[written starting 9.30.12. last ministry week.]
The last week of ministry, we spent most of our time scraping a car.
A 1975(?) red Datsun, to be specific. We’ve dubbed it “el clásico”- the “classic” car.
It’s one of Pastor David’s prized possessions, and so one way we’ve been able to minister to his family has been to sand his car. I’d never sanded a car before, so it was quite an experience! I even got to try out a power sander, though we only got a hold of one on Wednesday afternoon. We spent the first 2.5 days using metal scrapers, screwdrivers, and hammers to basically key the car and get the layers of paint off. Before we had the deafening noise of the power sander, we’d started sharing our life stories with each other. What a tremendous blessing! Rene (Pastor David’s son) was there for most of the stories, but he’s basically our seventh team member, so we’re glad he joined us!
Lunch, of course, has been our favorite time of daily ministry. Not just for the amazing food that Loli cooks, but more for the awesome conversations we’re able to have. We heard both Loli’s and Pastor David’s life stories at the lunch table this week. There were some, uhh.. minor discrepancies regarding who asked out whom first, hahaha… It was fun, enlightening, funny, and encouraging all at once.
On Sunday’s church service, we were once again called up one by one to address the congregation. (I think we’ve actually done that at every service! Testimonies, stories of World Race callings, and this time general words of blessing and gratitude for them.) They then prayed over us, sending us out with love, and they lined up for goodbye hugs. I didn’t expect to cry at the time, but the tears became unstoppable. I was hugging these people I didn’t even really know, except they were telling me that I always had a home here. They were crying bittersweet and grateful tears… for.. I don’t even know what! I truly feel like we haven’t done much besides painting, sharing our stories, and engaging in conversation and prayer with them. It feels like the least we could have done. Yet they’re so touched. And seeing that filled me with so much gratitude and compassion, as well as a desire to stay longer and get to know these amazing men and women and children. But alas, we had to say goodbye.
I’m so thankful for the extra time we were able to spend with Pastor David’s family in the last few days at Qiuché. I honestly feel like they´re my own family. He’s like an uncle, Loli an aunt, and the children my cousins. My whole team seems to share this sentiment, and wow- what a blessing it is to even be able to say that about our month 1 ministry contact! I’ve fallen more in love with Guatemala because of them and their church congregation.
It´s ridiculous how natural it has become for us to just walk the streets of Quiché, passing by tuk-tuks, tortilla stands, stray dogs, market stands lined with traditional fabrics… To say, this is Guatemala, and we’re on the World Race. Anything goes. ANYTHING. Example? Our team played a little joke on some of our squadmates and leaders, saying we bought the clásico for 1000 Q (around $125 USD), and that we’d driving it to Honduras. People surprisingly believed us and were shockingly receptive to our new ‘team car’ that we’d acquired on the streets. It was a harmless joke, but through that our team learned just how much anything really goes on the World Race. We’ve decided that instead of Pastor David’s clásico, perhaps we’ll just purchase a tuk-tuk or two for our main mode of transportation. Then we’ll drive it home from Central America to the US when we’re done with the Race! Haha, awesome idea, don’t you think? 😉
