Goodbye Guatemala

Life in Guatemala was filled with so many sweet simple moments.

It was a country that welcomed with open arms. It was a season of learning which was beautiful and challenging. A time of community with God’s children of Guatemala. A place where I got to show the love of Jesus and got to be shown the love of Jesus. Days of using the languages of laughter and love to create bonds with those who didn’t speak the same language. Moments of seeing the Lord soften people’s hearts to the gospel.

It was bittersweet to say goodbye to a place that so quickly became home but I thank Jesus for this season of life!

The Lord moved in so many ways in the country of Guatemala. During our time there he worked in the local communities but he also worked in me and my squads lives. He drew each of us closer to him and called us to more. More intimacy, more love, more boldness.

Some God moments from my time in Guatemala:

Story one.

Each week on Thursday we had something called activation (which was one of my favourite times of the week!), it basically consisted of worship, a teaching, and then street evangelism. This was one of the areas where I feel the Lord really grew me, which was beautiful. It was a process of being pulled outside of my comfort zone for sure! Each week I was able to step into more and more boldness in sharing the Gospel and being the hands and feet of Jesus. The Lord was so kind in the people he put in my teams path to talk to and he gave he us many words of life to speak over them.

During our last activation we went to Antigua to evangelize and the Lord moved in such beautiful ways! I was with two girls from my team and we were praying blessings over the streets of Antigua and then we saw a girl down one of the streets and decided to go and chat with her. We started talking and turned out she was visiting from the UK and was planning on hiking Acatenango (a volcano!) on the weekend with her friends but she wasn’t feeling well so she didn’t know if she would be able to go. We asked if we could pray for her and she was like “yes that would be so sweet.” It was soon followed by her saying “how does that work, what do I need to do?” That opened the door right there for us to share who Jesus was. She was familiar with religion but Christianity was something she had just learned about when she was younger. I got to share with her that Christianity was unlike any other religion, it was a relationship, a friendship. I then got to share how I grew up in a Christian home but it was something that I have made my own and it’s a relationship that I’ve chosen! After sharing and answering some of the questions she had we got to pray over her and her health. As she walked away, my team prayed that the Lord would encounter her as she hiked Acatenango, which is filled with his beautiful creation, and when we said amen we looked up and saw the girl walking around the corner wiping tears from her eyes. The holy spirit was MOVING!!

Later that day we also got to worship in the central park of Antigua! So fun!!

Story two.

During one of the weeks in Guatemala my team got to help build a house for one of the families in the community we had been doing ministry in. This was such a special time doing manual labour, playing with the kids of the family, and building relationships with locals. The whole time we built the house we had worship music playing which was so special to be able to anoint the house as we built it from the ground up. At the end of the week we got to welcome the family into the house and speak works of life over them. Reminding them that although this was a physical blessing, the Lord is so much more and it was a gift from him. The Lord gave me a picture to share with this family- in the same way that this house was built on a firm foundation, Christ can be that firm foundation in their lives. He is where strength and rest is found! It was a beautiful week that was different from all the others in Guatemala.

Story three and four.

The Lord was moving within my team too! We got to experience so much growth together. The race community is so special, and it’s honestly so hard to describe and put into words.

I saw God moving within my own life so evidently throughout the season in Guatemala. The Lord really showed me my love for his word! There’s so much that we get to learn about God and his character through the Bible. It’s not just about knowing facts and information, but it’s about growing in intimacy with the Lord and standing in awe of his character! He reminded me to eat my daily bread, the full portion of him not just take a few bites.

The Lord also walked me through what a ministry mindset looks like. It doesn’t start when I leave the base and end when I get back, he has so much he wants to do in my squad! He has ways he wants me to love on them, ways for me to be his hands and feet to the people that are already pursuing him. God has words of life to speak over people in Guatemala, but he also has words to speak to his children who are on my team and squad.

It was a sweet time of learning and growing with the Lord and allowing him and his people to teach me!

All other things Guatemala

Hiking Acatenango.

One of the fun adventures from Guatemala was hiking Acatenango!! It was by far the hardest hike I have ever done in my life but it was also one of my favourite things ever (not necessarily the hike but the view for sure)!! It took about 6.5 hours to hike up and it was STRAIGHT INCLINE. And that’s no exaggeration. Thankfully I had some great hiking buddies to go through the pain with! The feeling of finally being at the top was like no other. I can honestly say it was one of the most breathtaking views I have ever seen! Watching the sunset get painted across the sky and then seeing lava pour out of Fuego. Wow. Just wow.

We then went to sleep in huts, huddling up for body warmth for the few hours that we had to sleep before climbing to the summit.

4:00 came quickly, and it was time to hike the final hour up to the top of the volcano for a 360 view. It was dark and cold but so worth it as we sat on the top watching Fuego erupt and the sun start to rise! Wind blew and I think I was the coldest I have ever been in my life so with my fingers and toes numb we made our way back down to base camp to try warm up.

After breakfast it was time to hike down, which turned into pretty much running down at full speed because that’s all you could do. The sprinting definitely made for some fun memories with the fab 4 who I ran down with.

 

Squad times.

During our time in Guatemala we had some 3 on 3 basketball tournaments after activation days which were SO fun. Lots of good memories and laughs! We also had a squad wide thanksgiving soccer tournament and some late night soccer games.

It was so special to be as a whole squad in Guatemala! To start the race being altogether was something I am so grateful for, what a blessing! We made so many memories, laughed a lot, and had some really great conversations!

 

Beauty for Ashes event.

A few nights before we left, the Beauty for Ashes team (3 girls and me from my squad) hosted an event for all the girls on the squad! It was such a special evening of vulnerability. We got to worship together, write letters to ourselves for the end of the race, and take communion. The event was beautiful and so fruitful!

 

First thanksgiving

I have to mention that I got to celebrate my first American thanksgiving in Guatemala. Only on the race. It was a sweet time of food and friends on base!

We got to celebrate with the Henini program that is on base too! Henini is a program that equips Guatemalans to be labourers for the kingdom, which is so cool!! Guatemala is going to be a sending nation!

Goodbye Guatemala.

I am so thankful for the time and memories from this beautiful country. My eyes were opened in so many ways and the Lord worked in so many ways that just made me fall in love with him and his people more!

Thank you Guatemala! I love you!

Sorry for this very late chaotic blog post! But thanks for still sticking around till the end amidst the chaos:)