Being a Blessing to Others is the Best Gift to Give...

For most today is the day we celebrate Easter, a day when the kids go out and find all the eggs the Easter bunny left behind in hidden areas and receive a basket filled with delicious treats. However here in Guatemala I can honestly say that Easter and the Easter bunny don’t really exist.

Here in Guatemala we have been celebrating Semana Santa (or Holy week). The biggest event that I have noticed during this week are the processions (or parades) where several people are clothed in purple robes (or black or white dresses if you are a woman) carrying these rather large and elaborately decorated floats down the streets. Here in Xela these processions started on Thursday and continued through Saturday (but there may have been one early Easter morning as well…I just didn’t see it).

The floats depict scenes of Jesus’ arrival into Jerusalem, the crucifixion, Jesus in the tomb, the resurrection, the Virgin Mary as well as a few other scenes. Some floats are so large that 80 or more people are needed to carry them and by carry I mean on their shoulders, up and down hills, men women and children for a decent amount of time. In this culture it is an honor to be a part of the processions and to carry one of the floats.

The young girls carrying their float.

The young boys carrying their float.

However, if you’re not a float carrier than it is possible that you and your family create Alfombras (or carpets) that are made out of colored sawdust (but can also be made by pine needles, flowers, and fruit). These are created right in the streets and are also very large. They depict themes of whatever the designer wants relating to Jesus, the cross or other church oriented symbols. (I must say out of all that I saw, the Alfombras were my favorite.) After spending hours creating these alfombras, the procession proceeds over them, ruining the pictures. However, the people that have spent hours creating these alfombras don’t get upset, rather they are honored that procession passed over their work of art.

 Overall I would say that it’s been a fun an interesting week however I can say that the one thing I did not enjoy was incense that were burnt during the processions.

Although Semana Santa has been great, this is the first Easter that I have not been home with my family to celebrate. Easter for me does include an Easter basket filled with lots fun goodies (what can I say it’s tradition). However more importantly Easter (or Resurrection Day) is a day we celebrate the fact that after Jesus had given His life dying on the cross for our sins, rose from the dead. For me it’s a day to remember that although Jesus suffered a lot of pain, agony, and sadness He still gave the greatest gift to mankind which was His life so that WE could have salvation…how amazing is that!!!

Although I have no gifts that could even compare to what Jesus gave, I felt the need to give my family here in Xela a little something special. I prepared an Easter basket of goodies including chips, candies, cookies, chocolates, drink mixes, things for the kitchen and more. I wanted them to feel special on today like many do in the States but more so I wanted to show them that love goes a far ways and that like Jesus gave His life we can give love to each other even if it’s shown through a basket of goodies. My family here is Christian as well so we shared in celebration that Jesus rose from the dead while my family enjoyed their basket of love.

              Gotta love Easter or Resurrection Day!!

 

A Birthday Blessing

The 24^th of January to most is just another day of the year. To me, it just so happens to be the day that my mother experienced the joy of bringing me into the world. Yes me, weighing in at 8lb and 9oz at approximately 8:50PM on a Tuesday night. (Okay, most people probably don’t know all those exact details and to be honest I didn’t know them either until I was going through some stuff prepping for my trip to Guatemala.)  Anyways, growing up you always hear of people reaching their ‘special day’’ aka the day when you turn the age the same date as the day you were born. (For me it was 24 on the 24^th) Go figure that this special birthday would happen while I was here in Guatemala….CRAZY!!! Most people (I think) think of this day as some sort of milestone in the path of birthdays you encounter throughout life but I however, was going to look at it as just another birthday that, if the Lord be willing, I’d be able to experience.

I arrived to Guatemala ten days before my birthday. During the week before I left Guatemala City to come to Xela, I was able to spend a day with my friends Ligia and Gabi in Antigua where we explored the city and the sites. I was also treated to breakfast at a fancy restaurant (well fancy to me) that seemed like we were going on an adventure into the rainforest. It was soooooo beautiful (and the food was delicious.)  We also had lunch at this pizza place (the name escapes me) where I was surprised with a slice of traditional Guatemalan cake that was filled with yummy surprises. I felt like a pretty special girl that day and it wasn’t even my birthday.

