A Quick Update!

I have now helped with my first team! This past week involved an energetic and fun team from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. This was my first time translating, serving alongside a group, and leading in Guatemala.

On Sunday, we went to the market and I led a group around. I found just about everything they wanted to see, with a little help from them! I haven't been around the market much since I've moved here, but we figured it all out.

Monday, we went up the mountain to a village called San Antonio Ilotenango. This church has had a partnership with them for the past few years. I was able to help translate between conversations. The kids here were full of energy, and so excited to see us! We also went on a home visit. My group visited an older woman, her two adult children, and eight grandchildren. Albeit there being 11 of them, they lived in a 3 room clay house. The elderly mother was being affected by Alzheimer's or dementia, and one of the adult children had special needs. This means the woman, with eight children, was the only working one in the house. She said her weekly income was about one hundred quetzals, equal to about $13. As unfortunate as this is, this is common in Guatemala. We gave them food, but more importantly, lots of prayer. In this village, we also attended a church service and socialized with the people there. It was cool to see the gringos from Pittsburgh reconnect with their friends from a small village in Guatemala.

Beautiful girls from San Antonio Ilotenango

The rest of the week, I helped the team with construction projects on the ASELSI base. I don't know some of my construction words in English, so trying to translate them into Spanish was interesting, but we got by. The excitement of the week was the 6.9 earthquake at 1:30 a.m. on Wednesday. I thought I was overreacting when I felt it, but much to my surprise, it was a big earthquake! I was located 50 miles from the epicenter, so we all are thankful to God that we are safe and sound. Please pray for the families and people on the coast that were more strongly affected by this tragedy. Otherwise, I also translated on a hospital visit during the week. It was a great week, finished off by a small trip to Antigua before they left for the states.

This team taught me a lot about my work for this summer. I was reminded to always be positive and love others, both Americans and Guatemalans. They taught me that my work is not just ministering to Guatemalans, but also to Americans. I learned more about how to perceive missions, short-term and long-term. (Look for my thoughts on this in future posts!) However, most importantly, I learned more about what God is teaching me, His works through me, and made some great friendships.

As I continue this summer with teams, please pray for strength, patience, and energy. My next team comes Saturday, and then I have a team every week for the rest of my time here. Please pray for my continued health and safety. Lastly, I encourage you to pray for God to continue to act and speak to me and through me.