This post is long overdue, but I am really excited to share how Guate has been so far! First of all it’s not pronounced Guat. You say the ‘e’ but it sounds more like you are saying the letter ‘a’ so that it would sound like Guat-ay. Just thought I needed to share because that was one of the first things we learned here.
Anyways, we landed here late on October 15 and drove into the base at around 2 am October 16. We then had a few days of rest/training where we learned all about Guatemalan culture and what ministry each team would have. The shift in the environment from training camp to here was so good and much needed. Thankfully I am not one to get culture shock so the transition between everything has been pretty smooth. So much has happened since then and I will try to touch on major points because obviously, it has been over a month since then.
The first major thing that happened was during team time on the first Thursday, 10/20, the majority of my team decided that they wanted to be rebaptized. It started with one girl saying she felt the Lord calling her to it, which led to us talking about what it meant and then 5 other girls saying they felt called to as well. So basically we ran outside and started filling up the bathtub which they have there for such times as this. Over the course of an hour we got each girl baptized as well as anointed and prayed over. It was such a sweet bonding time for our team and was much needed for us to begin walking in closer intimacy and vulnerability with each other.
Then there is always Activation Thursdays. Each Thursday everyone stays at base for the morning and we have worship and a teaching. The worship is always so sweet and the teachings hit the spot every time. There has been so much learning and things revealed in my heart because after each teaching we get the opportunity to sit with the Lord and let him answer a question we were given. We then have time to discuss among our team before we go out and activate! Most of the time we pick a nearby town to go to and we do ATL which stands for Ask The Lord. Basically we are just open to where the Lord wants to take us or who he wants us to talk to and we get to put into practice the things we learned earlier in the day. It’s always a fun, relaxed day for us to be in community with our squad as well as to just follow the Spirits leading.
The final thing I will briefly touch on is ministry! I want to write a whole blog post about this so I will stick to a quick overview right now. Our ministry is called Hope ministries and it is a gift from God to our team. We work with the funnest staff who love the Lord and are so willing to serve their community and do what he calls them to do. The kiddos there are the sweetest and it has been a blessing to work with them multiple days every week. God really knew what we needed in this season and I am so glad he called us to partner with this ministry to be his hands and feet.
The Lord has been so sweet and so evident here in Guatemala and I am so excited for the last month we have here. I wanted to share about a passage of scripture I have been leaning into and learning a lot about recently, which is John 15. It is all about intimacy with God and abiding. My whole life I have struggled with taking time out of my day to intentionally spend with the Lord. This became very evident to me at training camp and I would struggle to even try. I still struggle from time to time but something the first 8 verses of John 15 talk about is abiding. All Jesus wants us to do is remain. If we just sit with him, talk and listen to him, and seek to come into his presence just to know him better, he will honor that and remain in us. This is also how we bear more and more fruit. The more we sit with him and learn about his character, allows room for refinement to happen to our character. It also talks about how much Jesus loves us and that he chose us and calls us friends. How sweet and kind is the King of Kings to call us his beloved and his friends?
Thanks Jesus
