Sitting, Resting, and Obeying

Another week has flown by and we’ve now been in Guatemala for three weeks which is crazy to think about! In some ways it feels like we just got here and in other ways it feels like we’ve been here for months! Honestly this last week has been super busy and tiring but there’s been so many good moments! Last blog I talked a lot about my ministry and what our day to day looks like which I love but this week I want to focus more on what the Lord has been teaching me since being here!

First off the Lord has been teaching me to continue to find my rest in him. This seems so easy but I’ve found myself struggling with it a lot especially over the last week. I found myself getting tired earlier and earlier every day until I finally was just starting my day tired and not getting very far. By the time we hit Thursday morning (which is our ask the Lord day) I started my day exhausted and just discouraged by so many things around me but the Lord had other plans. We had worship that morning and the first words we sang were “Praise the Lord oh my soul” I started that time by pretty much telling my soul to praise the Lord no matter how I felt but within just a few minutes I found myself on the floor crying and just asking the Lord to meet me where I was and to fill me back up. God is so much better than that! He didn’t just meet me where I was but He drew me into the secret place with Him. I sat there face down for the rest of worship just sitting with the Lord. Giving him my exhaustion, my discouragement, literally everything I was feeling He took and He just let me rest with Him! It doesn’t even matter what I was feeling, honestly I wasn’t even sure what I was feeling I still don’t but the Lord still met me there and He took it all from me. He wanted to fill me up again and all He asked was that I sit at His feet and give my troubles to Him because He’s more than worthy of them. The Lord my God is my rest!

Another big thing that the Lord’s been teaching me is trust and obedience! There’s so many layers to obedience; it’s kind of like an onion in a way, you peel back layer after layer getting closer and closer to the Father’s heart. This is also something I started learning big time on Thursday. After worship we had a lesson on loving and obeying the Word of God and it absolutely slapped me and so many others in the face! The Word of God is so powerful, its holy, and its so much deeper then we take it sometimes. I’ve read the Bible since I was little, I know all the stories and things but there’s still so much more for me to get from it and that’s something I definitely miss a lot. In our lesson we learned that Gods highest calling and all He really wants from us is our obedience to Him. To minister to His heart above everything else and follow Him in complete obedience. He wants our willingness to follow Him and trust Him with all we have. One of the best example of this in the Bible is when God called Abraham and told him to sacrifice his one and only son Isaac. I don’t think I’ve ever realized the full extent of that request before. God literally told Abraham to sacrifice his son, the one that was promised to him, the one he waited years and years for. God asked him for all he had and Abrahams immediate response was complete obedience. I can’t even imagine what that was like or how truly hard that was for him but his love and obedience to the Lord was so much greater than anything else! This hit me in a way that it never has before and showed me just how important it is to have complete obedience to the Lord! Abraham literally put everything he had on the altar for the Lord and the Lord blessed him so much in that! I’d never understood that so deeply because I’ve never been asked to put something so close to my heart on the altar before, until recently!

We didn’t just talk about obedience and sacrifice but we also took some time to put that into practice in our own lives! We spent a good amount of time reflecting on the morning and asking what the Lord wanted us to put on the altar for him. Not only did we pray and ask the Lord but we followed that up with some action steps. First we took time to hand that to the Lord, write it down on a piece of paper, and then put it on a table to symbolize putting it on the altar. After laying our things on the altar we paired up with someone and shared with them about what the Lord had been showing us. Honestly I sat there in reflection for quite a bit of time, I genuinely couldn’t think of anything that the Lord was really calling me to lay on the altar. By the end of my reflection time I realized that the Lord was calling me to lay so much more before Him then I could’ve imagined.

