The last few days of training camp went by so fast! We had a lot of cultural training, as well as worship and sessions. We got our final teams for Guatemala, and my team is called “Faithful Footsteps.” We are a team of 6 girls! Abigail, Bianca, Erica, Frida, Kayla, and Me! I feel so blessed because 2 of my team members (Frida and Bianca) are fluent in Spanish, and Abigail has been to the city we are staying in five times! So she has a ton of friends here she is excited to introduce to us. But back to training camp…
We had several scenarios. One was that half of our luggage got “lost at the airport,” so we had to buddy up for a day in our tents. We set up in a different spot than our original camp, and we ended up liking it so much that we stayed there the rest of camp! Another one of our scenarios was an international market place scene. The background info was that we were on a bus ride, and we had a 15 minute stop to grab dinner before getting back on the bus. This was our first scenario where our whole team worked together. The AIM staff and serve team did a great job creating this scene for us! There were several tables set up for us to “buy our dinner from.” Half of the tables were in one currency, and the other was in the another currency. So we had a currency exchange table to work with. However, the AIM team took scenes from every country and place, and created a scene that was chaotic! There were pick-pocketers, homeless people begging for food, “drunk” people stumbling around, tourists trying to take pictures with us, street performers, and even a big van riding through the entire scene handing out flyers for a “party” later that night! It was a huge mix and it was pretty overwhelming to be honest. We had a debrief afterwards with our team, and then with all the squads. I think this is the scenario I learned the most from. I learned that being a missionary means being open and ready to have conversations with people I might not have otherwise. I learned to rely on the Holy Spirit for protection and covering since we are a group of all women. I learned how our individual team functions in intense situations, and what some of our individual strengths and weaknesses are. It was a very good scenario.
We got to go to a laundromat one day, which was huge blessing! Our day to handwash our clothes fell on a Thursday night, and then it rained super hard every single day after that, so our clothes that were out on the clothes lines stayed soaked for days. Thankfully the laundromat solved that problem, and it was our first time getting off the training camp base, so we were all super stocked to see something new! We met the owner of the laundromat and prayed over her as well, which was a sweet testament to who my squad is.
We had evangelism training one day as well. They broke down how to share the gospel, and how we are empowered through the Holy Spirit to do such a thing. 2-3 people got paired with a mentor, and we hit the streets of Gainesville, GA to evangelize! This was probably the hardest part of training camp for me. It felt awkward and intimidating to walk up to a stranger on the street and jump right into their spiritual background. Thankfully I had a squad member and mentor with me, so I could ease into it and express my frustrations/concerns. Our group of 3 talked to and prayed with maybe 4 people. I even lead the conversation and prayer with one of the people we met! Which was a big step for me. Through this training I learned that everyone has a different gift/way of evangelizing. One way isn’t better than the other, the gospel just needs to be the center and needs to be spread!
As training camp came to a close, we got to make one last trip to Walmart. It was quite fun. We also had squad wars, which was kind of like field day but for adults. It was fun! B-Squad (my squad) came in last place, which wasn’t too surprising for us! But we had so much fun going down the waterslide the AIM team put up for us!
We had a ceremony of sorts the day before we left where our leaders shared what they noticed about us as a squad, and things they had been and would continue praying over us. It was so sweet. We all sat down at the table and there was a big piece of paper with each of our names on it, and a few words to describe what the leadership team saw us as. The wording they chose for me was “Brand New Robes.” I teared up when I saw this. It encapsulates perfectly what the last 2 years of my life have been, and what training camp brought out of me too. We took some time to pray, and we all wrote words we felt like the Lord was speaking to us about our squad. It was such a sweet time. At the end of this, we took communion and signed our official commitment to the World Race. It was serious, and awe-inspiring. It made me reflect on all the things the Lord taught me at training camp, on my squad, and on my own commitment to this team and this program. Overall, I couldn’t imagine a more perfect place for me to be. I see so clearly why God put me on this squad, at this time. It wasn’t an accident. I am a vital part of this squad, and the Lord is absolutely going to use me as a vessel to grow his Kingdom this year, and for the years to come!
We had a revival night the night before we left as well. This was my favorite thing we did at training camp. We had a speaker declare boldly her testimony, and encourage us in the Holy Spirit to go out to the nations and do the same. Then we had a lot of worship, and baptisms for hours! We sang hymns, and violently rejoiced as members of our squad, and the other squads were baptized! We had a meal later on, and all I could think about was how that scene was the closest I’ve ever been to experiencing heaven. the Bible says in Luke 15:10 “Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth” and we were constantly rejoicing when people were being baptized. There were people worshipping all around through hymns and contemporary songs too. There were so many happy tears and hugs and prayers said! It was so amazing. I had no idea it could be that good! I kept telling Jesus “I want more of this! I want more!”
We left training camp on 9/12/25 at about 8:45pm. We drove to the Atlanta airport, and we “slept” at the airport outside of security. I didn’t know this was allowed, but our entire team of 17, plus one of the semester squads all spread out our sleeping pads and bags, and slept until 5:30 the next morning! I only slept about 3 hours that night, but the experience of doing that with 16 of my closest friends is an experience I will never forget.
