I have written about what I am learning in Guatemala and included a few stories here and there, but I haven’t said much about what life looks like. During our time in Guatemala, my team partnered with a ministry called Hope, a ministry started and run by Guatemalans. Every day and every week looks a little bit different, but this is what a week generally looks like.
Monday
Every Monday morning, we do house visits. We walk around San Antonio, knock on doors, have conversations with locals, and pray for those we interact with. What’s amazing about the culture in Guatemala is when you knock on a stranger’s door, they invite you in. Even though they don’t know you, you don’t know their language, and they may not have enough seats, they invite you in.
There is one home that we visited as often as we were able. An elderly man and his son live there and enjoy the company we can give them and the prayers we raise on their behalf each time we visit. They are hard workers and have faced many challenges throughout their lives. On one of our last visits, we decided to throw them a birthday party, even though it was neither of their birthdays. We wanted to celebrate them and the lives that they have lived, so we threw them a party to do just that. We brought balloons, cookies, Coca-Cola, and apple juice. While we were there, we listened to their stories from while they were growing up and asked them what advice they would give us. While some of us were talking with the men, others were putting up the balloons behind them. When one of them turned around, he lit up, and the biggest smile spread across his face.
After a few house visits, we walk back to Hope to eat lunch and prepare for the afternoon English classes. There are four different classes for different ages. I was in the second-oldest English class, which was so much fun. It was a new perspective for me to be in a language class that wasn’t about grades but simply about learning and fostering community. I was able to teach the class every other Monday. It was fun, exciting, and sometimes challenging. I loved the opportunity to brainstorm creative ways to teach the words the kids were learning, to review, and to take what they were learning from memorization to understanding. From the first week I taught to the last week, I grew a lot in how to teach the kids best and my comfortability in doing so. The first week, I wasn’t sure how to manage the time we had. I was only given a short list of words to teach, and I was worried I wouldn’t be able to fill the entire time. The last week that I taught, I was surprised by how fast the time went, even though there wasn’t much material to teach. At first, I was scared I wouldn’t be able to teach them well; but by the last week, I was having fun teaching them. It was cool to see how the more fun I had teaching them, the more fun they had learning.
Tuesday
Tuesday mornings, we have Deep Dive with the base host. This is a time for us to read Scripture slowly, ask hard questions, and learn from each other. As soon as we finish Deep Dive, we leave the base as quickly as possible to get to Hope on time. When we get there, we do a Bible study with the volunteers and then go out in five groups to visit the kids’ homes in the ministry. This is something that I appreciate about Hope: they want to be involved in the whole family. They put in an effort to intentionally cultivate relationships with the parents of the kids and pour into them as well. I have heard stories of how Hope has completely transformed the lives of the kids and their families.
These house visits are lovely and tender as we get welcomed into the kids’ homes. The kids and their families are always excited to see us and welcome us in. The kids will often sit on our laps while we talk with their parents. After talking for a while and hearing about how the entire family is doing, we pray for the family and their home.
When we are done with house visits, we all meet together to share how they went. This time is incredible, and I enjoy hearing about how God moved in each family we visited that morning.
Later, the kids come for afternoon Bible lessons. I love being a part of this and seeing the kids getting poured into and raised up in the faith from a young age. While we were a part of Hope, they finished learning about Exodus and started a series of weeks learning about gratitude. I was extremely excited when I heard this because the practice of gratitude and giving thanks to the Lord has radically changed my life. Hope is intentional in what they teach the kids, growing relationships with each kid, and changing their lives for the better. These kids need to have strong examples of what a man and woman of God looks like, which they receive when attending Hope. The Guatemalans involved at Hope exemplify what it looks like to live a Christian life and are teaching the next generation how to do the same.
Wednesday
My team has Wednesday mornings off from ministry, so we usually go to a coffee shop to read our Bibles, call our families, and write blogs. During this time, we have intentional conversations with each other and our families, dive into Scripture, and keep everyone at home in the loop about what we are learning.
We are back at Hope for the afternoon to be involved in and sometimes lead a women’s Bible study. The home lives of some of these women are complicated. Many women attend the Bible study seeking rest and a break from their families. This is a space where they can confide in one another, hear the hope they have in Christ, pray for each other, find community, and have fun and laugh.