 
The following week, I started language school and of course one of the easier conversational questions you can ask a person is Cuantos Años y Cuando es tu Cumpleaños? In no time the whole school knew that my birthday was later in the week. On the plus side, a cool fact I found out was that another student and I had birthdays a day apart. That usually never happens for me.  Even better than that was finding someone here in Guatemala who shares the same birthdate as me…same day just a ‘few’ years apart. HOW COOL!!! I’ve never found anyone that has the same birthdate as me.

On the morning of birthday, everyone that was home when I came down for breakfast greeted me with lots of hugs and spoke many blessings over me. (That the Lord would bless me to see many more years and that He would continue to look over my life.) It was so awesome because it felt like I was right back at home with my family and friends (although this year I wasn’t woken up at like 530/6 AM getting sung to.) I continued to receive lots more hugs and blessing throughout the day. At school, I was even surprised with a cake to share with everyone (which was pretty tasty.) Later in the night we went to the house of my host mother’s brother, whose wife shared the same birthday as me. The entire family came over to celebrate our birthdays…and by this I mean at least 30 people all around a table exchanging conversations and enjoying snacks and a real amazing dinner. The one thing that I found to be interesting was that normally (maybe this is just for me) whosever birthday it is, they are usually the one being served and people are always doing special things for them. What I noticed about my birthday sharing partner was that instead of being served, she was doing the serving. To be honest, I feel like I never saw her sit down to eat and if she did sit down, it’d be for a few minutes and then she’d be back up to clear plates or make sure someone else got seconds. I’ve never really seen this happen, but I was blessed so much by this.   

Most times, if it’s your birthday, the day is all about you. But on my birthday, I didn’t need it to be all about me. I was overcome with joy seeing this lady and her heart of service on a day when she ‘should be’ served. I was reminded that God created each of us for a purpose. I knew that in watching her, God was showing me that I have a heart and desire to help and serve others. I was birthed with a purpose.

 As the night went on, my birthday partner made her way over to me and my friend Liz and told us that this was her family gathering and that we were now a part of her family. =) This was the best birthday present. I love knowing that even though my family is back home in New York, God is blessing me with family here in Guatemala which makes me feel right at home.

So needless to say, although I didn’t plan anything super big or special for my ‘special day’, I’m thankful that God blessed with one of the biggest presents a person could ask for: a heart of service and lots of love to share. So Happy Birthday Me and my birthday sharing partner (whose name I really need to learn) and may you that is reading this be blessed to know that God also created you for a special purpose. May you soon seek and find what that purpose is.

“But it should not be that way among you. Whoever wants to become great among you must serve the rest of you like a servant. Whoever wants to become first among you must serve the rest of you like a slave. In the same way the Son of Man did not come to be served. He came to serve others and to give His life as a ransom for many.” Matthew 20: 26-28

(I’m also thankful that my little 6 year old brother Carlitos went out of his way and bought me an almond snickers bar and my friend Liz got me a post card of Guatemala with an encouraging note and a cool Guatemalan bracelet.)

 

Count Your Blessings

“I don’t know my five-year plan; even tomorrow will probably not go as I have planned. I am thrilled and I am terrified, in a good way. Some call it courage; some call it foolish; I call it faith. I choose to get out of the boat. Sometimes I walk straight into His arms. More often, I get scared and look down and stumble. Sometimes I almost completely drown. And through it all, He never lets go of my hand.”~ Katie Davis

It’s hard to believe that I have lived in Guatemala for almost two weeks now and yet it feels like I just got here yesterday. These past two weeks have been really awesome and it makes me think back to how I got here. When I first decided that I wanted to move to Guatemala, I didn’t have a place to stay and didn’t know the language and I really didn’t know what I was going to do; all I knew was that I wanted to be obedient to the Lord and be a help to those in need.

