First week+ in Guatemala!

Buenos dias, my beautiful friends and family! Our first week and a half in Guatemala has been a success! Our travel to the airport in Georgia was a tad chaotic. About 10 minutes into the 1.45-hour drive, we noticed our trailer lights weren’t working, so we spent about 30 minutes trying to fix and pray over them! We had to drive back to the camp to get another truck. The airport was relatively smooth. I honestly did not do the best job following my peers’ direction, but the Lord is working on me with my pride. Prayers for continued guidance and growth regarding pride would be appreciated because I am OVER it. Once we landed, we went to the AIM base for 1-2 nights while we figured out lodging logistics with each team. It was quite a bit more challenging to say goodbye to the rest of the squad than I expected, especially since it is only five weeks apart. But I know God is good, and He has each of us where He wants us for our and others’ growth.

We were paired with phenomenal, godly hosts who are expecting their second any day now! Please pray for a safe delivery and a healthy baby and mama. They have been the biggest blessing to our team. Although we do manual labor working on building lodging and clearing trees (and are on somewhat of a time crunch), they made sure that the priority is ALWAYS our relationship with the Lord. If we need to take time off to be with our ABBA, we must listen and be with Him. What a gift!

It’s more like team updates: our unity has been so beautiful. Fran has helped initiate a joyful and positive atmosphere while keeping it real. The joy of the Lord seriously floods over her! Last Sunday was Elora’s Birthday, so we celebrated by going on a 4-hour coffee hour, then out for dinner! The girls and I got together and surprised her in the morning with a HUGE giraffe piñata and a bunch of decorations. While writing this, I realized I haven’t told you all my entire team. So, my team consists of Riley (our team leader), Sarah (squad logistics coordinator), Madison (squad leader), Fran (our treasurer), Elora (Squad worship coordinator), Amanda, and me! A solid team for sure:) We have been sharing testimonies in the evenings, and it is so cool to see how strategically God put us all together. A lot of our stories are similar, so each member has been able to be supported by the rest of the team already. The team knows how to have a good time, getting lots of laughs and pouring intensely into one another.

When it comes to what the Lord has been teaching me, there has been a considerable amount! The biggest thing has been His faithfulness to His people and promises. I have been in Jeremiah, and He is just so patient with all the people but finally tells Jeremiah to stop praying for them. When I asked my squad leader why she thought the Lord would ever tell someone to stop praying, she explained that God sees everyone’s hearts and knows whether or not they’ll repent. He gave the people miracle after miracle, blessing after blessing, opportunity after opportunity, and they hardened their hearts and couldn’t care less. Prayer is mighty (and I am learning that more the closer I get to Jesus). God warned Jeremiah that He would not listen to ANY prayer from or for them, so to intercede was a “waste” of time and took away from time that could have been spent praying for people and situations that God would accept. Honestly, this is still difficult for me to understand, but I do understand, at least from an earthly perspective, how, at a certain point, there is nothing else you can do to convince someone, and you need to leave them be for your peace.

I would be interested if you have any thoughts or scripture for more clarity on it all. My email is [email protected].