One of the first weeks of being in Guatemala my team discovered a small pizza shop called El Frijol Sport right across from the church we work with. We soon became regulars there as it is one of the only two places in all of Parramos with wifi. Because we came there so often, we quickly formed a friendship with the restaurant owner, Juan.
Juan was born and raised in Guatemala but studied at NYU so he speaks almost perfect English. Within the first couple times we went there I realized that Juan is one of the most loving and intentional people I have ever met. He is such a clear reflection of Jesus to every single person that steps foot in his restaurant.
It is often so easy to overlook how impactful small actions can be, and jump straight into huge gestures when showing love to others. But Juan blew us away by continually showing us love through his small and intentional actions.
For those who have spent even a couple minutes around me, you know I have a deep love for coffee. It is one of my favorite, and most necessary parts of my day. Well the first time I went to El Frijol Sport Juan was amazed that I love black coffee and don’t pour sugar and other things in my coffee. From that day on, every time I didn’t order coffee because I forgot my wallet or had no money (monthly budgets are great until the last 3 days where you quite literally have no money) Juan would always give me a free cup of coffee. It made my day every single time.
A couple of guys from our squad asked Juan the first time they ate pizza there if he had ranch to dip their pizza in. He apologized that he didn’t, and they quickly forgot and kept eating their pizza. What they didn’t notice was that Juan had immediately gotten on his bike and rode to the nearest grocery store. About 15 minutes later he came back with a huge bottle of ranch, and now every time we order pizza he brings that bottle out for us.
One day that we were in El Frijol my teammate Sydney had a really bad headache. She isn’t one to complain, but Juan noticed something was off and asked her what was wrong. After explaining, he immediately offered to get her medicine and gave her a free coke. The next week, the second we walked in Juan made a beeline for Syd and gave her a huge hug and asked her how her head was. We were confused, because we had forgotten what happened. But Juan had been worried about her all week and wanted to make sure she was ok.
These are just a few, out of over a dozen, amazing and intention ways Juan has shown Jesus’ love to us. Free coffee, a bottle of ranch, and asking about headaches doesn’t sound world changing. But through those things, Juan made our days in Guatemala so much better, and was such a witness for the Lord. You may not think that you are making a difference when you chose to serve others in small ways, but like with Juan, sometimes small actions show the biggest amounts of love.
