My team and I have now been doing ministry in Guatemala for two months and a lot has happened in that time! There have been so many days full of teaching in the schools in our village, playing with the kids in the Campo, and laughing with families inside their homes. One of the things we’ve been learning in Guatemala is how to live missionally 24/7 instead of boxing it into scheduled ministry. In the spirit of this, on this update I will share scheduled ministry but what I’ve also been doing on the weekends and the time in between scheduled ministry.
Mondays and Wednesdays are spent at Loving Arms, a private christian school right before the village of Los Encinos. The students who attend this school are supported by sponsors. That is where my role comes in. For the first month I spent each day (9am-1pm) assisting in a classroom, but soon after we got assigned to a project. Ellie and I were given the responsibility of updating and rewriting all the sponsorship cards for upcoming preschoolers and students that had lost their sponsors. We also were the school photographers and took all the kids photos for their new school IDs. I had never laminated before but after laminating all the ID cards and sponsorship cards, I would consider myself a pro. I also have this desire to laminate everything in sight now. With some of mine and Ellie’s vision and her talent at photography and filming, we also started to put together a promotional video for the school to help get the word out about them and to find sponsors for the kids before the start of their school year in January. We became the go to power duo for any needed sponsor letters, graduation certificates, paper organization, or photography needs. When Anna and Sadie put down that they knew how to sew, they had no idea they would be given the task of sewing all of the school uniforms. They have been so inspiring they way they stepped in and learned through being taught how to sew in another language, given a specific amount of precious material from Canada, and given the large number of dresses to sew before our time was up here. Each day they went in to face this project and I watched as they got better after each dress and found something to laugh about along the way. Bri continued to help teach English, jumped in to help with some major DIY for graduation decorations, and has started to help reorganize the library. Our fearless leader, Lexi, has been painting a mural on the school. She never lost vision or her patience through the process it was so inspiring to watch. Usually after this time on Mondays we would come back to the base to lesson plan for our English classes we taught in the village, but now that school is out, we take this time to plan for VBS.
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Up until October 25, every Tuesday and Friday was spent teaching English for an hour at the local village school. Bri, Sadie, and I taught first through third grade and Lexi, Anna, and Ellie taught fourth through sixth grade. The rooms where we taught were connected and only separated by a wall with a doorway. Our class size was twelve students and there were eight older kids in the other class. Most children only go to sixth grade, so this gave us a huge opportunity to pour into these kid’s lives before they went to join the rest of the world. We could remind them that were children and pour into their child like faith. After this hour we do something called ATL (Ask The Lord). It’s when we take a moment to listen to where and to whom the Lord wanted to lead us to that day. This would usually end up in a house visit, which just means going to houses and if welcomed talk, get to know their stories, and start building relationships. A motto we wanted to live by for this village was “An inch wide, A mile deep.” We aren’t going in just to say hi to everyone and leave after three months. We wanted to really pour into people even if that meant a few and be intentional in visiting those families. There are families that we continued relationships with like Siara and her children, Rosalia, Mary and Pedro, and Mary Lou. Then there are new families that we met like Katrina, Melissa and her children, John Pedro and his grandmother, and of course all the kids we get to teach. Other ATLs have looked like coming back and interceding for the base and the squad, writing encouraging notes, or picking up trash in Los Encinos. Other Tuesdays we would have cooking classes with some families in Los Encinos. We would go at a scheduled time and they would teach us how to make a Guatemalan dish and then we would get to eat it together. This is a sweet time of talking and listening as we got to know the families better and change the roles by being taught a new skill. In the cooking classes we’ve made Atol (A hot corn drink), A chicken soup, and Chuchitos (A tortilla wrapped around chicken in a sauce and then wrapped in a dried corn husk and steamed). On Fridays after we taught, we would ATL as well and then walk back to the base to eat lunch and prepare for VBS, which is at 2pm.
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Thursdays are special days called “Activation.” This is a time when the staff here at the Guatemala base give us a lesson for half the day. This is meant to be something that we can apply to our ministry. Afterwards they “activate” us and send us out to our villages to put that lesson into practice. Some of our lessons have been on identity, character, speaking life, and asking and listening to the Lord. Every other Thursday there is also a meeting in Antigua at a coffee shop called the “refuge.” We fill the coffee shop up and spend time just worshiping the Lord, hence the name “Worship Room.”
