Muchas Thank You Guatemala

What a month it has been! God is up to something big here in Guatemala, and I am so thankful that I have got to be a part of it these past few weeks.

Pastor Juan and I. “Muchas thank you” is one of his catch phrases, but I have adopted it.

As I mentioned in my previous post, my team and I have been primarily working with kids of all ages from the small community we are living in called, Camanibal. Because schools are still shut down here in Guatemala due to Covid-19, students are stuck at home without much to keep them engaged physically or mentally. Therefore, our ministry host, Juan, provides weekly classes that teach them English, Spanish, and Gospel-centered Bible stories. It has been a blast helping Juan run these classes. The kids and their mothers have been so kind to us and eager to learn. They definitely have a hunger for knowledge and a deeper relationship with Jesus. As we said goodbye to them this week, they shared with us that our faith and friendship had made a deep impact on their lives. The kids and their mothers flooded us with hugs, goodbyes, and requests for us to come back and visit as soon as we can. 

Playing “Pato, Pato, Ganzo” with our youngest students in Juan’s courtyard area.

Although we had to leave Camanibal this week, I am thankful that God’s work through us will have a long-term impact. One of our main goals with the kids was to train up leaders to help Juan after we leave. God highlighted a group of older students with a heart for servant leadership, and we have seen them step up this month. We had them over for lunch this week to call out the potential in them and encourage them to keep being leaders after we depart. Additionally, my teammate Allie and I have had the privilege of training some of these students in leading worship. We started at the beginning of the month teaching a handful of students the basics of guitar, singing, and piano. We ended up with a guitar player, two singers, and a piano player, who led worship for the whole group of students this past Friday! It was awesome to see them grow as they committed to practicing these past few weeks, and it brings me joy to know that they will be preserving a heart of worship in Juan’s ministry after we leave.

The worship crew!

I am beyond thankful for these opportunities to minister. I feel like God has brought along the perfect opportunities for me to utilize the gifts he has been cultivating inside of me my whole life. I know he has called me to work with teenagers and help them find their identity in Him. And this month, he quickly brought a group of teenagers around me that I was able to connect with. Many of them would come for guitar lessons, but what was meant to be an hour class, turned into a whole afternoon of hanging out, goofing off, and playing soccer. God allowed me to spend so much time at the community soccer field connecting with these students and the men of the community too. If you know me, you probably know that playing sports with people is my love language, so I was overjoyed to get to do that just about every afternoon. God used those moments to build relationships and open doors for spiritual conversations. One moment that was particularly cool came when I was playing soccer with a small group of the students. Because the soccer field is on top of a mountain, the edges of the field are very steep inclines. On this particular occasion, one of the kids kicked the ball down the side of the mountain, and after looking for it for about twenty minutes, we could not find it. We were about to give up looking for it, and deem it lost. However, God put it on my heart to pray and ask him to help us find the ball. I gathered the kids together and told them that we were going to pray and ask for God’s help, then look for the ball one more time. So, we prayed and searched again. And sure enough, one of the kids emerged from the brush holding the ball. I heard the kids shouting, “God helped us!” It was such an awesome moment of witnessing God’s faithfulness. I believe that it was an opportunity for the kids to learn that God hears their prayers and cares about even the “little” things.

The soccer crew!

Another opportunity we had this month was to minister to the community elders of Camanibal. The town is governed by twenty-six elected leaders, who serve the community for two year terms. One Monday we had the privilege of working alongside them to revitalize the soccer field. We helped them paint the goals, weld new structures to hold nets, and cut the tall grass in the corners of the field. This was a great time for us to build relationships with the elders and gain their trust. After we finished working, they allowed us to worship Jesus with them and share some words of encouragement from the Bible. Then, we played the inaugural soccer game with them on the newly refurbished field. It was such a cool time to see these men begin to welcome and accept us into their tight-knit community. It was a testament to God’s work through Juan over the past few years he has lived in Camanibal. When he first moved there, the community was not welcoming. They told him that he could not use the soccer field, and when he had past World Race teams, the elders told him that they did not want any of them to walk around in the community. They had to stay only on Juan’s property. Despite the resistance, Juan  consistently submitted to their authority, trusted God, and demonstrated that he was there to serve the community. Because of that, the elders have slowly warmed up to him. It is amazing that now they are welcoming us, a group of complete strangers and foreigners, to work and play with them. And not only that, but they are open to hearing about the God we follow. Praise God for what he has done here and will continue to do through Juan when we leave!

