Have you ever felt like you can’t do something?
You aren’t good enough. Smart enough. Equipped or qualified enough.
I have felt like that a lot recently.
My ministry triad this month is volunteering at a private school in Chimaltenango, Guatemala. This school has 60 kids, 5 teachers and a principal. There aren’t enough teachers for each classroom so McKensie, Abby and myself get to help them out. Some of the kids and teachers even come from a Mayan tribe, which speaks an entirely different language.
We show up the first day, and the lies surface.
I’m not a teacher, how can I teach these kids by myself? I barely know Spanish, and have no interpreter, how can I get them to understand?
We walk into the classroom with the principal’s office with people from the Adventures Guatemala team and the atmosphere changes.
After a bit of small talk, the principal shares that she’s been dealing with severe knee pain for many years. She struggles getting up and down stairs and can’t keep up with everything that she wants to. We were encouraged by the team to place hands on her knees and pray for her. Minutes later her pain is better. We continue to pray and a stronghold is revealed to one of the Guatemala teammates, he speaks over that stronghold, declaring dominion in the place, and by the grace of God ….
I’m seeing the principal doing full squats, bending her knees completely, and ready to run down the stairs.
Why are we really here God?
The principal leads us to a classroom of 5 of the oldest children in the school. The team sees a girl who seemingly has vision problems. The team asks what is wrong with the her. We are told she has microcephaly and is blind in one eye and can’t see great out of the other. The team asks if we can pray for her, and she comes out of the class. We lay hands on her, and Gabe starts praying. He finishes, then backs up. He holds up fingers in front of him and makes her cover her ‘good eye’.
She reads the numbers!
She turns around, and we ask her to read the letters on the wall.
She reads the letters on the wall!
God answers…
I didn’t open the doors of this school for you to come and teach these children english. I opened these doors for you to be the hands and feet of my good works! These people don’t need another teacher, they need to know who your Teacher is!
As I walked through the school that day questioning everything that I had just been a part of, the Lord showed me this.
If He wants to use you, He’s going to use you regardless!
Inadequate? Nope. Not in His sight. Not enough? Nope. Plenty in His sight.
Why should I let the lies of the world influence the attitude of my life?
Silly question. I shouldn’t
“For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves.” Colossians 1:13
The Lord is faithful. He wants to use me. He wants to be glorified through the gifts he has given me. Jesus didn’t pay it all for nothing. I am able to walk in authority with power because of His victory. I have no reason but to say YES!
So the perspective changes.
We walk a mile to school each day with intention, with boldness, and with joy.
We never know what we’re going to walk into at school each day- but we prepare our hearts for far greater things than we can imagine. We ask for opportunities for lives to be changed, light to be radiated, and darkness to be removed. We choose to say YES to whatever comes our way!
How has teaching gone so far?
I walk into a classroom with no teacher, use my broken Spanish to introduce ourselves, and immediately start teaching a language foreign to these children.
No interpreter. No resources. BUT….
Our hands were used for two healings.
We’ve shared 1 Corinthians 13 through an art project for the entire school!
I’ve prayed for students who are sick and worried about their family in the paths of hurricanes.
The children have asked us why we are at their school, and we’ve answered!
He’s so good!
XOXO
Tay