A lot of the discouragement from my week was coming from me focusing too much on the future and what it looked like. I’ve always held very loosely to what the future looks like and since I knew I was coming on the race l’ve held on even looser and been more open to wherever the Lord leads. What I didn’t realize with that was how much I was still holding on to and how deeply I was desiring some things. For some reason the last few weeks l’ve been putting an intense pressure on myself to figure out what life looks like when I get back especially as I watch things change both at home and also within me. I’ve never felt my heart more divided between two things than I have this week and it was breaking me! The reality is that none of this is even in my hands I was just pretending that it was. I found myself getting frustrated because I felt like the Lord wasn’t giving me any clear answers but the truth is that I’m still committed to the next seven months and there’s no need for me to be pushing to figure it all out right now. After lots of prayer I realized that the Lord was asking me to lay that on the altar. I was wrestling between things in my heart when the reality is that God has a plan and He’s the one that will lead me. I don’t have to decide what’s right because He already knows. The Fathers heart is not for me to be torn and divided between things because He does have so much good planned for my life! I trust that’s He’s gonna work in ways I don’t even know or see to lead me where I need to be! Even though I want control of the outcome so badly, the Lord is asking me to lay it down so in complete obedience I’m laying that on the altar. I’m choosing to obey what the Lord is asking like Abraham. No matter the outcome it’s in the Lords hands now! I don’t want to pretend like this was or still is easy, it literally caused knots in my stomach to even think of surrendering that but it’s what the Lord asked and it’s only through His strength that l’m able to even do anything! All the Lord wants from us is our obedience nothing more nothing less! More than that He’s so patient to walk us so slowly and intentionally through the hard and the struggle! What a good God!

These are just a few of the things the Lord has really been revealing and teaching me lately! I know this was long and different then normal but hopefully you got something out of it! Thank you for reading this and for your support! Leave a comment or message me with any thoughts!

Love,

Emilee

 

 

Cooking, Teaching, and Dancing

Our second week in Guatemala and our first full week of ministry! This week has been so full and gone by so quickly but I’ve loved it so much! This week at our ministry point we’ve had another missionary group from London come and help out with stuff which has been so much fun!

Our week of ministry started out with getting to spend some sweet time of worship and prayer with our ministry hosts in their prayer room. Our focus was on the beauty of God and we got to just sit with him; it was super sweet to worship alongside them! After that we went to the Santa Marta village and did another lunch for the kids. I got to help make the meal and helped carry giant tubs of water up three flights of stairs. After lunch with the kids we did some cleaning and helped teach some classes. I helped teach English to the youngest class which was a lot of fun! After all the classes were done we played soccer in the field with the kids till it was time to leave.

Wednesday was our first full day working with the London group. We spent the morning helping to paint the ministry house white. I got to work with one of the guys from London and talk with him a little bit. Some of the village kids came and hung out while we painted and one of the little girls helped me paint for awhile. We painted together and she used some of the paint to draw smiley faces on my arm and teach me how to say some emotions in Spanish, in turn I also taught her how to say the same words in English. After painting we helped set up for their afternoon Bible club! They split us up into groups with the London people and some Guatemalans that were volunteering and then each group got some kids ages 3-15. We started with what they call “praise” which was just jumping and dancing with the kids., then they had a message on Joy. After the message we prayed over the kids and had some sweet time of worship with them. Even thought the kids are young they’re so passionate about teaching them the depth of God’s love and worshipping him which is honestly something we miss a lot in America. Seeing all the kids even the really little ones on their knees and raising their hands in worship was so beautiful! We ended our time with the kids by hitting piñatas and just hanging out with them.

After the Bible class we helped clean up and then we ended up having a dance battle with the London group, it was honestly so much fun. We did the Church clap and Cotton Eye Joe and then the London people did some dances and the Guatemalan group joined in and did a dance or two. In the end I think our group won the dance battle.

On Thursday we did what’s called an activation day. We did worship in the morning which was super sweet and then we had a lesson on the steadfastness of God and how to be steady in him. It was such a cool topic that I’ve hardly ever heard about. Learning that the Lord is always steady and how to find that steady flow in him even when life is up and down! After that my team went to do a house visit in Parramos and then wandered around the town for a bit talking and praying over people.

