Ministry in Guatemala

It has been awhile since I have written a blog post. I like the thought of writing blogs, but actually writing blogs is hard for me to do. I do want to share what life was like in Guatemala. That’s right, what life WAS like. I left Guatemala on May 4th. Before I tell you about what life has been like in Honduras, here are some awesome testimonies and work that the Lord did in Guatemala. 

On Saturday mornings, we would go and have Bible time for kids under the age of 12. This was my favorite time because we got to play, get to know the kids, love on them and eat a snack together. It was a precious two months to invest into these kids lives. 

Saturday night we would have teens Bible study, where we would gather, play Uno, worship and Nolo (my ministry host) would teach from the Bible and after we would all have dinner together. 

Sunday night we had church service where anyone was welcome. 

All three of these times we met in a room the size of a garage and even though it was small, God still worked in my heart. God challenged others in their walk with the Lord by humbling themselves through worship, prayer, by asking questions, and going back to what the truth says. 

During the week in the morning, we would have homework help. Because of Covid, the kids are given packets to complete at home and so kids had the opportunity to get help with schoolwork. We met in the same place as Bible school on the weekends. Since I love kids and teaching, this time was so precious. Most of the time the same kids that we saw on Saturday mornings, we would also come for homework help. Getting to help kids with their homework in Spanish was a challenge at times but we had help from older kids that were doing their homework who could translate as well as my ministry hosts that were there to help translate if we needed help. Somedays the homework was writing sentences, tracing symbols, letters and numbers. Sometimes it was coloring objects and some of it was crafts. Somedays we wouldn’t have a lot of kids and that was okay. We tried to make use of our time and read, learn Spanish, or walk around the community and pray. 

Thursday nights were also one of my favorite things we did in Guatemala! Nolo and Rachel (my ministry hosts) are apart of what’s called Worship Room. Nolo is in the band where we worship and have a Bible teaching and more worship. One reason why it was so special to me was that it was in Spanish and English (the music and teaching). Another reason, is that I miss worshiping in person. Playing music through my phone is fine but it’s not the same to me as if it was in person. Also, being able to praise God however you wanted, to be free to sit, stand, kneel, dance etc. It was amazing to have the space to be poured into. After this we would go and get food together, which is a lot of times when I would try different kinds of food I have never had before. Often times it was delicious! 

God worked so much in my heart, and worked in so many others. The team got a chance to pray for two women. The women’s kids were apart of Saturday mornings Bible school and expressed to Nolo that they wanted prayer. The one women had stomach cancer and we came around her and prayed. A week later when she went to the doctors, they said there was no cancer there. Our God is so good to us! 

I keep saying that God has worked in my heart! He really has! God has shown me things in my past that’s needed healing and full forgiveness. God has showed me how to be more and more patient with living with my team and doing life with them everyday. How to also make time for myself and “get away” from the team by going to the roof and working out, reading and or sitting there and watching the sunset, in awe of Gods creation. God has taught me what it looks like to have intimate time with Him. Setting time every night to sit with Him, in the presence of the Lord and to sit worship or read. It has been a sweet time to really dive deep. 

I loved Guatemala and I can’t wait to go back!