International Ministry: Guatemala 2014

"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
-Acts 1:8

I started to get involved in foreign ministry five years ago. I began going because my parents wanted me to, but it has evolved into something so much greater. It was during my first short term trip to Cartagena, Colombia that I began my relationship with Christ. Jesus met me in a slum through the faces of broken hearted people, the laughter of children, a futbol game in an alley with gang members, the handshake of a prisoner, and the tears of a grateful mother. It is in these places, the places that no one wants to go to, that I see Jesus everywhere and feel the presence of God unlike anywhere else. Because of this, my whole life has shifted and Jesus is getting me into trouble in other countries like Guatemala, and I know many more in the future.

Acts 1:8 and Acts 13:47 both include the phrase "to the ends of the earth." When I first read this I thought of Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. The thought of world's end brought fear to the characters, as they went on a rescue mission of a friend, and no one wanted to go there. I see the equivalent of world's end in Guatemala as places like the Guatemala City dump and the barrio of La Limonada, one of the most notorious slums in Central America. These two locations are places Guatemalans don't even want to go to. The people in these areas are stigmatized, neglected, desperate. These are the people my team embarked on a rescue mission for this week.

Guatemala City is divided into zones, and your zone says a lot about what opportunities you have in life. Zones 3 and 7 are the two that we focus on. They are the zones that contain barrios such as La Limonada and communities such as those who work and live in the dump. For these people their address is a hindrance. For example, job applications are thrown out without another glance and resources for success and opportunity are scarce. For these reasons the cycle of poverty continues through generation after generation, followed by addictions, abuse, violence, and hopelessness.

There were many different projects that took place this week including an eye glass clinic, English camps, a women's conference, a teacher appreciation day for the teachers in the schools of La Limonada, house building, and a prayer walk. The eye glass clinic took place in Zone 3 close to the dump, and gave these people the opportunity to have a pair of reading glasses so they can read their Bibles again and thread a needle to sew things or do other tedious things with their hands for their business. A $2 pair of glasses makes a huge difference to these people, and I have seen many people collapse in tears of joy for receiving them. Our friends from El Salvador took the lead in the women's conference as they lead worship and did their presentation, complete with beatboxing, breakdancing, skits, and musical worship. Two of the women from our team shared their testimonies as well. I was not present for the majority of the conference, as I was in another location serving in another way, but when I poked my head in every now and then I saw the Lord at work. His presence was felt in that room. Hands were raised, tears were shed, and voices cried out for God. It was incredibly powerful to see and I praise God for how He used that group of people to reach out to those women. The teachers of La Limonada were treated to a day of relaxation and a day of being served instead of them serving others. Working in one of the roughest parts of the city must be physically, spiritually, and emotionally exhausting. I hope that this day for them helped to encourage them to continue their work in providing education to children that may not receive it otherwise. One of the teachers shared that she felt like she was eating at the table of a king that day, and that's what the love of Christ does. There were also several house builds which took place in the dump through the American men in our group, including two boys only about 13 years old, who worked very hard in harsh conditions to help build homes for families in the dump community. Also in the dump was the prayer walk where the food kits from the Care Kit program were distributed, as well as many hygiene kits. Lastly we hosted english camps for children in Zone 3 in the morning and Zone 7 in the afternoon. This is where God primarily used me this week.

This summer I have been a pre-school teacher, so teaching kids seemed a little mundane to me at first. But the longer I was in a room with a group of kids the more I realized the true impact of spending time with them and encouraging them to learn. They grow up in a culture that does not allow them much upward mobility. Where they were born determines where they can go, and that usually is not far. Education is one thing that can give them a boost and a chance at something more. Empowering these children to learn, showing them that they are smart and have the ability to succeed was an incredible opportunity. Even just spending time with them throughout the week and investing in them, showing them their value as human beings and children of God, had an impact. Kevin and Deglin in one location were constantly hugging me and Jennifer and Jennifer (that's not a typo) in another were glued to my side the moment I arrived. It humbled me to have that role in their lives that week. I looked forward to seeing their big brown eyes, radiant smiles, and receiving their strong embraces. As someone that studies psychology and development I know that children need adults that will be positive role models, that are willing to invest in them, love them, and care for them. Doing so can influence them to be responsible for themselves and avoid going down dangerous paths in life. And in cultures like theirs where addictions, gangs, prostitution, etc. are prevalent it is a privilege to have had the opportunity to speak life and encouragement to them. Jesus even says in Matthew, Mark, and Luke to let the children come to him; to not hinder children because the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these (Matthew 19:14, Mark 10:14, Luke 18:16). If Jesus made sure to talk about how important children are over and over again, saying the exact same thing three times, I don't think it is something to take lightly. Children are precious to God and we need to invest in them and their spiritual growth. For God to have granted me the opportunity to do so was a blessing.

If you read my last post I was asking for donations through the Care Kit program for this trip. I even spoke about it in front of the young adult community at my church a couple of times. For these efforts, and a few others, I was excited for the prayer walk in the dump where we would distribute the food kits, your generous donations, that came in through the Care Kits, and was looking forward to having awesome stories to share with you all about how your donations blessed these people. Unfortunately, I got food poisoning and had to miss this project. It was what I was looking forward to all week and had put a lot of effort into asking for donations (public speaking is terrifying for me!), and then I could not even participate in the distribution. As I sat back in my hotel room, nauseous and frustrated, I had a conversation with God to try to hash out why He had brought me all the way to Guatemala just so I could get sick and miss out on serving. What I came to realize is it is not about me. God had used me in other ways on the trip just as He had intended. He had used me to put the word out about the kits for you all to donate and that was my role. And, even though I was sick, I could still praise God because I knew that He had a wonderful group of people, my incredible team, that was fulfilling His plan that day. I do not always need to be on the front lines. Sometimes God uses us in the background in a supporting role, still vital to the achievement of the goal, but not in the spotlight for everyone to see. I think He may have done this to remind me that this work is not for my glory, but for His. The recipients of the Care Kits do not need to know who I am or my contribution because it is not about me in any way. Thank you, Lord, for convicting me in that moment and re-centering myself on you.

