Today marks 5 weeks that I have been in Guatemala, half way through my trip! My how times flies... This past weekend we traveled to the city of San Antonio Huista in the department of Huehuetenango. San Antonio Huista is on the west side of Guatemala and is only about 30 minutes from the border of Mexico. This past Friday, Adela, our Guatemalan friend that lives in the house, received a phone call that her 6 month old nephew, Josbin, died unexpectedly. Josbin had been in the hospital since March with problems eating and breathing. However, he was released early last week believed to have been in good condition. Friday morning he work up with a strong fever and passed away around 5:30 pm Friday afternoon. We left early Sat morning to travel to his funeral Sat afternoon. Please keep Adela and her family in your prayers during this difficult time.
Tomorrow the adventure continues as we pick up a team from Midland, Georgia and travel to the city of more Panajachel! I'll write more in a week when we return!
This week God is really teaching me to enjoy and make the most of the quiet, slower times of life. Most of you who know me know that I like a face paced life full of things do to and places to go. Since the departure of the NCU team a week ago, things have slowed down a bit. On top of that, being sick has slowed me down even more. I've struggled with the thought that I should be doing something to help someone.. I should be somewhere in the city helping clean up post Agatha. Simply stated, I've felt like I wasn't doing enough. However, as I've been in bed a lot the past few days, I've had plenty of time to think and I have begun to realize that I'm living the life of a full-time missionary for 10 weeks. Life for the missionaries is not always sharing the gospel in schools or helping with relief efforts (like it was when I was only here for a week)... life is cleaning dishes, and building relationships with friends, and pulling weeds. As silly as it sounds, I kind of forgot that... God can use me for ministry other than always being on the front line. So that being said, although it has been a little slower around here, God is still using us in great ways! For example...
Wednesday and Thursday were packed days. Wednesday morning we got up and went to Teen Challenge in the city. I had never been there before so I knew it would be an interesting experience. It is an all-male teen challenge as well so I wasn't sure how I would relate. However, I had a great time! When we got there, Dave gave a devotional to the guys and we all shared in some cookies. Afterward, Dave headed to the wood shop to teach the guys some woodworking skills. Debbie and I went up to the roof and talked to Jose, a Teen Challenge graduate and now a director for the program. We got to hear his testimony and encourage him in the direction he is taking his life. Wednesday night we headed to church. Every Wednesday night the church asks a family to cook a meal to sell for people who didn't have time to eat before coming to church. Debbie cooked baked ziti and it was delicious as usual! So many of the families came up to say thank you for the food. Another way God used us in a different type of ministry!
Thursday we had the opportunity to hang out with Pastor Romeo, his wife Mirna, and their children Sara and Caleb. They are such a wonderful family! They have made a huge investment into the people of Guatemala and God has used them to grow their church from about 200 to 1,000 people in the last 2 years.
Thanks God for the reminder that even the little things in life are still a part of the bigger picture.
Side note: My apologies in a late blog...I've been a little under the weather the past few days!
Wow. What a week it has been. In my last post I shared a little about the crazy weather experiences here in Guatemala. On May 27th, a volcano about 45 minutes from where we are erupted sending black ash across Guatemala City and its surrounding areas. Little did we know how big of an impact that would have. Furthermore, tropical storm Agatha caused major flooding around Guatemala. Streets were wiped away, houses demolished from huge mudslides. The president of Guatemala declared the country in a state of emergency for 15 days. Bridges collapsed and as many of you have seen, the weather caused a giant sink hole in zone 2 of Guatemala City- 61 ft wide and 100 ft. deep. So many of our friends at the church were affected. Some lost their roofs, others water damage, and some lost everything.
Pacaya errupting on May 27th
Street torn from mudslide
Because of the weather, the team from Georgia that was supposed to be with us was not able to fly in because the airport was closed for a week. Thankfully they were able to reschedule though. So, without a team for 3 weeks, we spent some of this past week helping clean the church from water damage and ash. Hundreds of pounds of ash were shoveled, by hand, off the roof. Guatemalans are some of the hardest working, most dedicated people I've ever met. How many church pastors would get up on their roof for hours to shovel off dirt?