Friday was another ministry day but this time we went to a different small village to help out with a medical clinic that they had going that day. Me and a couple people from my team went with some of the Guatemalan people to walk the streets and invite people to the clinic. After walking the street we went back and helped do counseling. Pretty much counseling was just taking time to sit and talk with the people, ask how they were feeling and then share the gospel and pray with them. It was honestly kinda hard for me because the people only spoke Spanish and my translator was struggling to help translate for me. Even though it was kinda rough I did get to talk to my translator a little bit which was sweet.

After the clinic we helped do a little bit of stuff with the kids just doing some music and then the London team did a little skit about the parable of the sower. We all ate lunch together and then headed over to Santa Marta village for the afternoon. Our transportation from one village to the other was riding in the trunk of a car which was honestly so much fun! We listened to some great praise songs and felt the wind blow as we drove. When we got to Santa Marta we rested for a bit and then split into 5 groups to do some activities with the kids. I got Sharks and Menows for my activity but after trying it once it was decided that it’s not quite the right game for the Guate kids. Instead one of the people volunteering helped me teach them a different game called Cat and Mouse that the kids absolutely loved! We ended the day by playing soccer again and then headed home for the night. We were supposed to do ministry on Saturday but because it was such a busy week our hosts decided they needed some rest and honestly we did to! Instead we did a rest day and I got to go to Antigua and call home which was super sweet!

This week has been so good and so fruitful and I’m so excited to keep going and see where the Lord leads! Prayers for this week would be:

• For lots of rest as we continue in ministry this week. One thing that our team has said over and over again is that we’re a team that does everything under the sun so continued strength in that.
• For continued patience and love for me and my team as we counting to do life together. That we’d continue in unity and not get caught up by all the little things
• Prayers that our ministry would continue to go well and to grow that we’d be able to help well
• For continued patience with the language barrier that we’d be able to overcome it well and not be hindered by it anymore.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and for all the prayers!

Love,

Emilee

My Ash

Smiley faces from my little friend

Our view

Cooking lunch for the kids

My painting buddy!

Our car ride between villages

Flying, Dancing, and Laughing

Guatemala!! I’m honestly not even sure how to describe it other than absolutely beautiful! From the second we got here my heart filled with such a joy and love for this place I just can’t describe! Since my last post was about the hurricane I’ll pause and fill in a little bit of the time between that and us actually getting to Guate!

Last week we were in Georgia for our domestic ministry debrief. Debrief is supposed to be a time of rest and reflection on the past little bit of ministry. A time to grow together with our team and just talk about everything we’d done up to that point. Our debrief was slightly different because of the hurricane and having to do extra stuff in order to be able to leave for Guate; that said it was still a really good and restful time! We were able to have some very special time as a squad to get our focus back on Jesus and spend some time just worshipping him! Honestly debrief was pretty chill so there’s not too much more to say about it other than in was super restful and good!

On Sunday night we left for the airport and spent the night there so we could catch our flight in the morning. The next morning we got on the flight to Guate and arrived by noon! Getting here was even sweeter because everyone (including those who had lost their passports) was able to come at the same time!!

Our first few days here have been pretty chill! We had some orientation to help us learn the ministries and cultures well! We got to go explore Antigua for a bit on Wednesday which was really cool and beautiful! On Thursday we did something called activation/ATL. This is something we should be doing every Thursday while we’re here. Activation days can change and look differently but basically we started the day with some worship and then had a little message from one of the ladies on staff here. After that we split up to read some scripture on our own and just pray over what our day was gonna look like. Once we spent some time with the Lord we met in our teams and went to the town of Parramos to do some street evangelism, this is where the activation and ATL (ask the Lord) came in. Once we got to town we split into groups of two and started walking around asking the Lord who he wanted us to talk to.

