People Matter

One week into being in Guatemala has been filled with joy from the Lord. We arrived to the AIM base here last Monday afternoon and stayed there before leaving for our ministry host on Tuesday evening. Upon arrival to our host at Reindom, we were welcomed by kind, energetic, passionate, and Jesus-loving people. They generously welcomed us into the mission house where we are staying for the duration of our time here.

We learned more about our ministry and partnership with the local villages through their kid’s ministry of Bible teaching, music classes, feeding programs, etc. We also have the opportunity to serve the homeless population at a weekly breakfast that provides opportunity for connection, receiving the Word, and worship. All of these amazing ministry opportunities have shown Reindom’s intentional service of the Lord and their deep love of Him.

These serving opportunities are an amazing way to be the hands and feet of Christ, but the people are truly what changes hearts and lives. I am blessed with an amazing team of 6 other Jesus-followers. They draw me into deeper relationship with the Lord through their personal pursuit of Him. They have given me space to begin sharing my heart, and have opened up about how the Lord has worked in their hearts — it is such a testament to the Lord’s faithfulness to His people. I have seen them all step out in faith as we’ve begun serving this community together. We’ve navigated new environments together, like riding chicken buses (a primary form of transport in Guatemala) together, going into new places, actively calling on the authority of the Lord in our host home through praying over it, and speaking a new language to communicate in all these different places. They have already begun to take a special place in my heart, I am so blessed to have these people in my life. My wonderful team calls me live as the Father made me and to rest in His powerful presence.

The Reindom team has had a major impact on my heart as well. They have so much joy in serving the community they live in and the Lord is blessing their ministry because of their faithfulness. This team strives to serve the Lord and to stand in awe of all He is doing. They begin their days of ministry by meeting together in the prayer room of the mission house to pray and worship together. This allows them to be filled by the Lord before pouring out into the people they encounter. They model living radically on mission for the kingdom so well and glow with the light of the Lord. These wonderful people call me to seek the Lord with more intention and to seek the Lord in every moment of everyday.

The children that we are serving are already impacting my life. Whenever we are in the main village that we are serving in, they want to be around. Our first day there, we were cleaning tables and the kids jumped right in grabbing sponges to wash the tables down with us. They live with so much joy, enjoying things that are mundane back in the US. They were an answered prayer when I was struggling to make connection because of the language barrier I am experiencing; the kids gave me a chance to start speaking a little Spanish in an environment that felt safer to me. Spending time with the kids has given me so much life and reminds me to have child-like faith while trusting that the Lord is going to meet me right where I’m at.

The Lord is showing me how much people matter in our lives. The people we are around have a great impact on the way that we view our environment and interact with the Lord. My people have made the busy, long days something to look forward to and remind me to walk with an expectance that the Lord is going to move. They help me to partner with the Lord through every circumstance, when facing challenges or joy. The Lord is using the people around me, and asking me to be used to serve them as well. I am expectant that the Lord will continue to show up and I have already experienced growth with the Lord.