Amazing prophetic prayer time with my team followed by a morning run down cobble stone streets saying Hola to everyone I pass (and out of breath because I’m running with Joel and Summer – humans with bionic legs). Preparing lunch for the 50 some people on the squad by cutting some of the most gigantore carrots on steroids I’ve ever seen. Hanging out with other World Changers and forgetting that today is usually a day full of BBQ’s and fireworks with friends and family. It reminds me of where I was this time last year hanging with friends by the Iwo Jima celebrating the 4th in the rain. Never would I have expected then that I’d be in Guatemala a year later ready to embark on ministry.
Now, I’m sitting in Higher Grounds, a YWAM coffee shop, in Antigua, Guatemala enjoying some WIFI and yummy coffee and reflecting on the journey that got me here (the longest 3 days of travel ever spent in airports, planes and trains) and then the refreshment that this week of debrief has brought me by being reunited with my squad and joining together for some amazing worship, prophecy, and restoration.
This is a blog written by my squad-mate, Ian, who has beautifully describes where I’m at right now. Thanks Ian!
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Now
we’re chillin’ in Antigua, a town that looks and feels like a
Guatemalan postcard. The place is gorgeous and quaint, foot-accessible,
and relaxing. A morning jog shows the city’s many faces. Tiny niñas
walk with schoolbags bigger than they are. Colorful autobuses spew
black smoke and noise and say “Dios te bendiga” on the back. Busy
open-air markets hum with activity. Subtly-styled coffee shops
advertise native blends and imported wifi. Crumbling baroque stonework
evokes high romance and history class. Cheerful abuelas squeeze fresh
juice from street carts. Three massive volcànes ring the city,
hovering, watching patiently. And all the while, smoothly flitting back
and forth from native tongues, is a familiar vernacular that I love,
that I can actually converse in, if only a little.
we’re chillin’ in Antigua, a town that looks and feels like a
Guatemalan postcard. The place is gorgeous and quaint, foot-accessible,
and relaxing. A morning jog shows the city’s many faces. Tiny niñas
walk with schoolbags bigger than they are. Colorful autobuses spew
black smoke and noise and say “Dios te bendiga” on the back. Busy
open-air markets hum with activity. Subtly-styled coffee shops
advertise native blends and imported wifi. Crumbling baroque stonework
evokes high romance and history class. Cheerful abuelas squeeze fresh
juice from street carts. Three massive volcànes ring the city,
hovering, watching patiently. And all the while, smoothly flitting back
and forth from native tongues, is a familiar vernacular that I love,
that I can actually converse in, if only a little.
This place is fantastic.
The
plot twist for the week is the presence of I-Squad, also known as June
’09. They just finished month 1, and have the entire Race ahead of
them. We just finished month 9, and have only 2 to go. It’s a sweet
combination. Every minute getting to know these enthusiastic cadets has
been engrossing and exciting for me. There are few things that turn my
heart on more than seeing personal deliverance, growth, and maturation;
and these things are written all over I-Squad’s 33 faces.
plot twist for the week is the presence of I-Squad, also known as June
’09. They just finished month 1, and have the entire Race ahead of
them. We just finished month 9, and have only 2 to go. It’s a sweet
combination. Every minute getting to know these enthusiastic cadets has
been engrossing and exciting for me. There are few things that turn my
heart on more than seeing personal deliverance, growth, and maturation;
and these things are written all over I-Squad’s 33 faces.
Lastnight we had a blow-out joint worship session, something like 85
Racers, staff, and coaches packed into one high-ceilinged room for 2
hours of praise, prayer, activation, prophesy, and wild glorious noise.
Man oh man. I was all in. My private experiments on the back side
are changing me; my newfound joy in the Lord is bursting through my
skin; my heaviness and hesitance are slowly, steadily, leaving for good.
We danced and shouted, cheered
as worship leaders rotated through the mic, laid hands on brothers
known and unknown. We got to invigorate these young Racers. We got to
break off heaviness and depression, fear of the unknown, shame and
doubt. We got to speak life. We got to impart what the Lord has
imparted to us over these months. We got to plant the Kingdom in one
another. What a night.
as worship leaders rotated through the mic, laid hands on brothers
known and unknown. We got to invigorate these young Racers. We got to
break off heaviness and depression, fear of the unknown, shame and
doubt. We got to speak life. We got to impart what the Lord has
imparted to us over these months. We got to plant the Kingdom in one
another. What a night.
I’m looking forward to this home stretch being the very best leg of the Race. In Jesus’ name.
