God’s Extensive Reach

Two weeks ago I got the opportunity to travel 12 hours away to the jungle of Guatemala. I stayed there in different areas and communities up until yesterday when I traveled back to our main base. These two weeks truly tested my faith. As I sit on the other side of this experience I can see how God has strengthened my faith and renewed my mind. He proved to me that He seeks and reaches for all His children, even those you would never even think of.

 

To start off the two weeks I worked in two Mayan villages. The journey to the first was absolutely insane. We traveled by truck for three hours, we had about double the amount of people in this truck as we should’ve. The “road,” was filled with holes and streams that we questioned if the truck would even survive. Calling it a road is a very loose statement, a better description would be a path that our truck just so happened to be able to survive. Then, after three hours of driving, we reached the end of the “road.” Our truck had reached the bottom of a mountain and we had to continue on foot. We hiked with all of our belongings that we needed for the 3 days, every ounce of water, every piece of food, and all of our other essentials for living. We hiked for an hour and a half, through knee-deep mud, up the mountain. We finished the hike cut up, drenched in sweat, and covered in mud, but excited for what God was about to do. There were quite a few challenges when working in this first village. First off, we were the first white people these people had ever seen. Second, they were Mayans so they barely even spoke Spanish, they all spoke Q’eqchi’. As you could imagine, that made us all rely on the Lord even more. But God blessed that which He called us into abundantly. We got to minister to both the children and adults, we taught them songs, told them stories about Jesus, and played plenty of fútbol. Throughout our time in the village, God continuously showed Himself working in their lives. The hearts of the Mayan people in the village were filled with curiosity. As funny as it sounds, God genuinely used the fact that we were gringos for His glory every single day. It was loco, to say the least. I had the opportunity the very last night we were in the community to preach with a translator to all the people that lived in the village. It was a very sweet time that night. We had a bonfire where we sang worship songs and even got to listen to a Q’eqchi worship song. Multiple people gave their lives to Christ that night and we don’t know how many seeds were planted. All we know is that God loves these people and He’s showing up for them daily.

 

The second Mayan village we only worked at for one and a half days. However, God still produced a lot of fruit from our time there. He gave us so many opportunities to show God’s love through our actions and attitudes. One of the days I was literally just cleaning and God still used it. It was crazy, it almost seemed like God had plans for it all (sarcasm). It was such a blessing to work and know that just by showing love I could be changing these kids’ lives. It was completely humbling honestly. It helped me to realize how lucky I am that God would choose to use me out of all people here. Because I can assure you, without Christ, I am not worthy at all. 

 

The rest of our time in the jungle was spent in two other communities. But these two were different because we were able to stay at the One Way base and commute each day. The drive was only about an hour and a half for these two neighboring communities. We worked with kids predominantly, once again teaching them who Jesus is. Midway through the week working in these two communities, the whole team started struggling with bad sickness. We went through waves of different people feeling good one day whilst others vomited all day. It seemed like the sickness traded off its victims daily. It was definitely not my favorite feeling. But it was incredible to see how God gave us strength. Even when we were exhausted, God still used us. The most hyper we were the whole two weeks was when we were probably the most tired. It was only by the grace of God that He gave us that energy.

 

The past two weeks have taught me so much. I’ve learned about God’s character, His presence, His worthiness, His power, and so much more. He has been teaching me and showing me his realness daily. One of the coolest things he showed me was how He blesses. If God calls you to something He will bless it. And God doesn’t bless only a little bit, God blesses in abundance. He blesses till we overflow. God has also shown me how He’s working in places we don’t even imagine. The thought of working in a Mayan village completely secluded from everything else never even crossed my mind before this trip. Nonetheless, God’s been working there since before I was born. The hearts of those people weren’t being changed because we showed up for a few days and talked to them. They were and are being changed because God has been working this whole time.

 

I would really appreciate prayer over my ministry hosts One Way. They are the ministry that I’ve been a part of that allowed me to do all this. I cannot emphasize enough just how amazing this ministry is. They are filled with the Holy Spirit so evidently; it amazes me every day I get to work with them. If you pray for them and feel led to give, please get in contact with me. I would love to help you get in contact with them to donate because they need it and deserve it. They’re inspiring thousands of Guatemalans all year round.

 

Sorry for the delay in posting, jungle and cell service don’t align very well. Thank you for reading this post. God bless you all!