Life Lately: April and May

Who knew that life in a slow-paced culture would be so busy?! It's been so crazy around here that I've had no time to sit down and write a blog...until now! Here's a little bit of our life from the past few months.

We hosted a group from the World Race in the month of April. They traveled 11 countries in 11 months.  It's pretty hardcore and so were these girls! We loved hosting them and working alongside them in ministry for a month.  

Meet Esbin. He recently got saved! As I mentioned here, we have been taking food to families and eating dinner with them. Through this ministry, Esbin gave his life to Christ. His family has been coming to our Bible study on Monday night's and we hope to see the rest of his family come to know Christ! 

Working with these ladies is one of my favorite parts of ministry. We get to make jewelry and talk about Jesus together. :) And now our website is up and running! The only thing we lack is getting our online store up. You can still visit the website, learn more about our company and check out the blog.

In May we finished our 10 week soccer tournament for the villages. The village "Amapa" (in yellow and red) won the tournament! Mitch and Esaú had the opportunity to preach before the game and the local TV station came and videoed all of it. We joke around about being "famous" in Cuilapa because not only are we the only gringos in town, but now we've been on tv...

It's the Guatemalan rainy season right now(boo!). I'm going to sound life a broken record year after year, but I really hate the rainy season. Mud, fog, mud...it's everywhere! The other day the current of the river we usually cross over was so strong that we couldn't even enter in the village. This whole rain everyday thing is driving me crazy and makes for some crazy weather too. I was wearing jeans, boots and a jacket the other day. Hey weather, it's June! Where' the sunshine? I'll settle for some light rain showers...let's just stop with the daily torrential downpour already.

We've hosted several teams this summer and we're super thankful for them! It's so much fun to work with teams and it's huge encouragement for our ministry! Thankful for teams from Owasso, Ok, Fayetteville, AR, and West Monroe, LA.

Right now this is #teamGuatemala! But during the next 2 months, we have a total of 10+ people coming to visit and work alongside us in ministry!! Hooray for visitors who love missions!


Pray for our ministry, pray for lives to be changed and as always, #prayforGuatemala.

Football...I mean, Futbol.

"Barca or Real?"

That was one of the first questions we were asked when we moved to Guatemala. Of course, like many of you, our reaction was "What?"

Barcelona or Real Madrid...two European soccer teams that the country of Guatemala is obsessed over. You can't live in Guatemala and not have anything to do with soccer, so we picked our side and are now fans of a team we once knew nothing about.

The point is, Guatemalans love soccer. And I mean LOVE.
Being from the south, specifically the panhandle of Florida, I know what it means to be passionate about football. Growing up, I was a football coach's daughter. My Friday nights were spent in a stadium cheering on my high school football team and my Saturday's were (and still are) spent watching college football.

While I still very much love American football, now most of my days are spent around the other kind of futbol.

As Mitch and Esaú were strategizing a way to reach the men in the communities we work in, something dawned on them; Guatemalans love soccer. They love to talk about it and watch it, but mostly they love to play it!

From that simple, yet obvious conclusion, we decided to start a soccer tournament between the 4 villages we're involved in. After only 2 weeks of planning, our soccer tournament commenced!

Every Saturday until May 9th we have over 90 men showing up to play soccer. Before the games begin, Mitch and/or Esaú have been sharing the Word of God with them.

This has been one of the coolest things we've done so far. We have been blown away about how excited these communities have been about this tournament. Because of this, we've been able to eat meals with several men and their families. Many of them are starting to bring up spiritual conversations as well.

As we continue to play this game that is so loved by the Guatemalans, join us in praying for the rest of our tournament. We hope to see more than just a good game of futbol...we hope to see men and families come to know the Lord.

Sobremesa

sobremesa

  (n.) The time spent around the table after lunch or dinner, talking to the people you shared the meal with; a time to digest and savor both food and friendship 

photo from here

Whether we knew the exact term or not, we've all experienced sobremesa. It's that nostalgic feeling of Christmas dinner around the table, hours spent catching up with old friends out to eat or in our case, sharing a meal with new friends.

The beginning of this year, we began to rethink our ministry strategy. We shifted our focus onto something we're all familiar with-food.

Every ministry day we bring food to family in the village and we eat with them.

The idea of doing life together around a table is so attractive. Who doesn't love food and good conversation? While we may not always have a literal table between us when we eat with these families, the practice of bringing in food and eating with one another has deepened our relationships with many of them and has given us a way to share the Gospel to an entire family. For once, ministry seems so simple.