My friend Ashley and I pared up and started walking around. To be honest it was not our best day and was actually pretty rough. The town we went to pretty much only speaks Spanish and neither of us is terribly good at that. It definitely started rough and was pretty discouraging. We talked to one man who is actually an American missionary that partners with AIM, we got to pray over him and his family which was super sweet. We still felt pretty discouraged and honestly unequipped (which was just a lie from the devil) but we prayed together and felt like the Lord was telling us to go walk in the square and just interceded for people. So as we walked around we prayed and interceded for the people of the town. We did end by talking a little bit with one other person that we gave a flower to. Even though there were definitely parts that were hard and discouraging the Lord was still using us and working in and through us! While we didn’t talk to too many people just the fact that we were there trying, smiling, and saying hi to people showed a little bit of Jesus love.

On Friday we started our ministries! The ministry my team is partnered with is called Reindom and I absolutely love it! We’ll be doing different things everyday including house visits, feeding children and teaching them, feeding the homeless, and whatever else our hosts need. When we got to our hosts yesterday they were so warm and welcoming! They had prepared a little gift basket, presentation, some delicious food, and even taught us some dances. They welcomed us with such joy and love and were so excited to have us here! After that we went to their children’s school and helped clean and prepare it to feed the kids lunch and then do school and other activities with them. We spent the morning cleaning and preparing lunch and then at 1 the children came. I got to have lunch with the G2B class which is basically elementary age, they were so much fun! After lunch I helped clean and wash dishes while others taught classes or sports. When we had finished we got to play with some of the kids that stuck around. Literally just spinning and jumping around with them brought such joy to them and also me! We finished by doing a little tour of the town we’re serving and then headed home for the night! It was such a full and amazing day and I’m so ready for more like it! There were definitely some struggles with the language barrier and being able to really talk to people but just being there to play with them and smile helped break that barrier a lot!

Some small highlights from this week

• Riding the chicken bus
• The most amazing and delicious food
• The beautiful sunset on our first night here
• Some amazing worship (in Spanish)

Some prayers for this coming week would be:

• Continued strength and unity as a team
• For us as we continue to learn about our ministry and how to serve it best
• For continued learning and being able to overcome the language barrier well

I feel so blessed to be here! Thank you for taking the time to read this! Leave a comment or message me with questions or to hear more!

Adios,

Emilee

My God Protects and Provides

 To be honest I’m not quite sure where to start this blog but I guess we’ll just dive right in! As I mentioned in last week’s blog this past week we were in North Carolina doing our domestic ministry! We had several days of really good ministry that I’d love to share, but this post is going to focus more on the end of our trip and God’s goodness and mercy! As some of you might know my squad and I were in the middle of a landslide on Friday, but I’ll start at the beginning to give you the full story.

Friday September 27 at 8 a.m. after a lot of debate our host came knocking on our cabin door waking us up and asking us to move to the dining hall. He was concerned about the trees surrounding our cabins and wanted to move us to a higher and safer building. So we got ready, some of us grabbed our sleeping bags and some other things and we ran up the hill to the dining hall. Our leaders were also asked to move the vans to a higher safer location so they were moved up hill to a small parking place next to the dining hall. After getting to the dining hall we ate some cereal and watched the rain fall, it created a waterfall in the back and after awhile started to flood into the right side room by the bathrooms.

The waterfall behind the building

A little bit before 9 our leaders called us together in the main room to let us know that we’d be waiting out the remainder of the storm in this building and also to tell us not to go into the flooded side of the building anymore. We prayed as a group and then all split to do our separate things, some people were playing games, some watching a movie, others sitting and journaling. At 9:10 one of the guys on my squad started yelling “Run, get out of the building” and everyone started running for the door. There was a huge rumbling sound like thunder and we were all sprinting and falling to get out. By the time we had all made it out of the building and onto the porch the right side of the building had completely collapsed. The whole building was flooded with water and mud and there was a huge river running where the building had been. A huge wall of water, rocks, another cabin, and trees had all come and taken out our building. One of the cabins we had been staying in had also collapsed and the other filled with water. Some of us managed to grab a couple of our things but we quickly ran up to a small slab of concrete where our vans had been moved to. As we stood there on the concrete in the pouring rain people were crying and calling parents, we were rushed into the vans and then moved out of them trying to figure out where to go. At one point another tree fell down around us and without thinking about it we all took off running down the hill but were moved back up by the vans. Our leaders tried calling 911 but couldn’t get through and because of the river we were trapped with no where to go. Our host made it to us and explained that he and two other men were looking for a way to get us out but we were gonna have to wait until they could figure something out. One of the other two men that was there to help us was a trained survival expert so he was able to survey everything and figure out the best way out.