Dave, Debbie and I will continue helping with relief efforts when possible. If you would like to donate DIRECTLY to Dave and Debbie which will go DIRECTLY to relief efforts (we are trying to raise money to rebuild a roof for a woman who lost everything) please contact the Assemblies of God World Missions and give the following account number 2395192-Class 45 (it is a special account for relief work). Or you can give online
here... under the comment section put "Class 45"
Thank you for your continued prayers!
Wow what a busy week it has been! Monday we traveled to 3 different schools around the outskirts of Guatemala City. It is amazing to see the difference in social classes here. The second school we went to had very nice facilities and each student had a uniform. In comparison, the third school was out in the country and didn't have much room for classes. Tuesday and Wednesday we were actually at the same schools in the morning and in the afternoon. Each school had about 1,300 students. It was crazy!! On Wednesday, it rained all afternoon so we had the opportunity to go into the classes and do a shortened version of our presentation. It was great to have a change of pace and to do ministry a little different. The teachers and principals at the schools have been wonderful! They welcome us with open arms and every school we have been to has invited us to come back again. Please pray that the door into public schools continues to stay open! Below are some pictures of me in the schools.
Thursday was the day off for the North Central team that has been with us so we went to the Central Market to go shopping! Thursday night we went to dinner at a nice steak restaurant and when we came out, it was raining... not water, but black volcanic ash! We quickly rain to the car and turned on the radio to find out that Pacaya, one of the largest volcanoes here, had erupted! The ash was EVERYWHERE! We quickly got home and watched the news to get the latest updates. As of now, there is still a threat that Pacaya could erupted so please pray with us that it doesn't happen! On top of that, a tropical depression is sitting over Guatemala and it has been raining CONSTANTLY. Many of the schools are talking about week-long closures due to the amount of rain. The rain will not stop us from sharing the love of Jesus :)
Below is a video of the ash in front of the missionary's house.
Yesterday I returned from my adventure to Coban! (Which should have an accent over the 'a' but I have yet to figure out how to do that on here) :) Thursday morning we left fairly early to drive 4 hours to Coban. Once we arrived, we dropped our stuff off at the hotel and headed to the church to practice for our presentations. When teams are here, we travel across the country to different schools (usually public, but some private) and share the love of Jesus with them. The presentations are MC'ed by some of our Guatemalan friends (right now Alfredo and Marco). One is in a full clown outfit and the other is the MC. We do songs with the kids and skits and have a prayer time with them at the end. There is something incredibly special about seeing these kids smile and laugh! We traveled to 3 schools on Friday and ministered to around 600 kids! Friday night was a little rough.. I got a bit sick.. but I am doing much better now!
Sunday we went to church at Iglesia Vida. I love the church! The people here are so friendly and welcoming to everyone! Below are some pictures from Coban!
Hello everyone! My apologies on the lack of post until I arrived. Graduation, family, and a slue of other activities kept me busy up until my last day in Springfield.
So I made it to Guatemala last night! After a wonderful 10 days at home, I am here for the next 10 weeks to serve Dave and Debbie Amsler. It feels great to be back. I hit the ground running this morning as we traveled into Antigua to pick up a college team from North Central University. We spent today relaxing around the house and I spent the day setting up my Skype. :) Tomorrow we leave to head north to the city of Coban. It is a culture rich with Mayan history.
Hopefully I can get pictures posted when I return!
Today my application was officially approved by the Assemblies of God World Missions department so I can for sure leave May 18th! Such a relief. Needless to say, things have been less than slow around here as graduation approaches (in a week) and fundraising continues. On that note, thank you to all that have financially donated to my trip! Words cannot express my thanks to you in helping me accomplish my dreams.
I have been thinking a lot lately about God’s perfect timing in our lives. Relationships. Finances. Jobs. You name it. God will always have the best timing for specific things in our life, and most often it’s not on the timetable we have established for ourselves. If you were to have asked me 4 months ago what I was doing after I graduated, it would have been in a completely different direction than I am heading now. Ecclesiastes 3:1 says, “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven…” How many times do we worry ourselves sick over things God is already taking care of? How much do we truly trust Him?
I had a pastor tell me once that trying to plan out your future on your own is like standing really close to a painting at a museum. You can only see what is right before you. But take a few steps back, let God intervene, and a much bigger picture is revealed. I’m a planner type of person so I am always thinking to the future and trying to figure out where I am going next. Throughout these past few months, I’ve really seen why God only reveals one step at a time to me… so that I will continue to live by faith! So rest assured, friends, that in His timing He will provide!
