Washed my clothes using a pila (multi-purpose sink). There are few things more satisfying than washing your own clothes by hand using a bucket and a bar of soap. Taught a hula to a group of girls on my team. It was such a cool experience to share this aspect of my culture with my friends! Especially because in many churches in Guatemala, dancing is considered a sin. I felt like our hula was alive with the aloha of the islands which I have come to know and love and really served as a testament to the beauty of this form of worship. The girls I taught were such good sports and very...

I feel like this is where I belong…not specifically here in Guatemala but overseas missions. I LOVE every ounce of it. Like seriously.  I love meeting new people. I love learning their culture and language. I love serving with everything I have. I love being so broken only God can fill me. I love annoying itchy mosquito bites. I love having bland rice and beans with every meal. I love having little Guatemalan babies kiss me and ask me to come play with them again. I love when their parents want to get to know me. I love being the crazy christian gringos. I love being so homesick...

I can't believe I only met the people on my team a week ago. We already feel like a family. Puerto Barrios is unbelievably beautiful – we went to a park yesterday that was right at the ocean, and it was amazing. The sea breeze felt wonderful. I have not stopped sweating since we've been here. But something about this place just makes me incredibly happy, no matter how sweaty I am. We cracked open a few coconuts the other day and drank the milk inside – it was really good! I could get used to this tropical climate…I think my new favorite hammock spot is under...

Sweat pouring from my every pore, with a subtle dash of dust and dirt, I sit on this rather sturdy table, constructed of raw timbers, thanking our Father for what HE has been doing over this last week.   Not more than seven days ago, the youngin's on this team didn't have much of a relationship with one another, they were merely acquainted with the profiles they presented to one another over the internet.   Over a weekend, the Most High broke down walls of every sort, and declared freedom over the junk they may have been wading in; it was for freedom that...

Can I take back all the times I whined about the cold rooms at training camp? It's day 5 in Puerto Barrios and I haven't stopped sweating since arrival.  Trying to transition from busy, American time into the slow lifestyle of Guatemala has been difficult. I want to go, go, go and do, do, do, but the people here don't mind being late and/or cancelling plans without notice.  It's been a week of team building and becoming familiar with the community. Our 1st "official" day here we went to the park for sports ministry. Some of the team played frisbee and...

The drive to Puerto Barrios from Guatemala City was pretty amazing and interesting. There were mountain ranges the entire way and it was so beautiful! It was a great time of laughter and practicing our Spanish with Melvin and Christian (our talented drivers). The drive was literally about 9 hours long even though were told it was only 5 hrs long… haha. About halfway through we blew a tire and it was pretty terrifying but Central/South Americans are pretty great extreme drivers and we stopped safely. Meanwhile, we were surrounded  by nothing and we all had to use the bathroom. We...

On our first night of ministry, Drea and I were riding in the front seat alongside Pastor Ronnie, one of our hosts here at Shofar Ministries, and talking about how much we loved Guatemala. Suddenly, Pastor Ronnie became silent. After a moment, he said in his broken English, "I do not want Guatemala. I want Guatebuena." GUATEBUENA! YEAHHHHHHHHH! I can think of no better way to sum up the heart of the movement that we are a part of in Puerto Barrios. Already we have started to see walls being broken down and bridges being built across cultures and relationships. As our...

A guanaba is a type of tropical fruit….I just ate a guanaba float from an ice cream shop here. Yum! So we have been in Guatemala since Tuesday. When we were arriving by plane everything already looked so different from America. Mountains, so many different colors, and tin roofs. We took a really long but super beautiful and fun bus ride to Puerto Barrios, the city where we are staying. On the drive, our van’s tire blew out and so we formed a human circle and owed on the side of the road…it was super fun! Ha. We are staying in a cute little neighborhood in a green house,...

I didn’t expect to fall in love with Guatemala so quickly, but I definitely have. The people, the culture, the language, it’s so different from America but I really like it. I also didn’t expect for my heart to break for Guatemala so quickly. After a 3 ½ hour plane ride then a long, hot, 7 hour bus ride where our driver played Total Eclipse of the Heart and Hotel California literally 10 times each we finally arrived at our new home in Puerto Barrios! We settled into our tiny rooms with 6 people in each room and then enjoyed a nice dinner. Our hosts / the ministry...