Last year at this time I was cooking at Woodsman camp. I was having the time of my life, and I wrote a journal entry one night where I wrote my wondering about what I would've doing a year from then. Well, here I am... One year later... And I am in awe of what God is doing in our life. Thankful...hardly even begins to describe how I feel about the life God has given me.When first arrived to Guatemala with our DTS team last December, we met a couple named Shawn and Brad who were down here leading a house-building team with a ministry that they started called Recycled Lives. Shawn and I connected, since of course, we both share an obscure "unisex" name (let's be real, it's a boy name) you are destined to be friends.
Anyway, Shawn and I have kept in touch through Facebook, and a couple months ago she asked me if Dave and I would be interested in helping translate for the team they were bringing down this month. These guys have an amazing heart for Jesus and for the people of Guatemala, so we were thrilled to be part of their work.
On Monday we spent our first day with them, helping with their monthly food distribution in a small village near Esquintla (they have a Guatemalan couple that they work with who keep the food distribution program running when they aren't here to do it.). We shared a message from the Bible and then doled out bags of food to each family. Zane was right in there with us, putting a bag of oats into every woman's bag as they went past him. After everyone had their food Dave and all the kids ran off to play soccer while I talked with some of the ladies. We then were off to visit a few homes and pray for the sick. In one home we prayed for a woman to be healed from her post-operation pain and a huge headache she had... And after reading a portion of scripture to her family and praying, her pain was gone! Praise The Lord!
The day capped off with a swim in the river with a bunch of the kids and a very late lunch/dinner at Pollo Campero. I went to sleep that night feeling like the luckiest person in the world... But that was just Monday!
Their team had heard about our literacy school and asked how they could help. We wanted to give our students each a children's Bible as a graduation gift (last class is next Friday), and I had been praying that God would provide the finances for us to purchase the Bibles. Books are very expensive here, but I knew that Gd would provide... So when they asked how they could help I told them about our need for three children's Bibles. Shawn stared at me for a second...
"We gave out children's Bibles last time we were here... We had three leftover and we didn't know who to give them to!" Hahaha....God is so awesome!
So...We gave the Bibles to our students on Wednesday during class so that they could practice reading from them as homework... The gift was met with tears, they were all so excited and thankful to receive a Bible that they could enjoy with their children. They can all read now, but the easy to read format will help them practice and understand the gospel for themselves. We prayed over each student and Bible, and I cried. The gospel is going into these houses for the first time in a format that these students can understand and share with their families. It was the best class yet!
Thursday was not a day with the Recycled Lives team, but I was invited to go and pray for a sick woman who is the mother of one of the girls in kids club. A few of us went over and prayed for her. She was also having head pain and abdominal pain, just like the woman on Monday, so I knew God had already built up my faith to pray aggressively for this miracle... We prayed for her and all the pain left her body! I walked back to the base, almost stunned at having seen so many miracles in one week... And was met by my friend who complained of having a bad headache... I almost laughed... "Ain't nobody got time for that." I prayed and the Spirit took her pain away instantly. Yeah, Holy Spirit!!!
Then yesterday Zane and I went with the RL team to help translate as they visited some of the families who live in the homes they have built over the past 5 years. It was amazing! Shawn and her team have such a heart for these people and I was blown away by the welcome we received in each house... Talk about an open door for ministry! I got the chance to pray for people, and Zane made all kinds of new friends.
Shawn invited us to stay for dinner with them and swim in the pool at the hotel where their team is staying, which was so much fun. David was there by then too, and we enjoyed fellowshipping with their team. One of the girls walked in with a bag of toiletries, a big container of peanut butter and some canned chicken! But as I was still looking through the amazing bag of goodies she had just handed me, Shawn came up with a giant bag of pancake mix, and a big bag of sugar! I was so excited... And then they gave us another big bag... FULL of Spanish children's books and 14 copies of Crazy Love (by Francis Chan) which we can use to lead a Bible study with our graduated students. There were 42 kids books, which one of their team members had spent almost six months slowly collecting off eBay.
I burst into tears.
I had been wanted to do a Bible study, but didn't know where I would come up with real study materials... And I had been praying that God would provide more books for Zane. I grew up in a family that read all the time, and I had lamented to God how deprived my son was to not have nice books to read... Well God started planning to get me some books for my son even before I had decided to stay in Guatemala... That's just how good He is.
Next week we will be in the little village all week with the team to help translate and run the kids program. I am beyond psyched! God is so awesome!
"Forget the former things, do not dwell on the past. See I am doing a new thing. Now it springs up, do you not perceive it? I am making a way on the desert, and streams in the wasteland." -Isaiah 43:18-19
P.S. Funniest moment of the week was at the house where we prayed for the first sick lady. I was very focused on the lady, until Shawn tapped me on the shoulder and gestured to Zane. The grandma of the household had set him on top of a table so the whole family could see him, and had given him a bag of chips to eat. As he ate she stood right beside him, fanning his face with a towel so he'd be more comfortable. Hahahahahahahaha...
