August 3 - Departure Day: We met at Washington Dulles airport: the place that would begin and end the journey that changed my life. I was going with an amazing group consisting of two of my best friends and my youth leader, so needless to say it was the dream team. We prayed in the airport lobby, all 22 of us in a circle asking God to bless our time. All I felt was excitement at this point, but a lot of my peers were pretty nervous so we decided to meditate on the airport floor (not successful, but comedic nonetheless).
August 4 - We arrived in Guatemala at around 1 am on August 4th. We were met there by a staff member from Clubhouse Guatemala, and he escorted us onto a tricked out school bus, that would be our transportation for the next week. It was driven by the one and only Giovanni, and let me tell you he had some pretty fun music taste. On the bus ride to the Mission House where we were to stay for the night, Giovanni played songs like Funky Town by Lipps Inc. for the entirety of the bus ride from 1-3 AM. We arrived at the Mission House, brought our bags to our bunk beds, and crashed all in the span of about 45 minutes. We woke up bright and early the next morning to do a live stream with the church, and then we got ready for our day in the city of Antigua. We ate some bomb tacos and spent the whole day bartering for goods such as bracelets and drug rugs at the marketplace. That night we made the long trek (by tricked out bus, of course) to Camp Calvary in the village of Picaya. After a brief team meeting, we went to bed.
The night of August 4th (technically August 5th) - This was definitely the hardest time of the trip. I woke up suddenly around 2 AM shivering in my sleeping bag. It was 60 degrees in the bedroom, and I was in shorts in a t-shirt, too afraid to reach outside for my sweatshirt because earlier that night a cockroach climbed up my leg in the shower (gross). I was paralyzed by fear, and Satan fed me lies as I cried myself to sleep like "maybe I'm not meant to be here" and "maybe God can't use me like I thought He could."
August 5 - I woke up this morning more hopeful than I had been the night before, but still weary about how God was going to use me. We packed food bags in the morning, and then we headed out to the village immediately outside of Camp Calvary for home visits. These home visits affirmed that God was present and working and that I was exactly where I needed to be. My home visit group (cudos to them) was so much fun and we spent the day talking to people in the village about their lives and faith. We met a kid named Anderson, who was 11 years old and without both of his parents. Just a year before we met him, we found out he was living on the streets of Guatemala City working for only $25 a month. Clubhouse found him and brought him back to the village where he stays with a woman there who had taken him in. This was an eye opening experience on the simplicity of my childhood and how I took that for granted. Then we went to our first day of Vacation Bible School in the center of El Pedrero. We danced, colored, and played games with all the kids from the surrounding village's and I could have never known how much they would mean to me over the next few days. Later that day we hiked up a hill near to camp that led to the most amazing view of the volcanoes.
August 6 - This was our second day doing home visits, and we went to the neighboring city of El Pedrero to deliver food bags and water filters this time. We met a girl who was 18 years old and had two kids: she had her first kid at age 14! Birth control methods are not talked about in places like this and there is not much availability of them even if they are. Another thing this girl said that stuck out to me is that she would have to wait for the running water to cycle to her house before she could use the water filter. One of the most basic "necessities" of American life is not even available every day for the people of these villages. Then we went back to the VBS where we preformed another Bible skit and made more memories with the kids (I believe today we preformed the story of Joseph).
August 7 - Another day, another day of home visits. Home visits were so amazing because they showed us how hospitable and grateful every person in the two villages were, regardless of how much they had. This day we met a woman who completely changed my perspective by just being herself. She was the definition of the verse "Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples" John 13:35. She genuinely loved and cared for all of us, and she was so thankful for the food bag because she knew it was a gift directly from God. She is the person I will look to when I need to be reminded of rejoicing in all circumstances. Then we headed to the VBS to share the Gospel with the kids! We made beaded bracelets where each color represented a different part of the Gospel, and little did I know this bracelet would come in handy again very soon.
