I am in Chimaltenango, Guatemala in a little hole-in-the-wall coffee shop, soaking up all the spotty wifi that I can get before I have to walk back to our hosts’ home, through the smog-covered streets, in the rain, dodging racing tuk-tuks and moto’s that do not follow any sort of traffic laws. Hard to believe that this is my life for the next year. Even harder still, to believe all the incredible things that God is doing here in Guatemala.
We left El Salvador on the 1st. This was so bittersweet. The church we were working with all month put together a going away party/service for us at the end of the month in which many spoke so many kind words, gave us gifts, and most of all thanked us for the encouragement we brought to them. During the service I was so overcome with gratitude and thankfulness that I could not find the words to say to them that I thought would completely encompass the amount of love I felt at that moment in time.
I would like to take this opportunity to address Shadai church in San Salvador:
Words fall short at coming anywhere close to being able to express my heartfelt thanks for every single one of you. The amount of love and warmth poured out, seemingly without limits, by all of you was overwhelming. I will hold each and every one of you close to my heart for the rest of my life. Thank you. Dios te bendigas.
Month one has officially ended. I am now almost already halfway through month two! Time is flying by so quickly!
As one racer put it, “The days are long, but the months go by fast”.
Our squad had a 5 day debrief in Antigua in which we were able to rest, worship, and encourage each other together. This was so refreshing! Month two is also an all squad month! Which means that all four teams will be doing life and ministry together for the whole month!
We are in Chimaltenango for the month. This city is widely known for it’s bad traffic and prostitution rings. Several of my teammates have expressed their awareness of dark, intense, spiritual warfare present ever since we stepped foot in this city. I believe this would be the most accurate description of living here. The enemy is at work in so many real ways and has so many people enslaved in such horrific chains. It has become more and more apparent every day that God has sent us to the front lines. The enemy also literally shook this city! The earthquake on the border between Mexico and Guatemala was felt all the way here in Chimal. I was fortunate enough to have slept through my very first earthquake! Some of the other people on my squad were not as fortunate and saw and felt firsthand the building swaying and light fixtures going crazy.
The enemy meant to scare us, but God means to equip and prosper us. And He is doing just that.
Our squad has split up into 8 small groups in which we have literally spread out to all areas of the city to do ministry. Each ministry looks slightly different. Several teams are working in private schools that have some incredibly broken children that come from gang backgrounds. Another team has even been invited into a public school which is an incredible opportunity as this school is home to 1400 kids. One team has already seen God move in ways of PHYSICAL HEALING at their first day of ministry!!! Another team is working with some locals and is doing street ministry with the homeless in the city.
I have had the very unique opportunity to actually help build (literally, hanging sheetrock) and work in a clinic at Grace English School! This has been the most blessed thing that God could have done for me here! He is such a good Father who cares about what we care about!
Myself and some other people on my squad have been praying for ministry opportunities with women trapped in prostitution. This city has not had any sort of ministry aimed towards this area as it is particularly dangerous in this area.
God is at work here! He is using us as His hands and feet to reach the people of this city like never before! The enemy is not happy about it!
But, oh, God says, “Finally!”
Please continue to pray for me and my squad as we continue to pray about and step into all the places where God might lead us into this month!
