++++The last from Guatemala:
Beautiful rounded walls, high ceilings, clean, pristine. Not only that, but it was located just outside of Antigua- the nicest city I’ve yet seen in Guatemala. It was a gated community, and a cheery guard had to allow us in. The houses were all the same dull yellow hue, unlike the colorful mismated paint-peeling homes strung throughout the other parts of the country. This house was worlds away from the Mayan villages we had been to just days ago. Worlds away from those dirt floors, and cold showers. You might even call it immaculate…
“A *missionary* lives here?” I thought to myself.
The woman at the door, Carol, spoke a few words of Spanish in what one might classify as a very “gringo” accent.
At Pastor Luis’ house, I expected the dirt floors. I expected a lack of running water. I expected beans and rice.
So what do we do as “missionaries” do when we come across the opposite? How are we supposed to react when we are welcomed into a home with running water and flushing toilets? How are we supposed to feel with our bellies are full?
We took the fans and left, agreeing to meet Sunday for church.
It turned out to be an amazing Sunday.
Carol’s husband, Forrest, came to pick us up, and most of us loaded into the back of his pickup truck. (Totally legal in Guatemala, and by far one of the funnest ways to get around town!)
We picked up Carol at home, and Forrest waved us goodbye.
“Isn’t he coming?” We asked.
Carol explained Forest had dengue fever, another one of those fun diseases caused by our lovely misquote buddies. From what I’ve heard about dengue fever, it’s super painful. We never would’ve known from Forest’s cheerful demeanor. This man was a trooper, for sure.
Church was a lovely mix of fast paced Guatemalan music, and an English message- something our team had been longing for. Even though a few of us had been able to understand and translate Spanish, it was becoming frustrating only catching bits and pieces of each message. It’s crazy how easily you take for granted hearing the Word in your own language. How easily we take for granted communication…
After church Carol fed us. Carol fed us well.
Tuna- egg salad sandwiches on the most-delectable-whole-wheet-bread-you’ve-ever- tasted.
Carol told us about their ministry.
Her and Forrest moved to Guatemala 7 years ago, a couple of years after they first felt the calling to come here. They were first involved with a different organization, but saw mismanagement of resources. Rather than becoming discouraged, the two of them started their own non-profit, Servants4Him, and have been doing it ever since.
Their primary work is to provide clean water to Mayan families through bio-filters they make themselves. Our team had the opportunity to help with the process a little, and even deliver it to a family. The joy that came over their faces when they received the filter, I will never forget. 
The most important part of the process is how with each new filter, Carol shares the message of the Gospel.
Our lives are dirty like the unfiltered water, full of sin. The filter, like Christ, takes the ugly, the unpure, and makes it clean again. It’s so beautiful in it’s bare simplicity, and it’s something these Mayan women, in particular, can understand. Carol told us often she even brings a microscope with her to demonstrate the
differences in water quality.
(Here, one of the bio-filers–>)
<—( Here, I’m attempting to explain care instructions to one of the Mayan women that Carol and Forrest work with.)
That afternoon spent in Carol’s home gave all of us great insight into what it means to sacrifice, to suffer for the sake of the Gospel.
“What’s been the hardest part about being here?” Jacinda asks her.
Carol replies, “Being away from my grandchildren.”
Her grandchildren…
We were walking the streets to go get veggies now for dinnertime, young guys whistling, cat calling us… Trash littering the side of the road.
“Don’t bring your purse or camera.” We were told. Thievery is rampant.
This was the reality for so many Guatemalans.
This was Carol’s reality.
I looked at this woman with new eyes, feeling terrible about my earlier pre-judgments.
“We don’t allow single women to work at our ministry. It just isn’t wise, and it’s often too dangerous for women to go out alone in this county.” Carol tells us…
“A lot of single women missionaries come to our home for refuge from the country. It gives them just a little taste of home.”
Carol bought us veggies for our dinner that night. Her ministry partner Maureen, who we had just met that day, cooked us an amazing meal. Lounging on the couches with bellies full, we were welcomed right in like family everywhere we went that day.
I was so humbled by Carol’s kindness, and her stories. Funny, the perfection of God’s timing. That week, our group read through the book of Philippians. The words of Paul resonating in our lives: “I rejoice greatly in the Lord that at last you have renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you have been concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.”
(Phil. 4: 10-11)
****Check out Carol & Forrest’s website here!****
Grace, Peace, & so much love!
Next time from Nicaragua,
Inshallah!
