First things first- I love Guatemala!! And wait like is this for real, I am in the first country of my world race! 3 weeks in and it's still so crazy to me. When we first arrived in Guatemala, me and Markelle kept saying "Guatemala es Hotamala." Because it was hot in Guatemala City. But very quickly after arriving in Quiche, which is 4 hours outside of the city and 7,000 ft up in the mountains, the joke turned to "Guatemalarado". Because it is so cold at night here! But, God has blessed us immensely with the weather. It is rainy season but you would almost never know. It showers only in the afternoon or at night and usually always after we are done doing ministry for the day. Our whole squad is staying together on some land owned by the ministry Agape in Action. We are on the same land as the only public hospital in the area. The hospital serves a population of over a million people, but only has around 120 rooms and 4 working operating rooms. It is severely understaffed and really a dirty hospital.
But, at this hospital called Santa Elena, I have met some incredible people. Me team and another team on my squad work at the hospital Monday through Friday with the janitorial staff and the maintenance staff. Here we met Rito. What a man! Rito used to be a boxer and was famous! He was born with a deformity and walks with a limp. And he has one of the biggest and best smiles I have seen in Guatemala. He is such a light to us. After some struggle in his life he came to Christ and is such a sweet Jesus-loving man. He invited us to his church which we went to last weekend. So much energy!! We got to church early enough to hear them practice their worship music which I didn't realize was practice. So when they started the first sermon I was prepared for it. My favorite part of the whole church service was "amen" (and not only because it was the only thing I understood the whole time). It isn't just said normal. It's more like "ameeeeennn. Ahhhhh-meeen." And they're were always 2 in a row. So the first sermon ends and the worship music starts again and I'm expecting church to be over! And then the second sermon starts. I want to be honest, while I loved the enthusiasm and the love I was feeling, 3 hours of Spanish church is not the most fun to sit through. But the pastor did give us greeting time in which he told the whole church to come hug us and welcome us. And the whole church did. It was such an act of welcoming and love. But this weekend my team and I opted for a Steven Furtick sermon on expectations. Which was awesome. But so back to Rito, he basically is the janitorial delegator. He just tells people what to do and then he comes out and sits and talks with us (thank God for Darcie also known as Daisy since they can't pronounce her name- she is awesome at being translator) as we paint the parking lines and curbs. He took us to get the best burgers in Guatemala last night and the other day he brought us medals for learning Spanish and being hard workers. He is just the best. My favorite was when he asked me how to say good morning in English and now he greets us every day "Goot Mor-ning". Much love for Rito.
The other little bug I met at the hospital was Macario. Three years old, abandoned and left to die by his parents, he is a true fighter. But realistically, he couldn't do this type of fighting alone. Jesus loves this kid and is fighting for him. A month ago the doctors didn't think Macario would survive. He was on a feeding tube and a breathing machine. He was bald. Today, Macario holds his own bottle. He doesn't have a feeding tube. He isn't on a breathing machine. He has such a little personality. It's hard to believe he is a 3 year old boy. He is probably only 20 lbs wet. He can't crawl, much less walk. He can't talk. His cries are faint compared to a healthy baby. I can feel his ribs and his spine through his cheetah print onesie. But, I just am so amazed by him. I am so enthralled. I want to keep track of him because I just know God has a huge plan for this little boy. My favorite thing to do is just hold him. Oh how he loves to be loved. And when he smiles! He is such a feisty little one. When he doesn't want to be messed with he grunts at you. When he doesn't want to be put down boy will he cry. And when he is excited oh does he smile. Just thinking about it brings tears to my eyes. He is such a little sweet heart.
Jose was another little boy that Darcie was the first to really make a connection with. Jose was at the hospital because his arm was straight up jacked. He fell off a horse and broke his arm but it was not just a normal break. He had to have surgery and we were expecting him to be there for a while. He asked Darcie to teach him English. She is such an awesome person and so creative- she made him this way cool coloring book that taught him words in English. He loved it! Jose got his surgery and was released in a mere 4 days. We sent him and his dad off on their 12 hour journey back home with some money, food, and lots of prayers. We will definitely miss his sweet little crooked smile.
God is really putting some incredible people with incredible stories in our lives here in Quiche. It's definitely going to be hard to leave in a week. I never thought I would take that Dr. Seuss or Winnie the Pooh or whichever animated cartoon they say said "don't cry because its over, smile because it happened" or whatever it is- you catch my drift. I am extremely thankful for this awesome place and these awesome people.
