Guatemala 2011 - Day 2 (Sunday)

Hola from Guatemala City, Guatemala! It’s the end of the first full day here and we’re finally settling in. It is going to be a fantastic week, though this morning I did not think so. I woke up – my first morning in a foreign country – with a bad attitude towards everything. (Part of the reason for this attitude may have been the millions of ants invading our room, and my suitcase.) The thing was – I knew I had a bad attitude and I even wanted to change it – but I just didn’t. Everything changed when I got to church. We were greeted with WIDE open arms! I’ve never hugged so many strangers and had so many people that I didn’t know happy to see me. With all the smiles and greetings, I couldn’t help but get a little happier. The people here are just so friendly.

Then there was the prayer. The pastor opened with seriously a TEN minute prayer. It was all in Spanish – but fortunately I could figure out a lot of it. At first – due to my attitude – I was annoyed with how long the prayer was. But then God showed me how ridiculous my thinking was! These people have sooo much less than I have at home – yet it took 10 minutes for them to thank God for all He has given them. Also, the people here value their family above everything. I have been so un-thankful for everything I have, and have even taken family for granted. I love my family so much but I know that I don’t show them that enough and I don’t appreciate them enough. I have so much to be thankful for. I could/should pray for an hour and that’s probably still not enough.

We (Carrie, Lyvia, and I) also met a little girl today. Her name was Asati – I think. J She knew a little bit of English and was so eager to talk to us. She was precious and we really hope to see her again. It was encouraging how much we could communicate (even in Spanish) when we tried. Tomorrow we get to spend time with a lot of kids so I am very much looking forward to it and it sounds like we will be spending a lot of time with kids this week. 

-Katie

Hola Familia y Amigos,

I feel like I have already been here for much longer than just 2 days. It is so wonderful here. Guatemala is like nothing I have ever seen before. It’s incredible and I feel so comfortable. God has given me peace and I feel at ease being here. I know that, that is from all the prayers from everyone back home, Muchas Gracias(: I’ve been here less than 48 hours and I have already struggled, learned, and grown. There have been muy things that I have struggled with, but I’ll just share two(: The first one is something I have struggled with even back home, Contentment. Not only contentment with where I am, but who I am and who God wants me to become. Joe talked about how when we look in the mirror and we see something we don’t like, we shouldn’t just walk away, but fix it. The second struggle is something that God showed me in the devotions that Joe gave us for the trip, Willingness. Willingness to Change, Willingness to see a different View, and Willingness to be Available for whatever God has planned for my life. The first devotion talked about Scaffolds. Two sentences that stood out to me were: Old ways and whole parts of you will need to be heated and scraped off. The crustiness of the way you used to be will need to be washed off. It talked about how God will have to take away the surface that has been hiding what’s on the inside.  It won’t be an easy or painless process, but a much needed one. It will definitely be worth it in the end. I am very excited to see how God works, not only in me, but in this entire group. Again, gracias for all the prayers and support, it’s more than appreciated. Buenos Noches, Amor to all.

~ Lyvia