Long time but we’re back & popping in with some exciting updates! We’ve officially been in Guatemala for a month now and what a wild ride it’s been. The Lord has taught me an abundance of things, but that story is for another blog. For now I wanted to give you guys a little insight into what a day here looks like for us racers…
Throughout the week is set ministry time, each team has a little different look into what their specific ministry looks like. For instance that could pertain to manual labor working on a farm, building houses etc. For others, they have church ministry working to clean the church, youth ministry, and women’s ministry. For my team specifically we got the sweet opportunity to work with the Lord’s precious kiddos. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday we go to the school that we helped start when we got here. There we have a school day consisting of learning English, fun time (relays, coloring, and sometimes a workout or dance party), Bible story time, and lunch. These kids come from a very impoverished area, when they are with us is the only time they get a nutritious and filling meal. As we walk them home it is not unnormal to see them pick leaves to take home to eat or to bring a container from home to portion the lunch we give them so that they can have food at night as well. Keep in mind these kids are ages 2-10; It definitely has brought some hard emotions to process but remembering that they are getting a meal, a safe place, and time each day to know and feel loved. This ministry that my team is working with is brand new and needs prayer along with financial help as we currently have a good amount of kids on the waiting list, and in urgent need for more help so that these sweet children can have food next month.
On Tuesday’s we help with a local church. This consists of cleaning, house visits with locals to talk and pray with them, and teaching an English class to children that live in the area. On Thursdays, we have something called ‘activation’, in the morning we have a teaching on a topic and then we get the opportunity to take what we learned and put action to it, giving us the experience of ministry in the mundane of our daily lives. At the base we take time to ‘ATL’ (ask the Lord) what kind of ministry is for that day and we take a step of faith a go to the unreached villages and areas surrounding to go where the Lord calls whether that’s house visits, people we pass, the market, or something totally different, these days are really cool to experience and have brought a much deeper intimacy and depth to our relationships with the Lord and with locals here in Guatemala. In the mornings during the week we have deep dives, devotion times, and worship. In the evenings we have team time, debrief, and processing.
Weekends here bring a lot of exploring! We get time to take chicken busses and tuk tuks around towns nearby. This can consist of markets, local foods, ziplining, hiking volcanoes, and don’t forget this is also our time to get Wifi to call our friends and family back home!
-Guatemala has brought a lot of adventures along with hardships and many lessons. The past few weeks of giggling with the kiddos trying to learn the opposite language, praying and getting to sit and listen to locals, roaming the markets, playing soccer at the base, and even getting lice and ecoli, the Lord has continued to show up and brought a lot of depth and newness to my relationship with Him, my community, and my perspective in life. Here’s to another month in Guatemala…next country tbd…
The impact your having on the children will never be fully comprehended but know that what you’re pouring into them, they are receiving. Excited to hear about activation days and what The Lord shows you. Can’t wait to see y’all and to hear your stories
Maddie, Thanks for the insight into the weekdays for Team Haven. You are ever in my prayers, most especially during those challenging M,W,F days with those precious and full-of-energy children!