Our trip through security was practically seamless, thank you Lord! We flew directly to Guatemala City, Guatemala. Once we landed, one of the AIM Guatemalan staff members named Phil got us and our huge bags on a van, and we headed to the AIM base in Parramos, Guatemala! It’s only a few kilometers away, but once we landed, Phil informed us that the weekend would be chaotic because Central America’s Independence Day would be on Monday 9/15! So we made a quick stop at Wendy’s for some lunch, and we hit the road to Parramos! Usually it would take like 1.5 hours to get from the airport to the base, but because of the holiday traffic, it took about 4.5 hours. We got to see so much of Guatemala on the bus ride, including our first volcano! It was packed on the bus, and we didn’t stop at all once we hit the road. I was very happy once we got to the base to be able to stretch my legs!
The AIM base is so beautiful! We got settled into our rooms, and I felt absolutely SPOILED. There was an actual BED for me to sleep in, with sheets and everything! There was a shower, with HOT water to bathe in! AND we got a giant meal of chicken with cream sauce, salad with cheese (!!!!!), rice, and homemade tortillas!!!! I felt like I was at a 5-star resort! Thank you Jesus! It’s so funny because all of the things I mentioned, I never would have even thought twice about before starting the race. Now I truly feel like these things are a luxury.
Phil sat us down that night and explained some rules for staying on the base, and he told us about our ministries! Our squad of 17 will split into 3 teams, and work with various ministries throughout Guatemala. I learned my team will be working with a ministry called Hope in San Antonio, Guatemala! I was very exited to learn this! However, for the duration of Guatemala I have decided to go without a phone plan. Which means, I couldn’t Google anything, or look up my ministry or city in any way. This was a bit of a challenge for me honestly, but the Lord has really been teaching me to let go of control, and even something as small as not being able to look up the place I would be living for the next 2 months was something I could give to the Lord.
The next day, we had a traditional Guatemalan breakfast of eggs, beans, plantains, yogurt with granola, chips, and COFFEE!!! What a blessing to have so much delicious food, and COFFEE!!!!!!! After breakfast we had a time of worship and prayer, then we had orientation with Phil, and some of the other AIM staff members. They taught us things like the history Guatemala, the spiritual atmosphere, how to greet someone appropriately, what to do and what not to do in house visits, what to eat/what not to eat, and the heart of their AIM base in Guate! The heart there is honestly to equip and mobilize Guatemalans as missionaries. It seems most Guatemalan missionaries have a huge heart for the Middle East, and the goal of the Guatemalan AIM base is to send the gospel there!
After that, we had some free time, so a few of us caught a ride in the back of a truck to the town of Parramos. We got to go to a coffee shop, which had wifi and delicious drinks (Thank you Jesus for both!). Then we walked around the town, went to a market, and went to a grocery store. I got to try a new fruit called Lychee! My friends from the West Coast were so shocked I had never had one before, but this southern gal doesn’t get too many Japanese fruits on her side of the world.
Guatemala is currently in their rainy season, so it started raining at around 3:30pm, as it does every day. We caught a ride back to the base at this time, and rested until dinner. After dinner, the first team headed out to the ministry. I cried my eyes out watching part of my new family drive away, but I couldn’t be more excited for them and their journey. We will all reunite before we leave Guatemala as well, so this goodbye is only temporary. After saying goodbye, we went to church with an AIM Staff member named Anna. This time, I rode inside the truck instead of on the back, and I am so happy I did! Since it is Guatemala’s Independence Day weekend, there is a tradition of throwing bags of water at people from the side of the road. To say the people on the back of the truck got absolutely soaked would be an understatement! It was so fun to watch and be a part of though.
Anna’s church had worship for about an hour, which we all throughly enjoyed! They were mostly songs we knew in English, but they sang in Spanish. We rejoiced, danced, and sang with the locals! It was so wonderful. After worship, the pastor gave a message, and 3 of our squad members did too. The church then bought us pizza and sweet tea to enjoy while fellowshipping with their congregation! It was so sweet.
We made it back to base, and the next day we packed up, and headed to our ministry site! As aforementioned, we are working with Hope ministry in San Antonio, about 40 minutes from the AIM base. We are staying at the home of Jeffery, the founder of Hope. We arrived here and were given a house tour, and a tour of the area. San Antonio is an indigenous village about 6km outside of Antigua. Most people here do not have running water. The village is so gorgeous. It is in a valley surrounded by mountains with farms on them, so often you look up and see fields of coffee, avocado, and corn growing on the side of the mountains. Guatemala has many volcanoes (active and not active), and you can see 3 giant ones from this village. They are HUGE, and I’ve been told that once the rain moves out over the next couple of weeks, you can see all 3 volcanoes from the rooftop of our house… including Volcan de Fuego, the active volcano shooting lava from its top at night!!! HOW AWESOME!
Guatemala was once inhabited by the Mayan Empire, who worshipped things like the volcanoes, the sun, and the stars. Catholicism was then forced on the Guatemalans, and what we have now with the indigenous especially a mix of the two. The people here often pray to the saints like they would have prayed to the volcanos in the Mayan times, asking and sacrificing for prosperity and blessings. Please join me in prayer that this mixture would be made clear through Jesus Christ of Nazareth.
I earnestly thank every single one of you for supporting me in this journey. I feel blessed beyond measure. I am currently writing this blog on the roof of our house in San Antonio, with a peacock squeaking somewhere below me. To the left of me is Volcan de Agua, a beast of 12,340ft. To say I feel so privilege to get to chase the Lord and spread the gospel in this way is an understatement. This is my favorite journey the Lord has brought me on to date, and it would not be possible without the emotional, financial, and spiritual support of all of you. From the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU.
Thank you for reading this blog. I am still fundraising for this trip. If you would like to donate, here is the link!
Talk soon,
Ressie Mae Owen
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