I LOVE GUATEMALA!
This country is so unique and we got an incredibly authentic experience. We partnered with a ministry started by an amazing woman from Florida who had a heart for all the orphaned children in eastern Guatemala. She is opening an orphanage, and we got to partner with her to help get things ready and perfected before she has all the kids there! It was unique in that most ministries and hosts have been an organization for quite some time and filter through missionaries and have seen fruit from their work. It was an eye-opening time to be with a ministry that has yet to be fully up-and-running and to help get it on its feet.
Our main tasks were manual labor-intensive (again, my FAV). We started out by wheel-barrowing and carrying rocks from a huge pile to the property to help build a fence to keep it from flooding. We had to stuff the rocks in tires that were stacked high around stakes in the ground. It was quite the job. After a few days of that work, we moved to different tasks around the yard. I was on construction duty to help build a house. I loved learning how to make the floors planar and how to use fancy power tools. I also sanded, routered, and vanished a lot of furniture.
The team I was with is stellar at putting on kids’ programs, so we held one at our compound. It’s an incredible place right on Lake Izabel that has mountains sprinkled across the backdrop. We sat the kids there and played, sang, taught, and laughed with them. We also went around to a few churches in the area to minister to the kids as well.
Our little village was incredible. We started training for a half marathon, so we ran a ton, and the kids always lined the streets to cheer and wave us on. I played soccer some nights with the guys next door, and it was hilarious being the only “gringa” and I think I competed fairly well against them!
Our hosts were amazing, and we had many different ones. Gail is the founder of Blue Water Surrender, and she is one fierce woman of God. We only got 6 days with her, but she made a HUGE impact on us! Jerry is actually a retired US Marine and basically does all things international and dangerous for Guatemala. We did medical missions with him, built things, and he took us out on his boat! Luis took incredible care of us and told us incredible God stories, and funny ones, too. Pamela and Sheldon are partners of Gail’s who oversaw our work while we were there. They cooked for us, worked with us, and discipled us with such love. They cared about each of us individually, and have so much wisdom and encouragement they imparted to us.
We went to Antigua, Guatemala, at the end of the month for some peoples’ parents to join them on the field. There was a solid group of us who did a different ministry with a saint of a man named Logan. He founded a full English-immersion school that also sells purified water to the community, so it was so cool to learn about and be a part of that process. We also painted a school for at-risk teenagers and helped put a roof on for them!
Overall, I think Guatemala was my favorite month on the Race. The passion behind the ministries and the people we got to meet were just overjoying and constantly kept me challenged and learning!
