Packing Up

Buenos dias! Today's post will be a little different as it is morning and we are packing up to leave, so I do not have an entire day's worth of experiences to share with you. We are currently packing and cleaning, because within a few hours of our departure a team from the seminary in St. Louis will be arriving and we are trying to leave the house as clean as it was when we arrived.

At breakfast this morning we said goodbye to the two Guatemalan missionaries (Caesar and Sandra) who stayed in the house with us the entire week. Our team formed especially close relationships with these two missionaries due to the fact that they lived with us the entire week.

Throughout the week it has been amazing to see how God has equipped each of us for different roles. Many members of our team connected to local Guatemalans during the home visits. God used me to connect with numerous teenage boys in the locations we visited, including Luis whom I will be sponsoring. Though I learned enough Spanish throughout the week to hold a basic conversation, I was still sometimes frustrated by my inability to share everything I wanted to say due to my limited Spanish. However, God created avenues for us to connect that went beyond language and conversation (which on one very rainy day involved a large amount of water being dumped off of a tent onto me and one of the boys). Most of these boys do not have fathers or other positive male influences in their lives because the culture discourages men from valuing these roles. I look forward to keeping in touch with them through the local missionaries who meet with them every week.

We will be leaving for the airport in about an hour and a half. Please pray for a safe return to the United States. When you see your loved one, be sure to ask about their experience in Guatemala and be very attentive to what they share, as this has been a very meaningful time for all who were here.

Thank you for your prayers throughout this week and for following us on this blog. We look forward to seeing you soon!

Andy