As we fly out to the last country (Ecuador 🙂 if you don’t know or remember), I reflected on what happened the last three months in Guatemala. It was an amazing time here and God did some HUGE things. He did so much I couldn’t write about all of it, so you’ll have to reach out to me if you want to know more! 🙂 Hope you enjoy reading about some of the things that have happened in Guatemala! 🙂
During the past three months, I have been serving right outside of Antigua, Guatemala. My team and I would go to three different villages throughout the week to visit houses, teach English, and lead Bible classes for children. The focus of these three months was to love the people in the villages and show them how much God cares for them. As we loved these people, we got just as much in return by seeing how open and relational they were with every person that stepped into their house.
When I think about how I saw God move during these months, one word comes to mind: healing. God healed many people physically and mentally. He showed them they were worth it and life is not meant to be lived in hurt and pain. God used my team as a vessel to teach the people of Guatemala about this truth in life.
There are many testimonies of physical healing. One of my favorite ones is about my squadmate. She had been in on and off lower back pain and tightness in her legs for the past few years. She never thought too much of it, but one of her legs was slightly shorter than the other. Within the first few days of being in Guatemala, one of the base staff members and other squadmates got around to pray for her. As they were praying, her leg grew a few centimeters to be the same length as the other. Everyone was in complete awe of how big God was working at the moment. God showed up in a way that was new to many in that prayer circle and showed a new side of Himself which gave hope and excitement to go out and pray for others.
For mental healing, I instantly think of one of the women I got to work very close with in our main village in Guatemala. When arriving in December, you could clearly see things were weighing her down. Things that should not be held on her shoulders or dealt with by herself. She is a powerhouse and loves the Lord so evidently but had lots of things she could still surrender and give up to Him. Throughout the three months, we saw an enormous amount of change in this woman’s life. We saw chains broken and left at the foot of the cross for Jesus and not to be picked up again. We saw growth in deepening her relationship with the Lord. We saw a physical change of the weight being lifted by how He heal her and how the gloominess in her eyes had cleared up. This woman was already a great disciple of the Lord when we came into her life, but when we left in February, we had seen her walk through healing which made her an even stronger disciple of the Lord. It was beautiful to see the Lord work in someone’s life this way.
Personally while being in Guatemala, the Lord taught me a lot about being radically obedient. This goes for the smallest situation of giving up your bus seat for someone else all the way to big situations like surrendering your own big plans for the greater ones of the Lord. There were many times where I could have kept walking and ignored the voice of the Lord instead of stopping to have a conversation and pray. These acts of obedience brought great joy in my life because the feeling of peace after following what the Lord has asked of me.
One afternoon a few of my teammates and I were out walking around Antigua. Our plans were to go get a tattoo, but they fell through due to the price. Someone suggested we should walk around and give meals to people on the streets with the money. So that’s what we did! We were trying to talk to this sweet elderly lady but couldn’t understand very well due to language barriers. My friend ended up buying her a bottle of water and prayed over her. We started to walk away, but I didn’t feel done yet. So I asked what the Lord still had for me, and He asked me to give her my straw. I was a little hesitant at first but ended up walking back over to her. I couldn’t communicate with her, so I just handed it and pointed to the bottle of water while sticking the straw in. She smiled as I walked away. Then as I turned back, I saw her happily drinking the water. She wasn’t able to before due to the difficulty of lifting and tipping up the bottle. I learned at that moment, if I was not obedient, this woman would not have been able to drink the water we bought her. I learned God works in the smallest and biggest ways but you’ll never know if you aren’t obedient.
The Lord also taught me obedience in a larger setting with my future plans. I believed the Lord was drawing me in one direction and later found out He had a different plan for me. He was having me go down the first path to teach me new things but also to teach me about surrendering previous plans to be obedient to the next ones. Before I chose to be obedient, I was always anxious and overwhelmed with trying to make a choice. Then I decided to be obedient to what the Lord was calling me into and all of it was put to peace. The Lord calmed my soul and gave me excitement for the new next step. I would not have felt that way if I didn’t decide to walk in obedience to His calling and plan to fulfill that calling.
I am thankful for the growth that was brought these last three months in Guatemala and am excited for what He has instore for in Ecuador! Thank you and God bless you all!
Comment questions and thoughts below or message me separately if ya want! Love ya all and see you in three months!
Lots of love and prayers!
Paige Canova :):):)