So in terms of planning anything for my trip, I did very little-I got a ticket, I registered for language school so that I could learn Spanish and I got in contact with a friend and arranged my pick-up from the airport. I didn’t have anywhere to stay until about two weeks before I left which is a complete God-thing. I had been in contact with my friend Ana Lu who is from Guatemala to see if she one: could give me all/any information she thought I’d need before coming to Guatemala and two: to see if she had any ideas of where I could stay. She looked into a couple friends but not many options came about. Luckily for me, Ana Lu and her mom came to visit Rochester for a week about three weeks before I was leaving. I had gotten to hang out with her and her mom and by the end of their stay, they told me that they wanted me to stay at their house. This was a complete answer to prayer and something I was not expecting at all. But God provided just in the nick of time. Now I had a place to stay, a ticket, a ride from the airport and a plan for at least two months.

My first week in Guatemala, I stayed in Guatemala City at Ana Lu’s Moms house with her sister and had an awesome time getting to know a new friend, experiment with Guatemalan-style cooking, traveling to a view sites like Antigua while being able to really focus and prepare myself for whatever plans comes about.

 I started my second week off by traveling on a bus for four hours to Quetzaltenango (or Xela) Guatemala, where I will be staying for the next two months doing my best to learn a new language. I was a little nervous at first only because I had gotten out of the swing of “being in school” and knowing that for the most part, all that would be spoken to me would be Spanish which equals me most likely  not understanding what’s going on. However, I must say that after my first week of studying I think I have done pretty well. I mean there are times when things are a little confusing like irregular verbs needing to be conjugated and how their specifically supposed to be conjugated, but my teacher is pretty awesome and lucky for me, he can speak pretty good English. The school I’m attending is small and there is about six others studying at the moment with me, but it’s really cool because we get to hang out a lot and we all somehow have found something that connects us with each other. For instance two girls found out that they are both from Jacksonville, FL and went to school 5 minutes apart and me and another girl almost share the same birthday, only being a day apart. Also have I mentioned how awesome my host family is?? There are like 8-10 people that live here and the family is super nice. Although they don’t speak any English, they are always smiling and trying to make simple conversations.  I even have a little brother here named Carlitos whose 6 years old and whom I believe one day may be Spiderman. (He already has his suit.)

Overall, I’d say I’ve had an amazing time thus far in Guatemala and I’m excited to see how the rest of my time here is going to play out.

I included the quote by Katie Davis (author of Kisses fromKatie) because I feel that it really sums up my trip and my time here in Guatemala. This truly is a complete faith walk for me that I’m excited for however I’m sure there will come a time when I’ll get fearful of what is going to happen or not happen.  I’ll probably get overwhelmed with all the things I want to do and all the people I want to meet/see/ and help. The encouragement that I take from this is that no matter the struggles or joys we encounter in life, we should always know that we are in God’s hands. He’ll never leave us or forsake and he’ll be right there to pick us up when we fall.

What Am I Doing Here??

What a great question. Many ask me this along with ‘why go to Guatemala? and ‘for how long?’

As I ponder these questions, I can honestly say that I don’t have answers for them all. However, what I can do is give you some background on how I got to this point and then maybe the Lord will reveal to you what He revealed to me: to share His love and good news to those that are lost and in need, following after God wherever He leads me. Getting to this point of being willing and open to leave everything I knew as normal and being away from my family and friends to move to Guatemala took some time, a lot of prayer and constant faith that God knows all things and that He has a bigger purpose for my life than I can ever imagine.

 Six years ago I can honestly say that I never in my life would have ever thought about doing missions work or moving to another country and yet here and today that is exactly what I have done.

 But how and why choose Guatemala?
Well, I have to say that God started this plan for me almost six years ago in 2007 when I started attending Roberts Wesleyan College. In 2008 I became a member of a group formerly known as SIFE (currently known as Enactus), and I had heard from a friend that this group had sent teams down to Guatemala for the previous five years focusing on a small village named Santa Cruz. While in country they taught a simple business program called Biz World to middle school aged students demonstrating the basics of how to run a business from beginning to end by producing a product as simple as a bracelet and selling it for profit. They also did VBS activities with the younger children teaching them about the Love of Jesus. This sounded pretty awesome to me and since I had never been on a mission’s trip before, let alone out of the country I thought “Why not?” I joined team Guatemala in 2009 not knowing what to expect. I should also note that I knew (and still know) very little Spanish. But going on this trip opened my eyes to opportunities that I was completely unaware of. I had the chance to minister and bring a smile to so many little children that were ready to love on me with open arms even if I couldn’t speak more than two words to them. I met people willing to give up everything even if they had nothing and I desired to be able to do the same.