I cannot speak highly enough about the group of people I was able to serve with during my time in Guatemala. We had people from five different states and three different countries that came together for the common goal of being the hands and feet of Jesus to people in need of hope, and that is incredible to me. I saw God use each and every person in a unique way during projects, and even after our projects were over or between them. I had many deep, personal conversations and exchanged testimonies throughout the week on the bus, at the hotel, or even in a McDonald's. When the food poisoning first hit me, several took care of me and checked on me multiple times to see how I was doing and if they could bring me anything. I met a beautiful group of Guatemalan girls who took time out of their busy lives to come serve with us and act as our translators. La RED from El Salvador joined us again, as they did last year, and used their God given talents to praise the Lord. I became good friends with many of them last year and kept up with them on Facebook. Being able to serve with them again brought us even closer together and I had the opportunity to meet other members. Gabie has especially touched my heart. She proves wrong anyone that ever uses the excuse of distance for why they cannot be there for you. She has shown me that it does not matter how far away someone is, if they care about you enough they will do whatever they can to be there for you. I have had a hard year so far and she was there for me through it all. She brought me so much encouragement and strength all the way from El Salvador that people five minutes away from me could not even bring. She is a beautiful person, inside and out, and is one of the best friends I have ever had. Seeing her and serving the Lord with her again was such a blessing. Andrea, who was my roommate, is part of a beatbox group called Bombo & Caja. She has an amazing talent and used it in many ways in Guatemala. It was interesting to room with her because she does not know English and I am still far from being fluent in Spanish. However, she showed me that love has no language barrier. We had a great conversation in our room one night where she opened up to me about who she is and what she has been through and I was able to do the same. In return, she spoke life into areas that needed to be fed and lifted a part of my spirit that has been down for some time. I would have liked to have spoken more with her, without the issue of language getting in the way, but she still blessed me in the conversations that we were able to have. I could write a whole post on my friends from El Salvador and how they bless, inspire, and encourage me. But, I will leave it by saying Gio, Sandra, Gabie, Abraham, Javier, Maykol, Kevin, Andrea, Saul, Moises and now Gerardo and Fredy I love you all and it is an honor to have friends in another country where our relationships have been established on holy ground, serving our wonderful God.

When we go to Colombia we never see any other Americans, but when we go to Guatemala there are lots of other Americans going to serve in some way. In the airport on the way there I was talking to a woman who was going with a group from her church to build a room or two of a new school in the mountains past Antigua. She then asked me what I was going to be doing and I told her my team would be in Zones 3 and 7 serving in the dump and in La Limonada. She just looked at me for a minute and then said "oh…" as if I told her my dog had a fifth leg. And for all of the Americans we saw in the airport and the masses on a free day site seeing in Antigua we did not see any other Americans during our project days. I'm not trying to discredit the work that others go to do, but what about the people in the dump and in the slums in the city? For all of the evangelicals that go to Guatemala, why aren't more going the these "ends of the earth" places? It's where Jesus has equipped us, the church, to go to. If we don't go then who will? Not many. Not even many of the churches in Guatemala. This is what worries me for the people in Latin America who are in very dire circumstances.

I love serving in Latin America and believe that God is revealing to me a calling in this area of the world. This type of work is what I am passionate about and where I am taking more and more steps towards. I have been privileged and have had an abundant of blessings in my life, but I do not want to hoard these blessings. I believe God has blessed me so I can be a blessing to others. I could just as easily have been born into the situations that the people in places like the Guatemala City dump were born into. I have the ability to extend my hand to those who need it and I want to do it; I feel God calling me to do so. Not everyone is called to foreign missions in the sense that I am feeling called, but if you have the opportunity to go on a short term trip to another country I encourage you to do so. I think you will learn things about yourself that you never knew before and will see God in a new way.

"If you've never gone, go. If you've never had a moment when no one around you speaks your language or shares your pigment or knows how elementary school works, you need to go. You need that. You need to see that the world is big and diverse and maybe God doesn't look or sound the way you always thought he did because the world has a lot of different-looking and different-sounding people, all who are made in his image."
-Annie F. Downs, "Let's All Be Brave: Living Life with Everything You Have"

God changed my life and my skewed perception of the world after my first short term trip and I am so thankful He did. There's a lot of different things to see and experience. There are different people and cultures to learn from. But aside from the differences I think you will see that we are not all that different, and you will build connections with a variety of nationalities of people. You will feel more connected and in touch on a global scale. But, I must warn you: once you see the injustices that are taking place and have faces of friends to match with these issues they are hard to ignore, and you will be wrecked. God wrecked me back in that slum in Cartagena when I was sixteen in one of the "end of the world" places, and I have never been so grateful.

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I. Send Me!"
-Isaiah 6:8

A special thanks goes out to the Access Community at Grace Church for their generous donations to the Care Kit Program!