Wow! Two months have come and gone and I didn't even realize that I didn't write a blog post for March :|
So I’ll start with March. What happened in March?
Well, exciting news in my family is that my niece was born! Little Nyomi Renee was born on the 2nd to my brother and sister in law. I got to spend some time on FaceTime talking to my family and meeting the precious new addition!
Back here in Guate, the normal schedule continued in the month of March. We had the opportunity to go to Escuintla (where the dump is) with IGNITE class 10 and some of the PFM staff. We worked on planting trees, digging ditches, playing with kids, and other things around the property there. But this time it wasn't just a day trip- we got to spend the night there! It was such a cool opportunity. So we worked during the day and then at night we showed a movie and so many of the locals came out to see it. They loved it! We gave a simple snack and drink and hung out with them. It’s just cool to have gone there a handful of times, and each time just allowing relationships to form a little deeper. God is working there and it is a privilege to be a part of it.
Relationship. It’s what ministry is built upon. In March, Lydia, Haley and I decided to spend our day off going to a town about 40 minutes away in bus called San Miguel. Lydia and I had been only one time before but wanted to go back and show Haley. It is just a little community but the really unique thing about it is that like every other door is a garden! They grow so many plants and flowers and sell them right out of their backyards. So we spent the day walking through the town and buying little plants. We got hungry so we searched for somewhere to eat lunch. We stumbled on this little hole in the wall place which was just the front room of a lady’s house. We sat down and she brought us our food. Her and the other two ladies there were commenting on our flowers and how beautiful they were. Lydia, Haley and I all had the same idea. We gave each on of the women a plant of our own. We talked to them and asked if we could pray for them. They said we could so we did right there in the font of the house. Lydia even got one of the girl’s phone numbers and we still talk to her often. Her husband just left her and her daughter is sick and she lost her job. But the cool thing was that when this all happened she called Lydia. She felt so alone and just wanted someone to talk to. Her name is Claudia and prayers would be greatly appreciated.
Antigua is crazy during the month of Easter. Holy Week is HUGE here. People come from all over the world to spend this specific week in Guatemala. They have “processionals” everyday during Holy Week. People pay to carry these heavy floats through the streets and they think its paying for their sins. Locals make offerings of food or flowers to make intricate “alfombras” which are like rugs out of crushed plants and flower petals in the streets. It is all so sad and overwhelming. The smell of incense is constant during this time and you hear the melancholy sound of the band that does before the floats. People are dressed in black and the people who carry are seen after their turn in their robes drinking or doing whatever they want. But in the midst of it all, we celebrate life! Jesus is alive. He is no longer on the cross! He has risen! Calvary Chapel Antigua had an awesome Easter service. We had it outside and everyone was together (including the kids). It was awesome to spend that time together as a body of Christ celebrating the life that we now all have and being encouraged to go and share that just like the women at the empty tomb did.
The bus ministry continued all through March and more doors have opened for deeper relationships with my students and even their families. Heidy is on of my first graders, she is 7 years old and every Wednesday she asks me to go with her to her house to drop off her backpack. So at 12:30 we would walk together up about 70 steps to her little cement block, tin-roofed house. Outside, one of her neighbors makes tortillas. I would sit with her and chat while I waited for Heidy. One day she asked me if I wanted to try and make a tortilla… It was very difficult to say the least haha even though everyone who does it makes it seem so easy. My student came out and was laughing at me and trying to teach me. Maybe one day I’ll get it. :) But one of the coolest things about this little girl is how much she loves kids club. And how happy her parents are that she is going! She tells me all the time that her parents are happy that she is learning “things of God” at kids club. I know for a fact that what she learns on Wednesdays she goes home and shares it. That’s just one little story about how the Lord is working in and through school, kids club and now the bus.
March was a fun month with the IGNITE class. It was their last month of training and they got to do a lot of fun things and just spend time all together. I am so thankful that I got to be a part of their training and see how far the Lord has brought each on of them. They were all preparing to go out to their different country assignments. It’s weird to think that I was in their position 2 years ago. Time is such a weird thing.
One thing to end the month of March with! All 7 of us RAs got to go do something super fun all together! We went to a Guatemalan amusement park in the city. Yes. It was so fun! Not only being there, but getting there. We took the public bus to the city then had to find out way to another bus to take us to the park. It was one of my favorite days in March. It’s so cool how the Lord brings people together for a season. And who knows when we will serve along side them again!
April came and people left. Ha, that’s the simple truth though. Leaders, RAs, and interns all left in the beginning of April. It’s weird how this process of saying goodbye has somehow become normal for me. I guess it’s not really goodbye, it’s “see ya later” like everyone always says. I am so excited for all of them though! I know God is going to do amazing things and already has this past month of April!
Something new for Lydia and I that happened in April was looking for an apartment! We are going on our third year serving in Antigua. The Lord has been and is working in such natural ways, and as we trust in Him and follow after Him, we see His will being unfolded right before our eyes.
The doors opened for us to move off the Potter’s Field property and into the community living in an apartment. This is something that is going to be new for all of us, but it so exciting. With this move, we rejoice in the things that are going to change but also the things that will remain the same. For one thing, we are still co-laboring with PFM, and that will not change :) We love what the Lord has allowed for us to be a part of here as we serve with them, and that will continue on. We will still be working with the same schools and keeping that schedule. We will still be involved with kids club and the other activities that go on on the property. We will still be going to the center to enjoy fellowship and meals with the family in Christ that we have there, as well as the accountability we all need in our lives. What is changing, though, is the obvious “living on our own.” We will be living in community, and we expect that this will naturally open up other doors of ministry for us, allowing us to reach deeper into the lives of those who the Lord brings into our lives. We will have more control in the making our own schedules, really allowing the Lord to do what He wants with our time. It is an exciting change that will be happening now! We moved into our apartment on April 25. It has been so cool to live in the community already and it's only been like a week! We can't wait to see how the Lord is going to use this to open up doors for ministry. It feels new but so natural at the same time. God is so good!
Prayer requests:
- for Lydia and I in the new place (:
- the bus ministry is taking a break in May but we hope that these kids would maybe still come if they can? that the Lord wouldn't stop working in their hearts just because the bus isn't bringing them to kids club for these couple weeks
- pray for Calvary Antigua! Lydia and I are going to start heading up the children's ministry on Wednesday night. It's the first time having it and we are really excited to serve in this way.
- pray for my students; especially those in like 5th and 6th grade. Teaching the bible lesson with them can be really challenging. I'm always challenged to spend more and more time in prayer for them instead of just getting frustrated. Sometimes I just want to walk out of the class, but I know what the Lord has called me to do- to faithfully share His Word and love with them even when it seems like they don't care.
Thanks for reading- sorry it's so long haha!
{Ephesians 2:16-21}
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| Little Nyomi Renee |
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| the group in Escuintla |
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| Escuintla |
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| they love coloring in Escuintla (: |
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| Lydia + Haley in San Miguel eating lunch |
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| The view from my student Heidy's house |
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| Leadership/ RA's on commissioning night for IGNITE class 10 (we are a little crazy haha) |
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| A day at a Guatemalan amusement park! |
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| The group all together at Mundo Petapa, such a fun day |
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| my 2nd graders reading together |
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| *sidenote- I sprained my ankle so bad in April that I had to get a cast... Learned a lot of lessons from that cast haha |
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| they are just too cute (: |
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| this is where our new apartment is! |
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| the day we looked at it we knew that this was the one! It was the third apartment that we looked at and we are so happy and thankful for the way the Lord provides! |
