Our team has arrived in Guatemala and it’s been a wild few weeks. Upon arrival we had a leadership development weekend and I was raised up to be a team leader! I also decided that hydration is the key to overcoming jet lag #hydrateordie.
After that we had one day to prepare and plan for PVT (parent vision trip). My parents got to come for a week to do ministry, explore, and just catch up on the past six months of my life. It was such a sweet time spent with them.
After traveling from Antigua to San Raymundo, where my team’s ministry site is, we learned that we had the week off because of Holy Week. They also told us that Antigua was the epitome of the celebration in all of Central America so we got right back on a bus and headed to Antigua to check out all of the hype. Thousands of people from all over the world gathered in Antigua to see the daily processions and colorful sawdust covered streets. It was absolutely beautiful! We learned the hard way that public transportation was almost impossible to find and had a long, traumatizing tuk-tuk ride where the driver got lost for about two hours.
It’s been a fun few weeks but it’s left me exhausted in every way. We are now in little San Raymundo again and I’m excited to establish routine and start ministry. We are working at a Christian School called Morning Glory, or Mañana Gloriosa if you speak Spanish (unlike me), that also partners with local ministries in the town. We have gotten to help out a little bit with a ministry called Casas por Cristo that host short term teams and builds houses. Our team will mostly be working at the school teaching art, special needs, and bible with a main focus on building relationships with students…and hopefully brushing up on our own Spanish.
Through all of this I’ve been learning more and more that following Jesus is a choice. The Lord told me in Malawi that Guatemala would be filled with choice. No one is going to drag me down kicking and screaming until I make the decision to follow Him. By his kindness and fierce love though he opens up the decision for me to make.
In the story of the rich young ruler Jesus offers Him a choice. He essentially says “drop everything and follow me… or don’t”. Donald Miller writes about the moment that the young ruler chooses his riches and to walk away from the Lord: “Jesus looked at the man and loved Him. Jesus didn’t berate the man or chastise Him but actually stood there and felt love for Him. But in the end they went their separate ways……everybody is invited, not everyone is willing”
I love what this reveals about the Lord’s character – His tenderness, His compassion, His patience.
“He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins” –
Ephesians 1:7
Yes and Amen.
See ya in 2.5 months.