Running from the building

The building we were in

We stood in the pouring rain up there waiting for an hour and a half. During that time we cried, we prayed, we sang worship songs, and some of us even found ways to laugh. We watched as the river of water kept growing, the trees around us were shaking, and the rain just kept pouring. After a while our host came back and told us they had found the safest place for us to cross and had set up a rope for us to go across on. They took us in pairs and had us hold onto the rope and walk through the river (barefoot by the way). To give you an idea of how fast the water was going one of the girls parents tracked her phone that was swept away: within 5 minutes it had gone over 3 miles. As soon as we crossed the river they loaded us into a small bus and drove us down the road to where they had another safer building.

Crossing the river

Praying in the rain

The river

By the time we got there they had gathered clean clothes and food for us. We were able to call home again and got cleaned up. We stayed there for the rest of the day and settled in. During this time we were told that the AIM disaster relief team was on its way to come help us out and again all we could do was sit and wait. The disaster relief team finally made it to us after hours of trying. Because of broken gas lines nearby and fear of getting trapped by rising water we were moved to a hotel 20 minutes away. Somehow the disaster team had found this hotel and even though it was already overflowing the owner agreed to let us come and sleep in a conference room for the night. Several of the guests already staying there heard what happened and offered to come and get us in their trucks, so at 10 p.m we were loaded into trucks and caravanned to the hotel. We stayed there for the night and by the next morning one of the girls fathers had driven over 8 hours with a van and small bus to get us back to Georgia. Saturday afternoon we finally made it back to our base in Georgia. The Lord was so very good to protect and provide for us through all of it. That’s just the basic rundown of what happened but now I want to share a little bit more detail about how we saw the Lord working.

After we got cleaned up

Going through some of our recovered stuff

First off the fact that we were even moved to the dining hall was because of Gods prompting. If we hadn’t of been moved then we would’ve been trapped inside the cabins that collapsed when the landslide came. Second just the fact that all 36 of us made it out of the building with only one sprained ankle is absolutely insane! The fact that my teammate was looking out the window at the exact time he needed to be in order to warn us and that no one was in the bathrooms that got destroyed is crazy. There’s no way that any of us let alone all of us would’ve made it out in time if Gods hand wasn’t on us. Another way that God showed up was by literally bringing a survival expert to help us. It is so clear and evident that the Lord was protecting us the whole time.

The Lords didn’t just protect us but he also provided for us in so many ways. He brought so many people to help us and bring clean clothes and supplies. He literally helped the disaster team get to us by opening up prison gates. They had tried 8 different paths to get to us and finally they came to a women’s prison that was right next store to where we were. The gates to the prison were wide open and it was the only way they could use to get to us and later get us out. Those gates closed later Friday night after we had gotten out. The Lord also led our disaster team to a hotel with a place we could stay the night as well as provided people with vehicles that could help us get there. He opened up a way for the dad to make it to us with vans and he helped us to even get out of Asheville and Black mountain. The World Race also did a fundraiser to help us replace all of our supplies that had been swept away and within 48 hours they had raised $30,000 to fully replace everything!

God is SO GOOD and there’s no way we would’ve made it anywhere without him! God gets ALL of the glory! He is good but not just because he saved us, he is good because that is who he is. Even if he chose not to save us he would still be good and he would still get the glory through that! No matter what happens he is good and can only ever be good! I’m so very thankful for all that the Lord has done and all the people who have been praying and helping to cover and support us! I’m just in awe of who my God is!

Thank you for reading this and for all the prayers and support! If you have any more questions or want to know more message me or leave a comment! More videos below

Love,

Emilee

 

A couple days after

 

The damage