Growing Relationships

One month down and one more to go. Time here in Guatemala has gone by so fast. I have really enjoyed getting to know our ministry contact here. Kevin, Hilda, Pastor Ronnie, Andrea, Christian and my favorite Naomi our cook. Every Wednesday is my day to do the dishes and help Naomi cook. Bless Naomi's heart, she is such a hard worker when it comes to cooking. She is in the kitchen from 6:00AM to 8:00PM cooking non-stop. When we help her cook we mainly help her make the corn tortillas. We make the dough, roll the dough into small balls, and then we smoosh the dough in a tortilla maker, put them on the griddle until they're ready. While working with Naomi in the kitchen she is always chatting away and making jokes in Spanish as if I understand what she is saying, but I just smile and giggle. I'm finding more and more as I work in the kitchen with Naomi what a ministry it is to serve and help her out in the kitchen. Even when we cannot understand what each other are saying you can feel the presence of God in the kitchen with us.

Some other ministries that I have enjoyed here in Guatemala are the Garbage Dump, the Old Folks Home and the Children's Hospital. After 3 weeks of being here the relationships we are building here have been amazing. At the Garbage dump a couple of girls from my team and I go and visit the same family every time. A little girl that we saw the first time had purple sores and blisters all over her mouth. She didn't smile or talk much because of the pain and insecurity she was experiencing. The next time we went to the dump Pastor Ronnie bought her some medicine to heal her mouth, and when we came back after giving her the medicine ALL the purple sores were gone! PRAISE GOD! She was smiling, talking and laughing. You can see God's joy and spirit shining off her. We painted all the moms and ninas nails at the dump, their faces just lit up with beauty.

Some times the places we go and the people we see, my heart breaks for the situation that they're in. You can see the hopelessness in their faces at times. My constant prayer for these people is to bring hope to their heart. Just as it says in Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans i have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. This verse I feel is overused at times, but these people of Guatemala truly need that right now. They need hope that exceeds their understanding and worldly view on their life. Our God, is so much bigger than the situations than these people are in and He is willing and able to bring a brighter future for these people.  Thank you for all your prayers and support!