It has only been a week of us being here, and I love it so much! Which now that I think about is cool because I fell in love with mission work on a one-week mission trip when I was 13. I wanted to go on a more extended mission trip but didn’t know when so I gave it up to God, and here we are!
This week has been very eventful and impactful. It has also been very emotional because I see people in pain, and my heart breaks. I prayed for God to break my heart for what breaks His, and He sure did. This week set a fire in me that excited me for the months to come!
While we are here, my team will teach English to kids ten and under, do soccer ministry for fourteen and under, help with preparations for a new school year (their school year just ended and starts again in January), and do lots of ATL(Ask The Lord). I am excited about what is to come and what the Lord has already done! We get to partner with our hosts who have already been working and see how to best help and bless the hosts. God is everywhere and has already been working here, so we are coming in with a mindset of how can I partner, not how to save. We are not here to be the savers. We are here to be obedient to God and partner with the hosts and if someone is saved through it, praise God!
Exploring new areas and being in a new country always gives me new things to learn. In Guatemala, it is very community oriented and focused on the family. It is a slower-paced society that values relationships and makes people feel seen. In each place I have been over my life, there have been different aspects of life that are focused on, and I have learned a lot. God is using that for me to get a broader lens of the world. A common theme throughout is that God is good and He is at work everywhere.
God has taught me the importance of a good community and a strong family. This community shows how important and life-changing a community can be. God is working here, and we are seeing big things happen! Praise be to God!