August 8 - Today was the day that changed my life forever. As we were doing home visits, we visited a woman named Lala. After we gave her the food bag we asked her if she had a relationship with Jesus, and her response broke my heart. She said "No, no one has ever really told me about it." I live in a place where you can assume everyone has at least of heard of Jesus and what He did for us, but I was in complete shock to discover that so many people do not have the same opportunity. That's why sharing the Gospel is so important!! So with the bracelets we made at the VBS the day before, I shared the Gospel with her. After I shared, I shared a very small part of my personal testimony (tune into my first blog post for that). Out of everything I could have shared, I decided to share how I used to have a lot of anxiety but Jesus healed me from that and taught me to trust Him with my future. God 110% spoke through me throughout all of this, because after I shared the woman started crying. She said how she had been feeling the exact same way, overwhelmed with anxiety about the future of her family, and then she accepted Jesus into her heart. I left my bracelet with her so she could have a constant reminder of the commitment made that day, and there is no feeling like knowing that I will see her in heaven. After home visits it began pouring rain, so we had the unique opportunity of picking up at least 20 people on our bus to take them closer to their homes. It was packed, and some of the most fun we had! Then we had another day of VBS where I played with the cutest kids and just had a blast. Having a blast is a common theme throughout this trip if you couldn't tell :))
August 9 - Today was our last full day in Picaya and it was heartbreaking. I started off the day by waking up at 5am to hike and see the sunrise at the view spot near the camp. Next we had our home visits in El Pedrero, and aside from witnessing a woman accept Jesus into her heart, we had our best home visit yet! God really did save the best for last, because we spent over an hour at our very last home visit of the trip having one of the best conversations we'd ever had with the family. Every single person in my home visit group talked and shared their thoughts on the Lord and the Word, and it was absolutely wonderful to Jesus speak through all of us. Then we went to our "block party" at the VBS, but it was pretty similar to our normal activities, just with a bouncy castle and fun washable tattoos. We also got to take Polaroid pictures of all the kids and most of their moms for them to keep, and it's so fun seeing the look on their faces when they see a photo of themselves! I played with Juanita and Fernanda most of the time, and I am so blessed that my family now sponsors Juanita. Saying goodbye today was one of the hardest things I've had to do and I still miss and pray for all of the kids to this day.
August 10 - The group hiked the volcano fields this day with the amazing Clubhouse Guatemala staff and some of the local kids today. HUGE shout out to the staff and the translators that translated at every home visit and helped us talk to the kids, the Lord really spoke and worked through all of them. The fields were beautiful and it was a great way to end our time in Picaya. We then took a bus to a mall in the city for lunch, and it was the weirdest thing to come from a place that had almost no commercial stores to the old normal of retail stores and chain food restaurants. Next we went to the mission house, hung out there for awhile, and then got pizza and ice cream for dinner. We went to the airport that night, and arrived back at Washington Dulles at around 6am on August 11.
And just like that, it was over. The week that I had spent pouring Jesus's love onto the people and kids had ended, and I was left to reflect on what I had learned and the experiences I had. I posted a bunch of recaps from the week and my final thoughts on my Instagram, and here is what I wrote:
THE MAJOR TAKEAWAY: A grateful heart = a joyful life. This will forever be my life motto. Gratefulness unlocks SO many doors to other positive traits such as generosity, a positive outlook, and most importantly, a joyful life. And I'm not necessarily talking about being grateful for our circumstances, because life can get hard. I'm talking about always being grateful for who God is, what Jesus did for us, and what He continues to do for us. If you can constantly thank God and say "thank you God, You are enough" it changes everything. The people in Guatemala taught me to appreciate the smaller things in life and thank God for every single thing He continues to bless you with. I know the trip is over, but me serving the Lord does not end here. I don't share this stuff to seem like a better person (because I'm just as broken as the next person) or for selfish ambition, but I share these stories and lessons in hopes that God's work can be done through me. If someone is looking for a sign of God's existence, this is it!!! He is here and live and wants you to come home to Him. "My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Him who lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." Galatians 2:20.
Here is a link to the travel video I made from the week: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVl_vA4MdmQ
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