To be honest, August was a hard month for me but it was also super great.
We had the privilege of having the Potter's Field Sponsorship mission team come here. It was a huge bless and super busy too. I was re-assured and encouraged that I am not alone, that there are so many people in the states praying and supporting the ministry. That really blessed my heart and encouraged me more than they know.
Another awesome thing happened! Calvary Chapel San Juan had a team come down for a week! I was so excited to see them all! I haven't seen some of them in 2 years. It was so cool to watch them serve and be able to serve along side of them. They got to come to school with me one day and we all had a blast! I really have missed them all so much. Them coming was such an encouragement and another reminder that I am not alone. I love the body of Christ! And the fact that we are all one under Him even though we are miles apart.
Like I said, this month has had its hard parts.
For about the past 4 weeks, I have been pretty sick. I didn't know what was going on with me. I had bad stomach pain, body aches, head aches and fevers. I went to the private hospital here and found out I had an infection in my intestines. So we got that taken care of but the symptoms persisted. So I returned to my doctor and was told that it could be a couple things. One being side effects from the meds I was just on, and two being fibromyalgia. So I took steroids and felt great for 5 days! Then the day I stopped, my body aches and head ache came back. So back I went to my doctor who knows me by name. He diagnosed me with fibromyalgia. It is a muscular skeletal disorder that is explained as being arthritis in the muscles. It is a disorder that has no cure, but that you just have to figure out how to live with it. The news hit me pretty hard and out of no where. I had no idea what it really meant, how my life would have to change. I kept on looking at the sickness as my future and trying to re-plan everything around it. That's wrong. It got me so down, I was so sad, I felt like no one understood- including myself. But God is bigger, God is so much greater. He gave me Psalm 9:1-2 and told me I had to be self determined in this time, that I had a choice to make. And I choose to praise Him, it is a daily choice. And I take this sickness day by day. I am learning to "listen to my body." Every day, every free moment I have is spent resting. It is something that I am not used to. I am in the process of figuring everything out but I know it will take time. I know that God is going to get glory through this. I am not asking for a pity party or sympathy. I am just asking for prayers. I have faith that God can take this away if He chooses and I have faith that He is with me and has a plan through it all even if He doesn't choose to heal me. I have to choose to look at this from an eternal perspective and remember that this life and it's pain is passing away. And that the light affliction doesn't compare to the weight of glory that I have in Christ.
So yeah, that happened. Ministry continues. God doesn't need me. He chooses to use me and I am so grateful for that! But it was hard missing out on certain things. But like I said- Ministry continues!
The schools have been great! We had so much fun :) as always! The last quarter of school started this month. It's crazy how time has flown! It's great to see how much these kids have learned. I am taking this last quarter to review and reenforce all the info we have covered so far. Also, in the Bible lessons we are focusing on the life of Jesus which has been super cool! The kids have come to love the bible lessons and its has even reached some of the teachers too. God's word does not return void.
Kids Club still continues to be my favorite part of the week. We had more of an outreach kids club one Wednesday and invited all our schools to come and passed out invitations in town. We had over 200 people on property. We fed them all lunch, had a bible lesson, played games and had bounce houses and trampolines! It was a blast, we made a lot of new friends and they have even returned and been coming to kids club weekly. Also, I got to hang out with some of my students which was super fun to do outside of the classroom.
One thing that we got to do this month was go to Cuidad Vieja Kids Club. It is about 25 minutes away and they have the kids program usually twice a month. I don't always get the opportunity to go so I was super stoked! I went along with the team from San Juan. We had a blast with the kids there.
Church! We had baptisms this month which is always a blessing. A couple of the IGNITE interns got baptized and some of the members from church. Things have been going really well. God is providing more hands for children ministry. I still am in there every week for worship and this month I translated twice. Wednesday nights have been great. We just had our monthly night of prayer and like 20 people showed up! It was a really good time and I prayed in Spanish for the first time (eeek)! I have missed youth group due to sickness/tiredness but am going to get back in it soon! Everything is going good and we have a regular little group that we are getting pretty tight with.We have been doing pancake outreaches in the park like once a month for the past three months! It is an awesome time! What we do is wake up and make pancakes and eggs, bring them to the park, and feed all the venders and locals breakfast. A bunch of my students are vendors in the park so its super special to me. We always pass out tracks and church invitations with it. It is an awesome way to build relationships and make friends :) I love it, its become one of my favorite things to do on Saturday mornings :)
Over all, everything is going good here in Guatemala. My time is winding down for this year. I leave October 19th to go to Peru for a short term mission trip with Calvary Chapel Webster. After that I will be in California for 2 weeks then I am returning to Hawaii. I am planning on coming back to Guatemala in 2016 :) God is so good! I just want to finish strong and give all I have for Him. Lately He has really been teaching me to rest in Him, to find my satisfaction in Him and not in what I do.
Prayer requests:
- boldness to proclaim the gospel
- my health
- continued trust in the Lord that He would provide in whatever way HE sees fit
- the people to be open to the gospel
- my students and their families
Thanks for reading :) Until next month!
If you want to contact me, feel free to email me at:
quinceymarie@me.com
To God be the glory, now and forever!
