Hola! Como estas? I have been living in Guatemala for the past 9 days. I live in a beautiful hostel called Casa de Fuego, run by the amazing Carol and Craig. We also live with Barley. We have become friends…
For those of you who are wondering what my living conditions look like currently, it looks a lot like home. I have running water, a cozy bunkbed, electricity, and even a washer and dryer! #blessed On top of all that, I can stand on the rooftop deck and see three volcanos. One of those volcanos erupts almost daily and I get to see the lava flow. (Don’t worry! I’m not close enough for it to be dangerous.)
Let me stop for a minute and tell you about Carol and Craig. They are a part of a homeless ministry that goes into the city of Antigua and feeds the homeless there. We were able to help make sandwiches and ride along with them this past Monday night. I was able to pray for a man that had been jumped and had massive bruising on his side. I was really happy that I had that opportunity and didn’t think the night would get any better. Then we went to the second park and I was proved wrong. We walked around and passed out coffee and sandwiches (they were bean sandwiches which aren’t as bad as they sound.) and were headed back to our meeting point. On our arrival, Craig was playing with two of the children who were there in the park. I was surprised to see them out so late at night. Craig told us that they stay with their parents who are working in the park trying to sell souvenirs to tourists. He said that they never get to play because they are always up there. As he is telling us this, the girls are using him as a jungle gym. They are climbing all over him and I almost don’t notice the crowd forming around us. Suddenly I look around and we are surrounded by 15+ little kids all begging for us to play with them. It broke my heart but also made it soar, that I got the privilege to play with them that night. I don’t think I’ve laughed that hard in a long time. Their smiles were so contagious. It was my favorite night so far.
My ministry has been more than I could have ever hoped for. I fell in love with this school. This month we partnered with a local school (and by local, I mean it took us about an hour and fifteen minutes and two chicken busses to get to it) and were able to teach English for the students. I had the privilege of working with the fourth-grade class. My teacher was Jhenyffer and was so kind. Even though she spoke no English and I speak little to no Spanish we made It work. I was able to teach the kids simple phrases like, “Do you want to play?” and “How old are you.” We played games where they would yell the name of an animal in Spanish, I would draw it, and then they would learn how to say it in English. It was very stretching for me, since I have never taught before, but the last day made it all worth it.
Today was the last day of school. Last night, my team and I decided to make cookies for the entire school. We baked the cookies and hand wrote cards for our teachers (first in Spanish, then again in English) thanking them for allowing us to be a part of their classes. I was able to hand my class their cookies and cards and the most amazing thing happened afterwards. They all started writing me notes on the board saying thank you and that they would miss me. They even grabbed my phone and used google translate to tell me in English what they wanted me to know. It was the most heartwarming thing.
We’ve also been helping with the construction of the school’s new soccer field for the kids. That has consisted of digging a ditch for irrigation and hand moving gravel over the entire field with wheelbarrows and a tricky wooden ramp system. That hasn’t been too bad either. Though I’m still not sure how much help we actually are. Also, the teachers have agreed to help teach us Spanish for the next 2 weeks of our ministry there. How amazing is that? Our ministry is wanting to help us learn the language to help us speak better our next 2 months in Central America. I cannot believe how giving they are.
Also, since I’ve been here, I’ve ridden a horse to the top of a volcano, roasted marshmallows over lava, jumped out the back of a chicken bus (also, there are no chickens on the chicken busses #falseadvertising), tried new foods, gone to a macadamia farm, and ridden in the back of a pickup with 7 people. I have stood in awe of the life God has given me. I am so loved by Him.
If there is one thing that I could ask for prayer for, it would be for my community. My team is going through some serious growing pains and it is getting very hard. We are trying to learn how to love each other and honor each other well, but to do that we are having to learn what not to do. I have had to have many hard conversations and I know that there are more to come. Pray that we all stand firm on our yes and continue to fight for one another. That this storm will pass and God will bring us through the other side into the community we all desire to have. Pray for us to have grace with one another. Pray for my heart as I am trying to learn to love others the way that God does. To have His compassion. Pray for Guatemala.
