. This is a new chapter of my life, where I am learning how to live a life of mission everyday for Christ where it no longer matters if I’m here or back in the states. This is what l find life is about, being wild at heart, not living in my comfort zone, but instead serving God in all opportunities he gives me. He gave us a heart so that we live for him. Talking to Juan our host, he gave me some wisdom saying “in order for us to truly love others we need to know how much God loves us.”. Here I’m really learning what it looks like to live fully, spending time with God and my community, getting into in the word to gain strength and wisdom, and to use these tools I’ve been provided to show Gods love. All these things were something Ive never been good at. I remember a leader here said, “if you try to do this with your own strength you are going to burn out and that you have to use the strength God gives you.” I was worried because I didn’t know the difference. Now I can see that by getting into the bible, by praying, and by just spending daily time with him how I can use his strength to get through the days rather than my own. Christ is a lifestyle not a religion. Back home I would never read the bible, maybe bible verse on a good day. But now I see just like how you need food and water daily to live, you need spiritual strength daily from God to be able to pour into others. It’s not always easy, somedays I’m like “dang this sucks, what did I get my self into.. this is going to be a long time.” and somedays I’m like “This is the most amazing day ever, I can really see what God is doing in my life.” The small triumphs like making someone’s day and seeing there smile by praying for there meal or paying there bus fee, simple stuff like that are the best moments and thats all by showing love to people. It gets frustrating when you don’t speak there language, but Juan has showed us all you got to do is show people love. It’s great to see that people who don’t speak your language and not from your culture love and need God just like we do.
The team and I are in Chichicastenango a small city in the mountains of Guatemala. Juan our host is one of the most amazing humans I have met. This is his hometown and he does everything he can to help his people. Right now we are helping him paint and fix up his church that he has started up here called New Generation. Along with the church, once a week we go into the police department to give them a word of encouragement along with helping them learn English while we learn some Spanish. We also get to play soccer with and have been able to really get to know them. Soon we will be going into the schools to teach English and teach kids about God. 95% of the population is Mayan and we see witchcraft on the daily. The churches here throw off most locals because they pressure believers with rules and works base ideals, but Juan has started a church where the only rules are to love Jesus and love others like God loves you. Life is great here and I am pumped to see what all we can do to make a big impact in Juan’s ministry.