Sit. Talk. Eat.

I can imagine Jesus doing the same when He ate with the tax collectors, fed the masses, and broke bread with his disciples.

Sometimes life and ministry can feel so rushed. But sitting down to eat with one another takes intentionality, from the preparing of the meal to the hospitality given and received.
Even though most of the villagers are receiving us into their homes, we have learned that we too must show them hospitality as we serve them and share the Gospel.

"Hospitality is rarely convenient. We must be willing to interrupt the lives of others and be interrupted in our own lives to truly experience hospitality as Jesus practiced." (Excerpt from She Reads Truth)

Through this ministry, we have become aware of so many personal needs these people have. And it has given us a way to personally pray over these families and their communities. Jesus was the greatest example of how life can be done with intentionality. I pray that we follow His example and our ministry will show people just how great our God is!

Perhaps more of life needs to be done around a table. More intentionality, more hospitality and more Sobremesa.

Buen Provecho!

thankful hearts, surrendered lives

Just a week after the murder of a man in Los Chilitos, many of the Catholics gathered around in the village to preform rituals that would supposedly make the evil spirits flee. We drove into the village that day not knowing what was going on. We realized there weren't many people walking around, but we gathered with those that were. Hail and rain began pouring down and all the schools kids waited patiently under the school for the opportune time to make a run for their homes. The little ones waited with Rebecca and I and together we read the story of Abraham. We followed the story with a song that even the village kids knew, "Father Abraham had many sons, many sons had father Abraham."       

While we kept occupied, waiting for the rain to slow down, Mitch and Esaú met Gilberto in his home with chicken and tortillas. Even in Guatemala, the best way to win a man is with food. Gilberto is the father of Sindy, the 17 year old who was recently saved and baptized. After talking and eating for a while, Mitch asked him a hard question, "Are you about ready to give your life to Christ? 
I'm almost ready," Gilberto answered easily. 
The following Sunday we drove up to their home for bible study liked we had planed with him. We studied John 1 and it was evident that they were soaking up God's word. We wrapped up our study with prayer and said hasta mañana. 
We rolled in on Monday and followed our normal schedule with the kids. When we were done, we walked to Gilberto's house and sat and listened as the guys' conversation grew into something spiritual. By the end of our time there, Gilberto was on his knees in prayer surrendering his life to Christ. 

We are thankful to be a part of this ministry; to witness families give their lives to follow Jesus. As we continue to meet with Gilberto, I pray his home becomes a beacon of light for the gospel in the village of Los Chilitos.
Here are some photos of Gilberto showing us around his village; some of the prettiest views we've ever seen!

Gilberto, Mitch, Esaú, and Clay

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! 

Building the Church

When Mitch and I moved to Guatemala, we went with specific dreams and goals. We have been there for 9 months now and are starting to see some goals turn into reality. Summers are always the busiest time of the year for our organization and as we headed into summer, we began planning for our 5 summer teams. A BIG thanks to our teams from:

Stone Mountain, GA

Asheville, NC

Stigler, OK

Oklahoma City, OK and

Pensacola, FL

for helping us build our first church in the village Agua Zarca!! We have invested most of our time into this village and have a wonderful relationship with the community. Phase 1 of construction is underway and our dreams are truly becoming reality. We can't wait to see how God transforms this village! 

 I love that some of the moms from the village are helping with the construction. They are so excited for the new church! 

 The beautiful view from Agua Zarca!

Our group of 39 from Stigler, OK formed the longest assembly line we've ever seen! Great for fast, efficient work up the hill. 

Cindi, is a 17-year-old single mom who has recently accepted Christ! After hearing the gospel, she approached Mitch one day and asked how to give her life to Christ. A week later, she was baptized in a nearby river (and it was Mitch's first baptism!). We're so excited to see how God uses her in the village Los Chilitos! 

Thankful for these Trek-X friends of mine and so glad they could spend the summer in Guatemala! :) 

I am currently in the states and Mitch will join me next week after our last team leaves Guatemala. Please join us in praying for this new building and for the people who will make up the church. We are praying for a local villager to rise up as pastor and we truly believe we will see a transformed village. 

God is good. 

