The First Cut is the Deepest: Saying Goodbye to Guatemala

Hey hey friends!

We are wrapping up our time in Guatemala this week and I wanted to share a quick update on what we’ve been doing here.

For the first 6 weeks, we worked with CASA Guatemala, a local church in Mixco. You can read all about that in my last blog, but it was filled with home visits, donating food, and women’s and children’s ministries. We got to see the early church as it began in Acts, which was incredibly sweet. Alex, our host, welcomed my team and I into his family in so many ways. We ate meals together, discussed Jesus and theology, and prayed for each other.

After the month and a half of ministry, we came to Antigua for 2 weeks to have training and debrief with the rest of our squad. Training started with our mentor, Stephanie, walking us through the foundations of the kingdom of God. What it looks like, some core principles of the kingdom, and how we can bring it down to earth. The next day, we dug deep in a discussion of spiritual warfare and the different influences we allow in our lives. We got to spend the afternoon praying and asking God to free us from any sort of strongholds that the enemy may have over our lives.

Once we had been set free from the enemy, we learned about the Holy Spirit and all the different ways we can see his power in our lives. This includes things such as being baptized in the Spirit, fruit of the spirit, and spiritual gifts. One night, we went to a home and actually got to have spiritual baptisms as a squad, During this, each person was baptized in a tub while everyone else prayed, worshipped, and prophesied over them. We spent almost 8 hours here, seeking God and asking for more of him, and MAN did he deliver. After getting baptized, my squad mates and I could feel chains being broken, stepped into new identity, and received new spiritual gifts. 

We began our debrief time a few days later, which is a time set aside to recharge and check in after our first 2 months of ministry. My team and I spent time together reflecting on what we did well and how we want to improve as a team moving forward. I got to have 1-on-1s with our leadership and spend time with other members of our squad, drinking way too much coffee. We took one afternoon as a squad fun day and got to hike an ACTIVE volcano (this might be the coolest thing I’ve done so far). To get there, we loaded up in buses for a 2 hour ride to a small town near the volcano. There were 3 trucks waiting for us there, to which we all piled into the backs. The trucks took us through the lava fields to a trailhead. From here, we walked about a mile to a valley at the foot of Pacaya, one of the 3 active volcanoes in Guatemala. Along the way, we got to feel the rocks that had fallen 2-3 days prior and were still hot from the lava. We also spent some time just sitting and watching the volcano, lava forming rivers down the sides. We were so close that we could hear the hardened lava rocks bouncing down the mountain. (Don’t worry Mom, we stayed mostly safe 😉

Overall, Guatemala has been an incredible country to begin our World Race journey. We’ve seen God move in new ways and provide when we needed him most. I’ve fallen in love with this place and the beautiful people and am already planning a trip to return one day. For now though, we are preparing to travel to Costa Rica for our next 2 months!