Well, here we are again at the end of our time in a country. It’s always so bittersweet moving on to a new place on the race and Guatemala was an especially hard goodbye. These past two months have been marked by incredible, family-like community, so much worship and the sweetest memories. I am so very thankful for what God did in our time here and I’m already praying that He will bring me back one day.
For ministry in Guatemala, we were partnered with Worship Room. This incredible ministry was started by our host, Jeofrey, and ranges from weekly worship gatherings to HOPE program, a program that offers a variety of services to a little town called La Esperanza. Every day we were doing a different thing for ministry so this “day in the life” blog will be more of a weekly recap 🙂
Monday: Monday’s were a great start to the week. Around 1:00 we would make our short 15 minute walk over to La Esperanza, a small town on the outskirts of San Antonio Aguas Calientes, and maybe grab an iced latte from the local cake and coffee shop along the way. On these days we got to teach English to kids ages 3 – 12. The girls on my team would typically teach the youngest ones and we worked on numbers 1 -10 for the majority of our time there. We taught these classes alongside some of the greatest Guatemalans (Chapinos). Mire, Alex, Jota, Madison and Bryan will always be some of our dearest Guatemalan amigos.
Tuesday: At 9:30 AM on Tuesdays we would make the same walk to La Esperanza, passing the street dogs, the local flower shop and the many tortillarias. We would meet up with our Guatemalan friends and sometimes other groups of missionaries to go on home visits. There’s a number of families that HOPE program has relationship with in the community, providing them with books, food, prayer and support as needed. We would break up in groups and go and pray, worship and talk with them with the help of translators. It was always so sweet to see what God would do on these sweet mornings. After a lunch break and probably another coffee run, we would do a VBS program for the children of the community. It was close to 30 children playing games, singing worship songs, hearing a bible story and working on English. Getting to play and be with these kiddos every week was such a blessing.
Wednesday: One of my most favorite things about Guatemala was the community. The Worship Room team is tight-knit, prayer-filled and so accepting. They have fought for unity and respect and invited us into their family from the very beginning. On Wednesdays we would drive into Antigua for men and women’s discipleship groups. Worship Room team members and local missionaries would come together to fellowship. The women’s group did a bible study on Song of Songs and I personally learned so much from these incredibly wise women. Plus there was always some really yummy snacks which was a bonus for us. Some of our closest friends, Sofi and Willy and their two sweet daughters, would often invite us to stay for lunch and to hang out for a good portion of the afternoon. On the Race, one of the hard realities is being away from your family for a year. It was the biggest blessing to have this family invite us in and treat us with so much love and care; a little taste of home all the way in Guatemala :,)
Thursday: Thursdays were, personally, my favorite day of the week – Worship Room day! Worship Room started in a living room and eventually began to grow into public worship nights filled with revival, healing and evangelism for the people of Antigua and surrounding areas. We would all squish into our host’s car and head into Antigua. The location of Worship Room changed often, especially in the last month due to rainy season, but we would meet up with the team and set up. My teammate, Tymon, and I got to help serve and lead worship, him playing guitar and me singing. These people worship not to gain glory or praise or to “sound good” but to lavish the Heavenly Father in the adoration He deserves. Getting to worship the Lord in an environment like this was a true gift.
Friday: Fridays always looked a little different. The mornings weren’t scheduled out but we would get to do random projects some weeks. Like installing a stove for a local family, painting the local school or passing out reading glasses that had been donated. In the afternoons we had a scheduled soccer program for the kids of La Esperanza. If ya know me, you know that soccer is not my gifting, but I loved playing with the kids nonetheless.
Saturday & Sunday: Adventure and Sabbath Days! On the weekends, we would rest and explore. From calling friends and family at our favorite coffee shop, River, to hiking a volcano, to thrift shopping at our favorite store, Megapaca, our weekends were always full of fun.
That’s a basic recap of what a week in Guatemala looked like! One thing I don’t like about these blogs is that you guys don’t get to experience the day to day joys of life on the field. Like the sound of our host family’s parrots screaming “HOLA” early in the mornings, or the many, many laughs and deep convos we had as a team at our dining table, or the views from the rooftop of our host home. All I can say is thank you each so very much for your support and your prayers which allow me to experience these daily joys and build these relationships. I absolutely couldn’t do this without y’all and God is on the move in Guatemala. One thing I rest assured knowing is that the mission work in Guatemala will continue long after we are gone. Not only will it continue, it will thrive. That is the goodness of God.
Much love and many blessings,
Annie