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The weekends are meant for time to adventure and to Sabbath. While here, I’ve had the opportunity to visit Hobbitenango (a hobbit village), participate in “The Walk for Freedom” in Guatemala City, volunteer at the “Guatemala Adora a Jesus” worship event in Xela, hike Pacaya (a volcano), and explore Antigua…
Hobbitenango is an eco-friendly hobbit village. All of the huts are made out of recycled material and the owner is working to replant trees after heavy deforestation in the area. They also reach out to the surrounding village, support their education, and provide jobs. All the employees at Hobbitenango come from the village and are offered a job there once they’ve gone through school. The village was beautiful and the food was amazing! My team and I got to throw hatchets, shoot a bow and arrow, and hike around the trails.
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A21 is an organization that combats human trafficking around the world. Every year tens of thousands of people from hundreds of cities silently march to bring awareness. This year, I had the privilege to walk in Guatemala city with some of my squad. It was an amazing experience walking the intersections of Guatemala knowing that thousands of people around the world were also silently walking their streets. It was a time of intercession for victims around the world who may not be able to speak up and for the hearts of those participating in these businesses.
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Recently we had the privilege to be a part of the first ever “Adora a Jesus” worship event in Guatemala. 40 churches from across Guatemala got together to put on this event in Xela. We spent our first day traveling, going to parks to pass out flyers and pray for people before the event, and attending a service at the church hosting us to pray over the event. The next day we were hosted by a pastor for meals where we had our own time of worship as a squad, we went to the field where the concert was going to be and picked up trash while praying over the event, and then went to another park. In the middle of the park we just danced and worshiped as a squad. It was so simple yet so powerful. Before I knew it, we were back on the buses to start the concert. The whole event was in Spanish, but I have never had more fun trying to sing in Spanish, trying to sing the English lyrics to songs I knew, and watching those around me having their lives changed. Jamie, Natalie, and I were dancing and jumping the whole concert. I have no idea how we weren’t tired, but we just kept on going. The weekend was full of praising the Lord and it brought so much simplicity to the idea of worship. We didn’t need to be in a church to worship, but we sang in every moment and in the most mundane settings yet it didn’t lose it’s power. This was definitely one of my favorite weekends!
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This weekend a group of 27 of us, put on our hiking shoes and went to conquer Pacaya…or be conquered by it. Pacaya (Pa-Kaya) is an active volcano an hour outside of Antigua. It was a 7 Km hike basically uphill the whole entire time. Val and I were ready! For two months we had been waking up at 5:30 am almost every morning to work out and now it all paid off. The hike had beautiful views and once we got to the base of the volcano I was just blown away. It was slippery getting closer to the volcano and since it was so active we couldn’t look into it, but you could watch as the lava would come out of the sides. We climbed a little closer to cracks in the volcano that were really hot. We looked down these cracks and could see the lava running underneath. Then our guides pulled out marshmallows and we got to roast them over the hot parts. You could see the waves of heat going over the rocks and when you got close, it felt like you were standing in front of a furnace! Hiking Pacaya was probably one of the most fun adventurous things I’ve done so far.
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DEBRIEF
During this month we also had debrief. This is a time where we process what has happened on the race so far and it allows us to rest and be poured into so that we can enter this next month ready to pour back into others. During this time we have sessions, teachings, and debriefing with our leaders as a team. We spent the week at Lake Atitlan in the city of Panajachel. While here I got to do some adventurous things like zip lining, visiting a butterfly sanctuary, cliff jumping, and visiting a hot springs (kind of). It was such a good week of rest and trying new things!
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So much has happened here in Guatemala these past two months and as we go into our last month, I am mixed with sadness to leave but also excitement for what our next countries could bring. It’s been a beautiful time of planting seeds into the people of Guatemala and I am so expectant of this next month! I have the privilege of continuing to love on the people of Guatemala and soon Ethiopia because of all the support back home and I literally cannot thank y’all enough for getting me FULLY FUNDED! These past two months have been amazing and I am so thankful that I get to have seven more making memories and planting seeds!
Love y’all so much,
Kaya Mullen
Last Day of School pics:
Team Costume for Halloween:
Chapin (a traditional Guatemalan breakfast and also my team’s most favorite breakfast).
We won the “Best Costume” award!