Camanibal elders admiring their work on the soccer field

Additionally, it has been a great month for me in being more obedient to the nudges of the Holy Spirit. While there were a few moments where I allowed my fear to keep me from stepping out in faith, overall, I grew a lot in this area. 

A lot of these Holy Spirit moments happened on our “adventure days” that we get once a week to go explore or do something fun. On one of our adventure days to Lake Atitlán, we were on our way to rent some kayaks, when I saw a man in a wheelchair asking for money. I knew immediately that this was an opportunity for God to show his power. I stopped my team and asked them if they were cool with going to pray for him. Of course, they were all for it. The man’s name was Carlos. We spent some time talking with him and learning about his life, then we asked if we could pray for him. While we did not see him get up out of his wheelchair and walk in that moment, I know God still moved in his life. Just to see him smile and thank us for taking the time to talk and pray with him was a huge blessing. On the same day, my team and I visited an amazing coffee shop, which has been hailed by some magazines as being in the top ten best coffees in the world. To be honest, when we got there, I was underwhelmed. It was a bit of a hole-in-the-wall. It was very small, and not very trendy-looking. However, I quickly realized why it was a popular place. The owner, Byron, and the barista, Jackie, showed us extraordinary hospitality. Byron took us back into their roasting room and taught us how they roast their coffee beans. Then, he took me behind the counter and taught me how to make a cappuccino. While all of this was happening, we were able to share our stories with them too. Before we left, I shared with Jackie the hope that I have in Jesus. I encouraged her that God loved her and had great plans for her life.

Byron showing me how to make the perfect cappuccino

Finally, we took our last adventure to hike Volcán Acatenango near Antigua, Guatemala. It was a spectacular experience, with some of the most amazing views I have ever seen, but my favorite part was the conversations that we got to have with people along the way. We had three local guides that helped us conquer the rigorous hike to the 13,000ft summit. These men were so kind and patient with us. During the trek, we got to know them and had the privilege of encouraging them in their faith. My teammate Hannah and I hit it off with two of them, named Elio and Delvin, and got to pray over them before the end of the weekend.

Our team at the summit of Volcán Acatenango

The Spirit was not only working on adventure days though! I tried to make the most of the interactions we had with people anytime we went into Chichicastenango (the closest city to our house) to get supplies. One of the most memorable moments came on our last trip into town. As our team stood in the back of the pick-up that carried us into town, we took time to intentionally ask the Lord what he had in store for us in town. Some people heard him say to go to certain locations. Others saw visions of certain people that God was calling them to talk to. However, I did not hear or see anything specific from God. Yet, I knew God still had something in store for me. I did not have to wait long to find out. Right when I hopped out of the truck a man walked directly up to me and started asking me about my life. I felt like God was saying “hear you go! Here’s what you are going to do this afternoon.” The man’s name was Tomas, and my teammate Allie quickly sensed what Holy Spirit was doing and joined me in talking to him. We appreciated the fact that he was just asking us about our lives. He did not ask for money, but we could tell that that was probably what he wanted. So, I asked him if we could take him to get some dinner. He obliged and led us to his favorite restaurant. Allie and I sat and ate with him for a good hour and a half. We asked him about his life and learned that he had lost his job as a tour guide due to the pandemic. He was struggling to survive without a steady job. We also asked him about his faith, and he said he believed in a mix of the Catholic, Evangelical, and Mayan religions. After finishing our meal, we prayed with him for God’s provision and shared with him that Jesus Christ was the only one with the power to save. His smile and friendship blessed us greatly.

Through all these experiences, and the many more that I don’t have space to mention, God has been helping me get used to the missionary way of life. He is teaching me to find joy in being open to his divine appointments anytime and anywhere.

Thank you so much for all your prayers this month! As we leave for month two in Honduras this Friday, please be praying for…

1. Safe travels as we take a long bus ride to Honduras

2. Good team dynamics as our whole squad (31 people) will be at the same site together

3. That we would be an asset for our ministry host. It sounds like he might have some construction projects for us to work on most of the time.

I appreciate your support! I will try to get out more details on Honduras soon.

Blessings!