Welcome to Antigua, Guatemala!
We are in the city with our whole squad of 50 to start to adapt to Central American culture and go through training preparing us for the next 3 months in Central America.
We made it to Antigua at 6:30 am local time on Saturday morning, after an all night flight from LAX. And thank the Lord he has blessed me with the ability to sleep anywhere! I was passed out until the tires hit the ground in Guatemala. One of the funniest parts about this trip is we know nothing. Really, nothing, until we get somewhere and there is a nice Guatemalan man outside with a sign that says World Racers. He speaks no english just points to all of us (obvious Americans with our huge packs on our back who are walking aimlessly out of the airport) wondering whats next, and then he points to his van. I laughed and thought well, they did tell us to not have any expectations and give up all control. So here it goes our first five days…
This already has blown me out of the water. After an hour drive from the airport we
drove through such lush freeways with what looked like the rainforest surrounding us.
Then the van started down a cobblestone street with bright buildings and locals walking everywhere.
For these first five days we are staying in a very nice hostel(Guatemalan nice) with a kitchen, running water and beds. As we all unloaded our packs and settled into rooms, my roomate was Taralah and I really connected with her on such a deep level, talking about how the Lord has worked in our lives. She is a professional ballerina and has had a calling into mission work for some time. She has a heart for worship music and dance that is so unique, its a joy to be around her. One thing I have realized is I don't ask enough people their stories. During these first few days we really got to know each other in a real and vulnerable way. Getting to hear what God has brought each of them from and through has just filled me with so much joy and refocused my prayers on others salvation. The Lord works in some really CRAZY ways(many stories to come)! I cannot help but feel closer to the Lord being with Him intentionally through prayer, worship and studying for hours each day. It has brought me to a different season that I don't really know how to explain yet.
This first week has been filled up with:
- Powerful worship services in a room as big as the classroom in Hyder– with 50 of us!
- Hearing stories of healing from past missionaries
- Having team leaders pray over us and with us
- Learning about the Holy Spirit
- Team activities on growth
- Learning how to call each other up out of what the world says about us and into the truth that the Lord pours into us through scripture
- Shopping in the markets with our limited budget and planning meals together
- Exploring the Central American Culture
It has been an incredible, full five days! The leaders are focusing on equipping us with the spiritual and emotional strength to get us through the times when it feels hopeless. To have hope and know if we can just open doors for the missionaries that follow us in these communities that this is where the Lord has called us.
Meet my team! Our first dinner together on the town
Becca- Caring. Joyful. Honest and Energetic woman.
Benny- Fearless. Real. Ball of fire that is after God's heart.
Ash- Creative. Encouraging. Thoughtful and a Giving woman.
Katrina- Gentle. Selfless. Patient Woman who takes great care of all of us.
Paul- Humble. Worship Igniter. Powerful man.
And this is a picture of our whole squad after our first day of worship together
We also have been running in the mornings, and the second morning a few of us hiked to the
top of a hill in Antigua that had this beautiful cross and overlooked the city and the volcano, it was stunning!
We went on an excursion yesterday to hike an active volcano about an hour from Antigua,
it was about a 5 hour hike and once we made it to the top we roasted marshmallows over the hot lava rocks.
It was an experience to say the least!
Change in plans
We were supposed to head out early this morning to a small village near Panajachel to start with our first ministry contact but there is a tropical storm that came through and has wiped out the roads to get to there, so for tonight we are staying in Antigua. Hopefully the roads will be repaired by tomorrow morning for us to get there; Safe Homes for Children. It is a non-profit charity dedicated to improving the safety and quality of life for children in their own homes. They are working among the Mayan Indians of Guatemala who are some of the poorest people in the Western Hemisphere. The income of many families is below a dollar a day. Single parent and grandparent headed-families are common in which there is virtually no income. International health groups estimate that between 50% and 70% of these indigenous people survive on less than the minimum nutritional standards. These people cannot meet their own basic needs for survival and qualify under what is considered extreme poverty: They are chronically hungry, they are unable to access health care, they do not have safe drinking water, and are unable to afford education for their children.
Jobs are normally scarce and now worse with the recession. Many men work a small plot of land on a subsistence basis. There is no social safety net for the poor in Guatemala. For most of us in the United States it’s hard to imagine a subsistence existence where you have to grow everything you eat. A bad growing season will mean hunger for you and your children, and it’s surprising how many children live on one meal a day or less – often that meal consists of only a tortilla or two.
The educational level of the parents in these rural communities averages around one or two years of school. Most adults cannot read or write and many cannot speak Spanish. There are local primary schools in most pueblos and thanks to NGOs there is new construction and improvements to old buildings. But the education crisis in rural Guatemala is more complicated than a need for new buildings and that’s the focus of their programs.
As with most third-world countries, the task is multi-generational. They are initiating developmental programs aimed at improving the opportunities for these at-risk children through an orphan prevention program, “orphans at home.” While these problems have existed for centuries and will not be alleviated in a year or two, there is a critical need for nutritional and educational intervention during the formative years of these young children. They provide meals, nutritional supplements, education classes, tutoring and student scholarships with the aim of opening doors for this next generation.
Please pray that we can show these families Christ. We will have a great opportunity to be in there homes with them and I couldn't think of a better way.
Thank you so much for reading my blog and following me on this journey, may God bless you wherever you are right now!
Lot of love,
Kenra
Oh and I have to share our goofy video we made yesterday. You will laugh at me, but grandma always said I could be on TV! So this ones for you 🙂
