October in Guatemala is fun. It’s rainy some days, but for the most part, it’s hot and beautiful. I’ve settled in here now. I feel like newness of everything has worn off for the most part, which is kind of wild to say. I never truly thought I’d feel at home in another country, but I do feel at home here. I have a routine, and I feel comfortable getting around town by myself (despite the language barrier!). Honestly, that in itself is pretty dang cool.
And you know what else is pretty dang cool? Jesus! I wanted to share a few stories of what he is doing here on the field!
(Some photos of San Antonio and the surrounding villages from a hike we went on! Also this is how happy hiking makes me :))
Our town of San Antonio is small and wonderful. We walk everywhere, and everywhere we walk we find our friends! One night we were on our way back from ordering pizza, and we ran into our friend Pato in the city square! This was the first time San Antonio felt like home to me. Running into someone you know without meaning to means you know enough people in town to be well-integrated.
That night, we were planning on having a pizza and movie night, so when we ran into Pato, we invited him to join us! We watched the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, and enjoyed our dinner. It was a great time, and afterwards, Pato shared with us how he had been feeling down and quite lonely that day. How when we ran into him, he had been on a walk because he just needed to get out of the house to try and get rid of these feelings. What a blessing it was for us to run into him, spend time with him, and share a meal together! We prayed over him before he left, and I am so glad we ran into him that night. Jesus worked our evening out better than we ever could have.
On Sundays we have our “Ask the Lord” day, which is an entire day dedicated to intentionally listening to the Holy Spirit’s guidance on where to go and what to do. This week, we prayed and listened to what to do on Saturday night in preparation for Sunday. My teammate Frida felt like the Lord was calling her to integrate more into the community of Guatemala, and specifically to sit down with, buy a meal for, and listen to someone’s story. As I was praying, I just kept feeling drawn to English speakers in Antigua. I interpreted this to mean possibly street evangelism to tourists in Antigua, because Antigua is much more touristy than San Antonio. I also felt drawn to go to the English-speaking church in Antigua. After sharing this with the group, 3 of us felt drawn to Antigua, and the 2 others felt drawn to the opposite: to Spanish-speakers in San Antonio. So we decided to split up for the day.
Kayla, Frida, and I went to the English church in Antigua that morning. The service ended earlier than we were used to, so we decided to head towards a cafe to grab some brunch. Literally 5 minutes after walking out of the church doors, 3 people stop us in the street. They were local Guatemalans who were in English school! They saw us and stopped us so that they could practice their English with us. We had a conversation with all 3 of them that they videoed for their class. During the conversation, we explained why we were in Guatemala, which was an open door to talk about Jesus! Praise God! After the conversation on video, we asked if we could pray over them. They said yes, and Frida speaks Spanish, so she prayed for them in the language they could understand.
This was a really cool moment for me because I have only recently been learning to listen to the Holy Spirit in this very intentional way. This day, my listening to His voice of “English Speakers” literally meant people learning to speak English. How cool!!! Not only did this deepen my faith further, and built my confidence of listening to Him, but hopefully it planted some seeds in the hearts of the 3 individuals we ran into.
Right after this, we walked to a cafe, ordered, and sat down for another 5 minutes before Frida’s vision from the night before came to fruition! A few minutes after we ordered, a man came up to us trying to sell us some bracelets. Since Frida speaks Spanish, she was able to strike up a conversation with him. She explained that she didn’t need a bracelet, but that she would like to buy him some food and sit down with him. So that’s what she did! For a good 20 minutes, she was able to listen to his story. He was very vulnerable with her, and she was able to pray very specific prayers for him thanks to his vulnerability. She also blessed him with some food and a smoothie, and he blessed us with seeing firsthand AGAIN what intentionally listening to the voice of God can do for us on the streets! What an awesome God we serve.
Later that day, we got to go the Cathedral in Antigua and check out some awesome ruins. Here are some pictures!
Ministry has been a blessing this week too. There was a hurricane headed towards Guatemala, and because of this, we thought we were going to have to cancel ministry for a couple of days. One morning I prayed that the rain would subside so we could minister to the children this week, and Jesus heard my cry! The rain stopped at just the right time, and we were able to continue ministry as normal this week! English class, VBS, house visits, prayer and worship sets… we got to do it all! Praise God!
I feel so blessed to be able to be here in Guatemala. Each morning I sit on our roof, open the word of God, and watch as Volcan Fuego goes off in the distance. I feel so thankful for this year. I can’t believe how lucky I am to have this time set aside for nothing other than serving and growing in Jesus.
As we come up to the halfway mark of our time in this country, I can’t help but feel so grateful for every person who has prayed for me, and/or supported me financially. I pray blessings and revelations of Jesus upon each one of you. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Some more pictures for you all!
The tiniest kitten I have ever seen in a house visit this week! If you know me, you know I love kitties! What a sweet blessing.
Surviving the rain from the hurricane! And ministry with the kiddos!
Feeling like the luckiest gal ever because of this trip, and ESPECIALLY because of the Lord’s goodness! 🍀
I just love this volcano!
I am still fundraising! If you feel lead to give, here is the link for that!
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