When RWC SIFE started going to Guatemala, they created a seven year commitment plan so that while working with the people of Santa Cruz, they would not become dependent on the services we were helping to provide but rather become self-sufficient. Therefore in 2010 RWC SIFE traveled to Santa Cruz, Guatemala for the last year of their commitment. I knew I was not going to miss out on an opportunity to travel to this place I had come to love, so I signed up and traveled with the team for probably the best trip I have ever been on.

We started the week out working in Santa Cruz with the kids and by the end of the week no one wanted to leave because we had come to love these kids and people so much. We left the village shedding many tears, but prayed that God continue to use us as His will be done in hopes that more opportunities would open up for us to serve, and I’m pretty sure God heard our prayers. That Friday morning we were supposed to travel down to Guatemala City and do some tourist activities including climbing Pacaya- an active volcano. However, that morning we found out that Pacaya had erupted leaving black ash EVERYWHERE and closing down the airport. We traveled down to the city only to find out that hurricane Agatha was also making its way into Guatemala. So we accepted the fact that we were now trapped in Guatemala for a few extra days and we prayed that God open opportunities for us to serve.

We stayed four additional days and were able to:

• Serve at Hogar Mama Carmen’s, an orphanage in the city providing a home to approximately 35 orphans.
• Help build six homes for families living in the City Dump that had been destroyed by the aftermath of the volcano and hurricane.
• Be an answer to prayer for the Church of Peace (Iglesias de Shalom) where we helped provide supplies and created murals so that the church could have a more kid-friendly atmosphere to hold children’s church.

Each day was a new adventure and had its challenges, but I am so thankful to have had experienced it all because God truly opened my eyes up to several needs in this particular country while at the same time I think He was preparing my heart for the plans He had for me yet to come.

Flash forward to the summer of 2012 when I traveled back to Guatemala on my own, this time with the intention to find where it was the Lord wanted to take me. I had made plans to meet up with my friend Mark who was staying at Hogar Mama Carmen’s for the summer and our friend Liz who was going to fly down as well for a little over a week visit.

This trip was my confirmation that God wanted me to serve in Guatemala. I was expecting some big sign telling me ‘Stay here, come here, this is where you’re supposed to be’, but I’ve come to learn that God shows parts of His plan for our lives in the little things. I spent eight days getting to know some of the sweetest, kind-hearted and loving kids that stole my heart away. We played, we laughed and I got to help treat my new friends to the movies, smores and some pretty tasty meals. I remember praying ‘Lord just give me your sign that this is where you want me to be a servant and help your people’ and as the week went on I felt as though this place was like home. I didn’t feel out of place, even though I barely knew the language, and there was just something there that made everything feel alright. I knew that God was with me and that he was preparing my heart even in that moment to care and love these people that I had just come to know. The day I was supposed to leave I remember telling my friend Mark that I didn’t want to go and he said ‘ok, you can stay’. I knew that wasn’t possible for me because I had to get back for work. So I got on my plane and as I looked out the window my heart broke; it hurt to leave this place I was starting to love.  I envisioned the kids’ faces and thought about all the stuff I had done over the last eight days and I cried.  It was then that I knew for sure that God wanted me to serve in Guatemala. I wasn’t sure when or for how long, but I did know where.     

I prayed a lot, and a lot was spoken into my life about being a missionary and going out and making connections. Once those were made God would provide the finances needed and he’d open doors for me do His will and plan. So in December I finally felt at peace to leave my job at Walgreens, I booked a ticket to Guatemala, and on January 14, 2013 I started my adventure in Guatemala.

So you ask “What am I doing here?” I’m being obedient and accepting God’s plan for my life. I don’t know how long I will be staying Guatemala but I suppose I’ll take it a few months at a time and see what opportunities open up. I ask that you keep me in your prayers as I continue on my adventure and I pray that you are able to experience the plans that God has for your life, that you may also be an instrument for God’s Kingdom Building. Be blessed.