Greetings from Guatemala!
By Danielle Hagerty
Hola amigos y famalia! Can you believe that you will be seeing us all in less than a week? Because we can’t. Time flies when you’re serving the Lord.
After yesterdays fun breakfast, we had an ATL (Ask The Lord) session. After hearing about some of Connie, Jess and Kristen’s miraculous ATL experiences, it’s safe to say that we were all extremely eager to Ask The Lord what was in store for us on this trip. We went our separate ways, Asked The Lord, and half an hour later, we were all sharing what God had put in our hearts and minds. We all had something different to share, but there was a pattern in our visions- water and worship. We split into two groups- the girls who envisioned water and the girls who saw worship. We were asked not to contemplate, just to pray silently and to share any Bible verses that came to mind. The two groups then joined together and discussed what God had put on our hearts. When asked what we thought all of this meant, Amanda suggested something that was on all of our minds- worshiping by the lake. Connie smiled knowingly at us and told us that we would be getting a chance to do something along those lines before the trip was over. We marveled in the wisdom that God had poured into us, like puzzle pieces placed in each of our heads, bizarre when separate, but when put together, they made a world of sense.
The rest of the afternoon was spent praying with and for the locals, individual discipling from the leaders and basking in the beauty of our surroundings.
That evening, we were informed that we would be going to San Pablo, one of the poorest villages of this area. Bracing ourselves, we squeezed into the van and headed off. As we entered into the small village, there was some sort of second hand sadness looming in the air, on the faces of these impoverished people. When we arrived at the church, the Ohio team was there to greet us, along with the smiling and energetic faces of many Guatemalan children. We interacted with the kids, laughing, playing, and taking pictures. A couple of the more brazen girls smacked our bottoms, then collapsed in giggles at our shocked faces. Theodore the Moose made an appearance, giving hugs and kisses, and receiving a couple of bites in return.
We proceeded into the church (about the size of a large living room), girls and the left (plus Theodore) and boys on the right. We started off with clapping to the Spanish songs, and then the team introduced ourselves and sang some songs. Then we did out drime (reenactment of the crucifix), some girls did a harmony, and then we sang “Mighty to Save,” first in English, then in Spanish. A couple people from the Ohio team gave their testimonies, and then we all went up to the front to pray. Americans and Guatemalans. We laid our hands over these people and prayed. English, Spanish and Zuthuhil (the native language), God heard them all. The power of prayer, no matter what language, washed over us all, reducing some to tears. We laid our hands on these hurting people, these hurting people of Guatemala, God’s children.
We sang one last song, “We are Hungry,” before we said our reluctant goodbyes, taking pictures and giving lots of hugs.
As we prayed over these people, I thought about what they didn’t have. They didn’t have much money. Not much food, not much clothes. No proper health care, no proper houses to live in, no proper water to drink. I thought about how we could not give them any of these things. I also thought about what we could give them- hope. The hope that lives in all of us, the hope that is God, that he would provide them with everything they needed, but especially, his Son, Jesus Christ.
Friday, July 10, 2009 – By Cassie Koepf
Well hello there! Today was a spectacular day. We started off the morning with our wonderful work-out walk up to breakfast. Then, our whole team rode on the back of a pick-up truck, bouncing, jumping, and laughing all the way. It made us all feel as though we were on some sort of roller coaster ride.
We arrived at Antonio’s church and walked down to a school. We went to two classrooms and did our VBS program. The children are absolutely beautiful, their overflowing and overwhelming joy is contagious and you can’t help but smile when you’re around them.
Then we jumped on the roller coaster again and started heading towards the beach. All of us girls changed into our adorable one piece swim suits and waded into the water’s perfect temperature. After, we enjoyed some delicious pizza and gathered as a team. We sat near the water and worshipped our Miraculous Savior. It was absolutely amazing to glorify our Father by singing praises to Him. Something that I have learned is that in a way I used to think, OK how can we bring God to these lost people here in Guatemala. But the reality is, God is already here and it’s a matter of how we can partner with God to use our gifts and talents that God has so graciously given us to bring Him all the glory.
