Buenas! I’ll apologize in advance for the length of this blog-post, but SO much has happened lately, and this is my last free day in Puerto Barrios! L Que Triste! (How Sad!) I literally cannot believe how quickly this summer has flown. In a week, my team will be leaving for a city called Antigua, where we will spend several days for debriefing with the other Guatemala Mission Team, from Panahachel. I’m thrilled about how God’s going to use the things I’ve learned here in my life in the United States, but, I’m really sad to leave. I literally cannot remember what life in the United States was like… I know that sounds rather overdramatic, but after being immersed in a culture, which is so unlike that which I knew previously, for 2 months, I have really forgotten a lot of how the American life works. It will be interesting to see how things look and feel differently back home.
I’d like to share something from last week, that I should have written about, but was rather rushed in my blogging. We did a program in the Dump. We went one day and invited people, telling them that we’d be there the next day (That day I brought work gloves and decided to dig in the dump with them, so I could sort of get a feel for what it was that their lives revolved around. It was incredible, and I am so glad I did it… Even if everyone else thought I was a weirdo! I had a divine encounter with a 17 year old boy named Moyses, who was also a believer… But, that’s a whole other blog in and of itself!) So anyways, we went back that next day and…. BAAM! I see like 70 kids and 20 families just waiting for us! SO, SO, SO far above my expectations. Now, all of them didn’t live IN the dump, but they lived right around it. It was really a blessing, and we were able to reach them and give out clothes and food (like typical missionaries, we threw stuff out the back of our sketchy van). About 6 or 7 children also stepped up and accepted Christ… So that was just AWESOME!
Anyways, this past week has been quite an adventure! I guess the team has really realized that we are in the home stretch of our time here, and really want to go all out with our ministries. And that we have! On Saturday, we took several of the children from the special needs orphanage to a pool/water park. It was a trying/exciting time! We had to carry them through the pool for the most part, and keep a REALLY close eye on them at all times, but it was absolutely wonderful! They enjoyed it so much, and for even just one day, they were able to escape the prison they call home (for real, that orphanage looks and feels like a straight up jailhouse!). It was good to be able to give them a change in scenery and spend several hours just letting them be kids.
On Monday, I felt called to do a day of fasting. So, that’s what I did. We had planned to do more prayer walking/ evangelism in the markets BUT….. THERE WAS A RIOT! Dun, Dun, Dun!!! It had something to do with the communists in the 1980’s and the revolutionaries wanting the government to pay them back for that. 30 years later? I’m not sure where that anger mustered up from, but….yeah. Our team was basically confined to our houses, so we had a little fun. We pretended we were being chased by the rioters, and that we were going to be defenders of “Casa Verde” (the name of our ministry house)… Our weapons included (but were not limited to): my 2 inch pocket knife, a broom, a fan bar, a can of Glade air freshener, a fork, a turbin (purely for the fear factor, of course), and a Dr. Pepper. Some climbed the radio tower, some ran around with boldness, and some stood in terror as the mysterious ice cream truck (the rioters in disguise, of course) drove by.
ANYWAAAAYS… After that quieted down (It was around 1:30, so I guess the rioters had to go home and eat tortillas, bean mush, and rice) we were able to go to the nursing home (which here is translated “The House of the Ancients” … Subtle right?). We got to sing to them again, and just bring some joy to a place of deep sorrow, pain, and loneliness. Fasting that day was really good for me, because I got to spend a lot of time with the Lord, and a lot of time just reading. It was really good!
On Tuesday, we went to the Catholic orphanage… It was really great to be able to lift the kids’ spirits. There is a set of 4 sisters, though, whose mother dropped them off about the time we arrived here. She had said they’d only be staying there for about 2 weeks because she had a sick relative in the hospital… But, she’s still not come back to get them. It’s really sad. The youngest girl, probably about 3-4 years old, is literally suffering from depression. She doesn’t smile. EVER. No matter how funny, silly, happy, goofy you are… No one has ever made her smile. She cries at times, but mostly she just stares blankly. Imagine being that age and having your Mom just abandon you. It’s incredibly upsetting.
On Wednesday, our day started off with an ATL morning. This is where we Ask The Lord to direct us. So, we did (and yet again, this could be an entirely different blog post, but I’ll try to consolidate) just that, and eventually I made us trapse through the jungle on this little dirt path. We found a man named Chino, who had a lot of head knowledge and Biblical knowledge, but “didn’t have time to be a Christian.” See, here in Central America, being a Christian is a LOT of work, and a lot of rules. No nail painting, pants wearing, hair cutting, ear piercing, etc… (not all churches, but enough to give Christians a bad name). He asked us to come back on Friday to share some more, and that’s what I intend to do. We then descended down (pretty much) the side of a muddy mountain (with flip flops on: FOR THE SAKE OF THE GOSPEL---- That’s been my absolute favorite and famous line.) and followed the Spirit to a woman’s little shack. Her name was Daniella, and she was very heartbroken by having to give up a son to be adopted, because she couldn’t take care of him. He now lives in the USA, but she can’t talk to him because he only speaks English! We read her a story from the Bible about how God never leaves us, and always cares for his sheep (she can’t read… it’s not atypical here). Our meeting and prayer over her seemed to bring a lot of encouragement and healing… There were many encounters, but, honestly, I could write all day about the awesome things that have been happening! And…I assume it’s been quite a struggle for you, dear reader J, to reach this point in the blog. So, I’ll go ahead and cease my writing, only wishing I could share with you all of the intensely awesome things that have occurred!
