We played the prison guards in soccer today; we won, 10-8! Whoo hoo! Nos ganamos! (My Spanish is terrible.) We finished painting the dorm and break room(?) today. It feels good to leave our mark. Hopefully we can come back and visit (as guests, not prisoners). Our team bonded with one guy, named Danny. He speaks some English so it’s been easy to get to know him. He used to live in Florida, but is originally from Guatemala City. He is 25 years old – me too! He gets out in 2-3 months. This made me really, really happy. The end is near! He has a really good heart, you can just tell. I ensured him our team would be praying for him constantly. Maybe the next time we visit Guatemala, we’ll see him walking around, FREE.
As I typing this I’m eating chips and salsa and my tongue is on FIREEEEEEEE.
Okay it’s Friday. We just got back from the prison –our last day there. My teammate, Jacob preached today to about 30 prisoners. We led them in song, prayed over them, cleaned their feet and spoke life into them. It was very emotional. I almost cried! (I’m not a crier, so this is a big deal.) We spoke to them about forgetting their past mistakes because they are paid for, and that they should focus on their future with Christ. We told them that they could have all of the money in the world, and feel just as imprisoned – that money does not bring freedom, only God brings freedom. We had a translator, obviously, so hopefully our message was well received. We did have 4 men come forward and let us lay hands on them. One of them was sobbing, which broke my heart. As we were leaving, Danny threw me a handmade bracelet from his cell. So sweet. Wearing it now.
I’ve never seen anyone preach the way that Jacob did today. It was so powerful. I have a video of it, but need to make sure I’m allowed to post it… He was raising his voice and lifting his arms and jumping up and down. It was obvious God was speaking through him. Afterwards, our contact, Ricardo, asked each of us to come forth and say a few words. Then we passed out snacks to them. Ahhh. I’m going to miss that prison (never thought I’d say that). It’s just that we get so caught up in our own lives that we forget about people imprisoned. We forget about the homeless; the abused; the enslaved. The World Race forces you to look into the eyes of the oppressed. It’s hard, but necessary. And you know what? You don’t have to travel to Guatemala to do your part. Have you ever thought about volunteering at a food bank? If you have a heart for human trafficking, what about volunteering with Wellspring Living? What about starting a street ministry, wherein you hit the streets praying over the homeless? Eh?
Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay him for his deed.
Luke 12:33-34
Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
It’s Independence Day (week) in Guatemala. So a big group of us hit the “downtown” area i.e. the square for the parade and festivities. We hit up the market, which sells cats and hens on leashes (saddest thing ever), raw meat, every vegetable you can image, including rambuton, a weird spikey fruit that you peel and has an alien looking ball in the middle. It’s actually really good – tastes like a plum.
Later I met a nice man named, Joel who plays guitar at his local church. He was very sweet and spoke a little English, which helped. I prayed for him before we departed.
During one on our worship nights, people sang/played via ipod songs that hold great meaning to them. My friend, Emily, played this song and it tugged at my heart. It’s so powerful! I hope you all enjoy it as much as I do.
