“Goodbye, Hell0” is a blog series where I share brief highlights from my previous country while introducing you to my current country and ministry. Enjoy!
*Please excuse typos or other grammatical errors. I didn't have much time!
Goodbye U.S.!
My last days in the United States were full of goodbyes, a wonderful Thanksgiving BBQ, and a strong state of denial/disbelief. Several times a day I had to remind myself that in fact the World Race was happening. It was much harder to leave home than I thought. I loved seeing the way God was working in my family and I selfishly wanted to stay. I became anxious about being a team leader and wondered if I should step down. I felt extremely sad about leaving my friends behind. I’m still quite overwhelmed by the idea of living with and having to get to know so many new people. In the end, I definitely left the states emotionally indifferent. I kept waiting for the excitement to come and it never did. Still Launch was incredible with a lot of great teachings, musical worship, and breakthroughs. Here are some highlights from Launch aka my last days in the U.S.
- Being reunited with dub squad & my team, Daughters of the Vineyard!
- Staying in an incredible Holiday Inn. We got the royal treatment before heading out for the year.
- Living on $5 per person a day for meals. This was a huge eye opener for me, thank goodnessJ
- Incredible teachings on Servant Leadership, Setting Emotional & Spiritual Boundaries, Identity in Christ, Safety/Security/Health, Healthy Community, and Sharing the Gospel.
- ATL (Ask the Lord). We were all sent out as teams to pray and ask God how we could love the people in our hotel area. My team walked into College Park (a neighborhood in Atlanta) and prayed for a few people and over the community; specifically for the youth and economic opportunities.
¡Hola Guatemala!
We are in day 3 in Guatemala! This month we are living in the city of Quiche which is about 4 hours away from Guatemela City at an elevation of 7,000 feet. Even in the air I was captivated by the beauty of the country and the excitement I had been waiting for began to build. I couldn’t believe this was happening and that I was out of the U.S. for the first time in my life. It was incredible!
It’s so beautiful here as we are surrounded by mountains and luscious trees. The weather reminds me of Seattle during the winter as it is cloudy and there is a consistent drizzle. Another cool thing is s that it feel likes fall! I was so sad about missing fall and I have right hereJ It does get quite cool at night, so we layer up! The community has been so gracious and patient with us (especially as we practice our Spanish)! I am so pumped to actually build relationships with the community.
Our Ministry
I am so excited to introduce you to the organization we will be working with over the next month! The mission of Agape in Action is mostly a hospital whose heart “is to care for physical ailments and to go beyond the stethoscope to minister to the spiritual and emotional needs of the indigenous Maya in the mountainous Quiche’ province of the Central Highlands of Guatemala.” They do this by supporting pastors in rural areas with medical clinics, provide training and experience for visiting medical students, work with an orphanage, prison ministry, and teaching in local schools. We were told that this city is 90% Maya and World Racers are the first large group of missionaries here. As we are the third group of World Racers, it’s kinda crazy to think about and such an honor to serve and learn from the community here. Starting Monday, we will begin working at our team ministry sites, which I look forward to sharing with you as soon as I know! Below, I want to share some pretty random tidbits about our life here so far along with some photos. Enjoy!
Above are some pictures of where we’re living this month.
- Oh my goodness were we blessed by the rain! We were supposed to sleep outside in our tents, but due to the rain the field (top right) was too wet for tents, so our ministry hosts graciously opened up rooms for us. Our ministry site is SO nice. We’re all interested to see how different our upcoming months will be from this place of luxury.
- One thing that is new for me in Guatemala is that toilet paper has to be thrown away in the trash can. I’ll say I’ve forgotten a couple of times and have to hook my toilet paper out before flushing. Good times!
Above are photos showing some fun times with food and laundry.
- Our ministry hosts cooked breakfast for us our first morning. We had a traditional Guatemalan breakfast which was scrambled eggs, black beans, plantains, and bread. It was SO yummy!
- Each team was assigned a day to cook breakfast and dinner for the entire squad. Our team cooked a dish that Kristina calls “Creole Corn” with a side of plantains. It was such a fun bonding experience for us and was also SO yummy!
- The next morning was our turn for laundry. This month we are washing our clothes in buckets and putting the clothesline to dry. This was more complicated than it seems since it rains a lot, but we made it work!
- Okay, ya’ll have to know how good Guatemalan coffee is. If not, just look at the pic in the top left. Yes, I didn’t have a cup one morning so it was my bowl that allowed me to not miss a chance with such deliciousness. I actually learned this trip from a friend in grad school Thanks Elijah
Other random things:
- Our ministry host Sally warned that because of that the community isn’t used to having such a large group of us from the U.S. so to expect lots of stares. It actually hasn’t been too bad, but there are some funny patterns we notice. One is around music. For some reason as we “Americans” walk past or go to eat, the music changes from Spanish to “American” aka Backstreet Boys, 50 Cent, and Taylor Swift.
- It has been great being surrounded by Spanish. My team has actually being doing pretty well getting around. I am really trying to push myself to learn as much as I can over the next three months!
There is so much I want to share with you all and I will very soon along with more pictures of this beautiful city! Love you and thanks so much for all your support in this journey! Talk to you soon:)
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Adventures in Missions
PO Box 534470
Atlanta, GA 30353-4470
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