7 things about being a Missionary

I recently saw a blog about the myths of expat living. I found myself agreeing with every bit of the article since Mitch and I are technically expats (someone who lives in another country that is not their homeland). However, I thought it would be fun to create my own list, but about missionary living, since we're also missionaries. I figured that a lot of my readers have probably been on a mission trip before, know people who go on mission trips, or know/support missionaries. While this probably isn't general to all missionaries, it's our life and I hope this will help everyone understand our world a little better (and maybe even give you a good laugh).

1. We are semi-homeless.
I prefer to call myself a nomad rather than semi-homeless, but either way, we never seem to have a permanent place. We lived in Nashville for 2 years and our commitment in Guatemala is for 2 years, but we will most likely stay longer. When we are in the states, you can usually find us hopping from one state to another visiting friends and family. We're pros at living out of a suitcase. The life of a missionary isn't completely nomadic, but we sure do a lot of traveling (just look at the life of Paul!). Who knows where we'll be 5 years from now?!

2. Our driving skills have drastically improved. 
Americans think other Americans are bad drivers. But you really haven't experienced bad driving until you have crossed borders. Don't worry if you fail your drivers test in Guatemala. You can always just pay for a license…

3. Our bargaining skills have improved…with the police.
One time Mitch completely got out of getting a parking ticket because he used the whole "I'm not from around here" trick. Except it wasn't a trick and he really didn't know that he wasn't supposed to park in that spot. He also just so happend to "forget Spanish." I don't know if you could really call that bargaining, but it worked. And that one time I got stopped (they do random stops here) and I didn't have my license…I somehow talked my way out of that one!

4. We are grateful for the little things.
Like toilet paper. I totally forgot that flushing toilet paper was a thing. I'm just happy to have some. And I know now to always carry some with me when we're out and about. Good luck finding toilet paper in a village.

5. Our bug and dirt tolerance is through the roof (literally). 
Bugs are still not my friends, but they are more tolerated than ever before. Please don't judge me when you come over to my house and see spiders living on the ceiling and in the corners. Is it weird that I'm kind of thankful for them? I mean, they do eat bugs. There may be more dirt than you're used to seeing too, but my house is made of concrete so just go with it.

6. We speak Spanglish.
Spanglish is a real thing you guys. Sometimes our brain has a hard time switching back and forth between Spanish and English so they both come out in the same sentence. Lo siento in advance.

7. We have the best job.
Ministry can be hard; emotionally, spiritually, and physically hard. But on the hard days and especially on the good days, we remember that we are working for the Kingdom. That makes every second worth it and it makes us thankful that God chose us for this job…the best job!

Beautiful Ministry

I love this photo. I love the smile on the little girl's face. I love the freshly painted nails with each color representing something different about salvation. And I love the different skin tones coming together as friends. 

This past week was another adventure for Mitch and I as we lead a mission team from West Monroe, LA (no, the Robertson's did not come!). We worked primarily in a new area for us called Las Vegas (Guatemala, of course…although the other Las Vegas that we're all familiar with could use a whole lot of Jesus too). We also ventured into some familiar villages that we work in on a regular basis. It was a wonderful week finishing the construction of a new church building and seeing many come to know the Lord! 

 

Mitch and I had been working in a village called Amapa since December and had yet to see any adults come to Christ. Ministry takes time, this we know. But some of these villagers had made it pretty clear that they didn't want to change. So we began thinking that this area was nothing but hard soil and that maybe it would be wise to move along to another village. We were discouraged, yet we continued. We took some of the group with us into this village for half a day. After only 2 hours of evangelizing, playing with kids, and giving free eye exams, 9 people were saved! And many of those people had been showing up at our Bible study this whole time. We learned something very important from this: house to house, person to person evangelism was much more effective than large group bible studies. This is true in scripture too. Jesus is seen with individuals and his disciples more often than speaking to the masses. Many more salvations took place this week in other villages, but we are rejoicing over the saved souls in Amapa; a place we have been praying for for so long.

 

When groups come, we like to do projects that helps the local community and builds up the local church. The main project they worked on was finishing the floors and altar of a local church, which only took them 3 days to finish. We also focused a lot on evangelism and saw at least 25 people saved! Usually one week mission trips changes the group more so than the locals. Because let's be honest, 1 week is not going to set the world on fire. But this week was a bit different. I can't say this enough, but I love this job of mine. I love seeing high schoolers wrecked by what God is doing and I love seeing locals come to salvation in Christ. I'm thankful to have been a part of last week's ministry. Here's to 4 more teams this summer!