Well howdy friends 🙂
I’m slacking again, I know, but in my defense we’ve been very busy getting settled into our home for the remainder of the trip. REMAINDER? WE’RE ALREADY TO THAT POINT!? I only have 22 days until I’m back in the states. That’s it.
Anyways, let me catch you up to speed. Our squad split with one half up at Prayer Mountain just outside of Antigua and the other half (my half) in Poptun, Peten. We keep El Fuego (the other team) and their ministry in our prayers daily and miss each and every one of them dearly. Since getting here, there’s been a lot of changes that we’ve made in order to best prepare and excite us for the next season of this trip! My original team name, was the Watchmen (which will forever be close to my heart as my first team) but we collectively agreed that with the team changes, we needed a new name to better represent our new group! So now, I’m proudly part of the team Imago Dei which means made in the image of God! In addition to this fun change, I’ve also had a role change! As I mentioned in previous blogs, my team role was one of two Storytellers, who is responsible for the team posting blogs, telling the beautiful stories of God’s love that we got to both experience and witness, as well as capture these moments in a picture! My squad leaders have now asked me to step down from that role and into the Team Lead role! This means that I will be my squad leaders right hand (wo)man in guiding the endeavors of our team and working to keep God at the center of our time here! I felt incredibly honored to be viewed as a leader and it touched my heart to hear the things they had recognized in me from our time in Nicaragua – I absolutely think this was also God affirming things that He has already spoken over me which has given me more insight into the person that He has designed me to be!
On a different note, we’ve now officially finished our first week of ministry which has been different from Nicaragua in a lot of ways! If you read my last blog, you understand my relationship with kids. Im pretty sure God read that blog post and laughed at me because the ministry that Im now partnering with is purely focused on children. Regardless of my previous feelings and expressions, I AM excited to get to be part of this ministry and have absolutely loved the past week! God has such an incredible way of showing us the pureness of his love for us through children and getting to experience that first hand is such an incredible blessing. Our days are typically very structured with our mornings either being spent in a school with 5 year olds (I have yet to be part of this) or prayer walking (like we did in Nicaragua, YAY!). Throughout our days, God has been such a kind and patient teacher to me in giving me grace for Evangelizing. While I enjoyed it in Nicaragua, I always felt short of words (not like me, as we know I’m a yapper), which is not the case here. In my increasing understanding of the power of evangelism, God has given me a word to share with people at every home we’ve visited and in turn has given me more excitement and motivation to continue doing so. In addition to this area of growth, many of you would be happy to know that I have LOVED spending time with the kids here! Whether it’s teaching an art class, teaching english (yikes! I’m still learning it myself), or participating in a soccer academy (yes Noah, you should be proud of my mad soccer skills), I have not had a day yet where I left feeling empty or that there was not a difference made!
I’m quickly losing my heart to Guatemala and find myself longing for more time here to explore the depths of the culture, environment, people, and food of course. While I feel this way now, I know that the curious parts of me will always be there and God recognizes that. I am believing that He will continue to fill those curious desires and allow me to leave my time here feeling complete.
I love love love you all and miss you beyond words!
Yours truly,
Em 🙂
P.S. – I watched church today and I’m not sure if that helped me feel less homesick or made me more homesick but just pretend I was there with you guys because I felt like I was <3
Emma, I love reading your heartfelt detailed updates. I’m still in the jealous camp. Although a different mission, your time in Guatemala really makes me reflect on my experience there and yearn to return to purposely do Gods work. Yes you may have been in church, in spirit, but there was still a void only you can fill in person. Constant prayers for your growth and well being.
I love this Emma! I always think God has a funny way of working things out. He knew how you felt about working with kids but also knew how much you would end up loving it! You have such a special way of encouraging people either with your testimony or God’s word and I feel honored to witness that! God has such sweet plans for you. 💛