Oh how I have loved this country! I don’t even know where to start!
There is nothing quite like playing soccer surrounded by mountains, visiting local village homes, or being squeezed onto a much too full chicken bus where your whole body is touching at minimum three people you’ve never met before.
The past 7 weeks of being in Guatemala have been life changing. Our time here is over soon, and we will be heading to our next country, Vietnam!
But let me tell you about Guatemala!
Our days in Guatemala were full of adventures! We worked with a ministry called Hope, located in San Antonio Agues Calientes. It was by far the most beautiful and friendly town we visited. With our ministry we did a variety of different things. Let me give you the weekly run down!
Every day started with breakfast at 7am! We left for ministry around 8:30, and had about and hour and a half drive to The Garden, which is the beautiful location our ministry calls home.
Monday– We visited local houses in the villages in the mornings! This was definitely my favorite part of Guatemalan ministry. Getting a sneak peak into their lives, chatting about how they were doing, and encouraging them with Jesus’s promises was so much fun! Then, Monday afternoons we taught English! I helped the level 3 class, and we learned things like fruits, weather, animals, clothes, and how to make small sentences.
Tuesday– In the morning we joined the Hope Staff for a Bible study and worship! It was a sweet time to get to know our ministry hosts better. Then in the afternoons we hosted VBS! There was usually around 60 kids all from the local homes who attended. We sang songs, learned Bible stories, made crafts, and gave out snacks.
Wednesday– we had Wednesday morning off to prepare and rest. Then in the afternoon, we did a variety of things. We helped out with a women’s ministry event that local moms attended, played with the kiddos they brought, cleaned up around The Garden, and taught a music academy! My job on these days was to teach piano!
Thursday– On Thursdays the squad didn’t split up to go to our separate ministry locations. The whole squad stayed on base for worship, a teaching, and then we would be sent out into the nearby town, Parramos, to practice the type of ministry we had just learned about that morning. We focused on Ephesians 4:11-12, “And He Himself gave some to he apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, to build up the body of Christ.” We learned about those five things: apostleship, prophets, evangelism, pastoring (shepherding!) and teaching; we learned how the built up the body and practiced walking them out on Thursday afternoons.
Friday- These were fun days! This was our soccer day! We played soccer with some older 14/15 year old boys in the morning. In the afternoon we played soccer with the kids 10 and up, and played games and did exercises with the little kids!
Weekends– We had our Saturdays off to explore the close cities like Chimaltenango and Antigua, and we had our Sundays for Sabbath and rest!
Now let me tell you some favorite stories and highlights from the past 7 weeks here!
As mentioned before: soccer!! Between playing soccer all day for ministry on Friday, and having a small field on the base we live at, we played lots of soccer! It’s so fun to look around and be surrounded by mountains while running around the field. The kids here take soccer very seriously, and even though we lost to them every Friday my team still has a blast.
Another big favorite for me was house visits! We spent a lot of time building relationships with nearby families. I loved getting to hear about their everyday lives, good and bad. We encouraged them with God’s truths and prayed for their families. Guatemalan hospitality is unmatched! The second you walked in they would offer you a chair, and use the little they have to bless you. We were given homemade food or a cup of Pepsi a lot of the time. The women we met loved to show us their weaving, and we even got to try it for ourselves once! One family let us hold their pet parrot named Bruno, and our favorite Guatemalan Grandparents, Antonio and Martha, offered to give us one of their two month old puppies. Getting to know these sweet people was priceless!
Hannah, Katie, and I had the opportunity to meet, talk with, and pray for two homeless and broken men on the street of Parramos one Thursday, with one of our squad leaders, Banks. I hope we were able to impact them as much as they impacted us. I know all three of us walked away with new eyes and hearts that break for what breaks God’s heart. We pray for them often and believe God will use the seeds planted in them to change their lives.
We made many friends at our ministry through out the weeks! From the staff that has become dear friends to the kiddos that never seem to run out of energy. Getting to hangout with the kids every day for the past month and a half has been so much fun! They are so sweet, love to argue over who gets to sit in your lap, and will never get tired of piggy back rides. They love to tell Jesus what they are thankful for and to sing and dance!
We also had the opportunity to hike Acatenango as a squad! It is one of the biggest mountains in Guatemala and is right next to the very active volcano, Fuego. We strapped on our big backpacks and hiked a long and steep 7 hours to the base camp. We watched the most gorgeous sunset above the clouds, and Fuego erupted smoke, lava, and all continuously. We spent the night there and woke up at 4am to spend another hour hiking to the summit. We hiked in the dark up the most steep and rocky part of the mountain, and watched the sunrise from 14,000 feet up trying not to freeze from the wind. It was the most beautiful experience, but definitely one of the hardest things I’ve ever done in my life. Recovering from having the flu earlier that week, struggling with the altitude, and spending the coldest night ever on top of that mountain was so hard. But seeing the beauty of the world from so high up was worth it.
Other adventures included chicken busses (highly recommend, although forget about personal space once on one), our favorite cafe Bayit, visiting a local church for Sunday service, exploring the markets, Sunday night pancakes and card games, Friday movie nights, dance parties with our neighbor team Abide, and yummy food like Pinguiinos (literally my new favorite thing ever).
I am definitely coming out of Guatemala with a new heart to be intentional with people, and knowing how to walk more intimately with the Lord in the day to day, and wanting to share that with others. Guatemala has taught me boldness, beauty, and what it means to love people like Jesus does. It has shown me how to walk in His footsteps continually, and how important loving every person you meet like He would is.
Although saying goodbye to this season will be so hard, I am SUPER excited for our next country- VIETNAM!!! We fly out of Guatemala at 2am on Thursday Dec. 7, and arrive at 12:50pm Dec. 9.
I’m so ready to see all the new sights and sounds there, and for our new ministry- we are working with college students!
Prayers for safe travels, easy transitions, and for the Lord to prepare the way for us in Vietnam would be much appreciated!
Looking forward to seeing what God does over the next six months and four countries of this year! See you soon!!
