Update from Monday December 2nd to Sunday December 8th
“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” Matthew 7:7. You find God when you seek Him because He was never hiding from you. He is seeking you first, He loves you first, He chooses you first. We seek as a response to His already given love. Life is joyful and full in His presence (Psalm 16:11) It’s the month of December and Advent. The remembrance of Jesus’ coming. His coming for us, His seeking us. This month is full of change and excitement; leaving Guatemala and heading to South Africa. But God has been teaching me the importance of sitting still in His presence. Being in awe of His Goodness and Faithfulness. And letting Him seek me by simply turning. Jesus came to bring peace, joy, hope love, and salvation. This month I just want to simply be thankful and in awe of Him.
This week was our last week at Hope Ministries. I love this ministry and am so blessed to be able to serve alongside some truly amazing men and women of God. I’ve learned what it means to surrender my whole life to the Lord and live in full obedience through some amazing people who live it out every day. God is working in their lives and in this ministry and it is truly a blessing to call them friends.
On Monday we had our final English class (it was also their final day before the holiday break), so we had a celebration for the kids, playing games and giving gifts. On Tuesday we did a final house visit and were able to pray and encourage a family going through a lot of hard things. In the afternoon we had a final VBS day, where the older kids recapped their bible study of Revelation and finished the day by playing some hand ball. Wednesday we continued making decorations for the Christmas festival.
Thursday, our squad had our final activation day and focused on what it means to be ambassadors for the Kingdom. We then did baptisms where 4 of my squad mates re-surrender their lives to Jesus. It was an amazing day as a squad to celebrate all God has done here in Guatemala.
Friday was our final day of official ministry (we still have the Christmas festival on Sunday). I played soccer with the kids while some of my team continued working on the decorations. Unfortunately I can’t say I’ve become a pro soccer player but I like to think I’ve gotten better. Rose, Ella and I then went to do the stairs for the final time and pray for the family we met there weeks ago. We have been visiting and praying for them for the last 5 weeks and although we have not seen a full healing of the little girl, it is so evident God is working in the whole family and I have faith that He will bring full deliverance. We then came back to a surprise brunch with our ministry hosts! I am really going to miss all these amazing people I’ve met here. The afternoon was more soccer, I’m also going to miss playing with this kids with the beautiful view of the volcanos.
Sunday was the Christmas party! It was a long day of setting up and getting ready, it was so sweet to see families from the community. And of course to see all the kids for the last time! We spent the morning setting up all the decorations and the garden completely transformed! It was beautiful! Then families began to show up around 2. We welcomed them and finished preparing a game for later. Just after 3 the festival began with a welcome speech, short teaching and worship. Unfortunately we did have to leave early to make it back to base on time, but it was such a great last day celebrating Christmas with the community and our wonderful ministry hosts. Goodbyes were hard, as they always are, but that’s just apart of the race. Sweet hellos and hard goodbyes.
Sponsorship Opportunity!! Adventures in Mission Guatemala had started a sponsorship program for kids in Parramos and Parrojas. You can sponsor a child for $45 USD (or about $60 CAD) each month for as long as you would like, whether that’s one month or many years you will be impacting kids and families. Your gift will provide food with good nutrition, clean water, education and a discipleship program. With all these things, these kids can grow up to become teachers, missionaries, doctors, business owners and so much more. An amazing things about this sponsorship program is that you can write and receive letters to your child to build a relationship with them and stay up to date with how they are doing. Adventures in Mission also sends out quarterly updates of the program in general to all sponsors. Please pray and consider sponsoring one of these kids. If you would like take this opportunity, here is the link that you can use to sponsor a child!
Thank you for reading, please continue praying for my squad durning our week of debrief and travel days! Hope you all had a great week
