Beautiful and Broken Guatemala

There are so many different things I could write about. I could write about the emotional roller coaster I have been on the past two weeks. My team's little saying is that we feel like we have already felt the highest of highs the lowest of lows. One moment I am so excited to be here and share God's love with the people of Puerto Barrios, and literally the next moment I have no desire to be here and I just want to go home. Thankfully, the longer I am here, the feeling of not wanting to be here lessons. I could write so much more about this roller coaster ride, but now I want to share a little bit about what Guatemala is like and what ministry here looks like.

The best way I can describe Guatemala is beautiful and broken. Guatemala is filled with natural beauty, some very kind people and a ton of precious children. But Guatemala also has a police force that is corrupted, prostitutes that think that sex is the only way they can provide for their family and children who call a garbage dump home.

We started the week off in prayer. We went to the areas in Puerto Barrios where we would be ministering to and prayed over them. Then on Saturday we went to the market and asked each vendor (and there was a lot of them) if we could pray for them. All but one vendor said we could and were happy that we were there. Some even prayed for us. The fact that most of them allowed us to pray for them is amazing because many of them do not have a relationship with God and are heavily involved in witchcraft.

On Monday, we went to an elderly home where the people weren't given enough food and there were about six or so beds per room. Many of them do not have family and as a result, never have any visitors. They were so happy that we were there and wanted to know when we'd be back.

On Tuesday, we went to the garbage dump. It had rained two full days prior to going so it was extremely muddy. As I thought about the mud getting on my white shoes, I looked down at the little girl beside me with black open-toed shoes covered in mud. This is her life. She is not going to go back to a clean house with food and showers. She is stuck in a garbage dump and she doesn't think that there is anything wrong with that reality because she has never seen anything else. There is, however, something extremely wrong with that. It's easy to ignore the fact that people live like this when you haven't seen it with your own eyes, but I can assure you, those starving kids that you see on commercials and get emails about are real. The fact that kids live in garbage is still hard for my brain to comprehend even though I've seen it.

The easiest thing to say after seeing a garbage dump is "How could the God of the universe let this happen to his beloved children?" But our leader Julian encouraged us to think about it a different way, "How could we, who God has blessed so richly, let this happen?" We, as Americans, are extremely blessed with wealth, and we need to do something for the people of this world that don't have enough money for food.
Throughout the past week and a half, we have been learning Spanish songs and skits to perform at churches and schools. Wednesday we went to a private school and performed a skit and sang some songs.

Thursdays are our free days where we can relax and use the internet. I hope and pray everyone back home is safe and healthy. I miss you all and I want to thank you for your continued support and prayer.

Fun/Interesting Facts from the last week-

-Our house does have power, but it goes out all the time. Since we've been here it has gone out three times, once for two days and the other two for a couple hours. The generator kicked in sometimes which helped a little. During this time of no power, there is also no water... that means the showers don't work and the toilets don't flush. Every time we had to flush the toilet during those two days we had to go outside and get a bucket of water from this underground pool thing and flush the toilet 'manually.' Fun times. :)
-We don't have a translator and hardly anyone in Puerto Barrios knows English. One of my teammates is from Columbia and is fluent in Spanish, but her job is not to always be the translator. The language barrier has been a struggle, but I am trying to speak and learn as much as I can and learn ways to communicate without words.
-By the end of this trip, I don't think I will ever want to eat rice, beans, tortillas, or eggs again, but the food has really been great. Our cook is wonderful and I really enjoy trying to talk to her and her kids in Spanish.
-The showers are cold and quick, but it is so hot here that the cold showers feel wonderful.
-I'm sleeping on a top bunk for the first time in my life. It shakes everytime I move, but I have gotten used to it. I'm very greatful for a bed :)
-My teammates are wonderful. We are all so different, but we work so well together. We like to say that we are all puzzle pieces. We are all different, but together we make something beautiful and complete. I have never been around a group of people that love the Lord so much. They have been a real example to me in what a relationship with God looks like.
-The 16 girls share one bathroom, so that is definitely teaching me patience.
-We clean the house after every meal. The house gets dirty quick with 25 or so people living in it.
-We handwash our cloths in the pilla outside.
I think that's enough for now. :)
With Love,
Kathy