We start the time by playing a game, something I didn’t expect that they would enjoy. After spending so much time caring for others, or even most of their childhoods caring for their siblings, the opportunity to play a game and be carefree is exciting. They are always laughing as they try to figure out how to play. After playing a game, they have a snack of some sort, listen to an interactive lesson, do a craft, or even receive massages and face masks. These women have a lot on their plates, but Hope has intentionally created a space for them to come, let their guards down, and be comfortable.
I mentioned previously that Hope intentionally establishes relationships within the entire family. They are primarily a children’s ministry; however, they want to be involved in the lives of each member of the family. The women’s ministry is their effort to be involved in the lives of mothers. They are also planning to start a men’s soccer ministry to get involved in the lives of the fathers of the children. However, this is a little more difficult because they are often working.
Thursday
Thursdays look a bit different from the rest of the week. We have Activation, a time for the Adventures in Missions base staff to pour into and disciple us. We start the day with worship and teaching. After the teaching, we have between thirty minutes to an hour to sit with the Lord, pray, and apply the teaching. Then, we meet with our teams and a few of the base staff to discuss what we thought about the teaching, questions we had, and things the Lord revealed to us during our time of prayer. The time with our teams is about intentionally creating a space for us to discuss, challenge each other, help each other grow, share with one another (even if it’s vulnerable), get our questions answered, and be further poured into by the base staff.
After discussing for some time, we either go out to share with the people of Guatemala about the Jesus we love, intentionally spend time with each other, or spend more time cultivating intimacy with God. There was one Activation we spent two hours praying through the things God was teaching us instead of going out. To go out and share with others, we must first have intimacy with God. It’s hard to share about the God you love if you don’t have a relationship with him. To love him, you have to know him.
Activation is a time for us to grow and be equipped to go out. For our last Activation, we went out in our teams without translators or leaders. We had been raised up and trained for this moment. The goal of all the prior weeks was to equip us to go and share on our own instead of relying on a leader or someone with more experience. Even though we are young, we can still impact the world through our testimonies, prayers, and intentionality.
Friday
Fridays are one of my favorite days of the week because we have ATL (Ask the Lord) with some of the base staff in the morning. At nine, we hop on the bus to meet the base staff at Jocotenango, the town they live in, or in Antigua, a city about an hour away. When we go to Jocotenango, we pray about what God wants to do through us that day. Sometimes someone gets an image that we keep our eyes open for, which is always amazing when we see it. After praying and sharing what we received, we go out and have intentional conversations with people. Sometimes we talk with many people; other times, only one or two. For each person we talk with, we get to be intentional in having honest conversations instead of small talk.
After talking with them, we ask to pray for them and what we can pray for them for. When we pray over them, we usually all pray at once in English. While they don’t understand what we are saying, God does, and our prayers have the same amount of power. Prayers are powerful, and God still moves, even when the person we pray over doesn’t understand our words. I think this is special because you are not concerned with what they think about the words you are praying; you are talking to God. The fear of judgment is gone, and it is about you interceding on their behalf for only God to hear.
On the Fridays that we go to Antigua, we start our time by going to a prayer room in a coffee shop. I speak on behalf of my team when I say that we love this time. While in the prayer room, we are either praying individually, praying for one another, or praying out Scripture over our team. I mentioned it before and will repeat it, but it all starts with intimacy. We must have an intimate relationship with God before sharing because we can only share what we know. If we do not know God, we cannot share about him.
Weekend
Saturdays are adventure days, but we are still intentional as we do the things we want to do. Just because it isn’t a structured ministry day, it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t still do ministry. We have learned a new way of life that is intentional in sharing about the one we love, who has changed our lives and given us hope. We have learned how to go through life slower and more intentionally. When you slow down, you can see people well and get to know them. I encourage you to slow down and have conversations with the people around you who are also going through the mundane of life.
Sundays are Sabbath. I spend my day seeking deeper intimacy with God and receiving rest from him. It’s a special day, and I wrote a blog about Sabbath if you would like to know more about my experience with it.
I hope you enjoyed reading about what a week of my life in Guatemala looks like. I have loved every minute of my time here, even when it was hard. I am grateful for the Lord’s graciousness and kindness that has led me here. He is good and knows exactly what our hearts need. I’m sad that our time in Guatemala is ending, but I trust his faithfulness and plans to use me in the countries to come.
