Worshipping, Evangelizing, and Interceding

Well I fear I’m running out of creative ways to start my blog so I guess we’ll just dive into it this week. I’ve sat here for awhile trying to figure out where to start but I guess there’s no where better than the beginning.

Since our ministry starts on Tuesday usually my team has Mondays off but this week we decided to join one of the other teams for their prayer house. They do prayer house inside a cafe in Antigua and it’s a beautiful time of being able to worship and pray together and then to hear a teaching. It was such a good way to start off our week. After prayer house we also got a sweet opportunity to take some of our ministry hosts to lunch and just hangout and get to know them more!

Tuesday and Friday we got to do our prayer room and worship with our ministry at Reindom house. I had the opportunity to play piano and help lead worship again which was super sweet! After prayer room we went to Sumpango to clean and cook for the kids. We taught English and cleaned after lunch and then played volleyball and other games with the kids.

Wednesday we had kingdom table in the morning! We went out to invite people and got to talk to a sweet older lady who was having problems with her feet. I got to sit at a table and talk with some of the ladies a little bit and we had a really good lesson on the Lord being our protection. After that we cleaned up and had lunch before we headed over to Sumpango. In the afternoon we did Bible club but this week was different than normal. This week for Bible club we split the kids into groups and had two leaders in each group and then we sent the kids out to evangelize. This was actually the coolest thing ever! We had adults in each group to supervise but the kids were the ones who were picking where to go and were praying and sharing the Gospel. I’ll admit that the kids did get a little bit of help while talking but they were still sharing stories and praying over people which was so cool!

Honestly as I was watching the kids talk and share the gospel it made me really start to think. These were literal kids, from like 5 – 13 year olds going out and evangelizing. One of the things that’s hit me over and over again since being here is how much they pour into the kids and in turn encourage them to pour out. A couple blogs ago I shared how we had worship where these little kids were face down crying and raising their hands. Way too often in America I feel like we put kids in a box, we tip toe around the hard stuff and focus on the good. We say that the kids aren’t old enough to know how to truly worship or mature enough to really evangelize but that’s just not true. I think that’s part of the reason the Christian culture in America is becoming so weak and lukewarm. We’re not teaching kids the hard stuff, teaching them to really live a life of worship. There’s no hesitation here, no age you have to be, they teach the depth and reality of being a Christian from the very beginning. Last week in Bible club they taught about how God loves all the nations and to end they asked the kids who wanted to be a missionary and had them come up so we could pray over them. The kids that came up absolutely blew my mind, they were all so little yet they have such a desire to go and share the gospel with others. That’s so insane!

I struggle with going out on the streets and evangelizing yet these kids that aren’t even half my age are out there doing that, what in the world! How much stronger could the next generation be if we not only taught them to have a deep relationship with the Lord but then gave them real opportunities to go and share the gospel? How much stronger would they be if we not only equipped them but also challenged them?

Another big thing that we’ve learned about this week is intercession! Intercession has been a topic that’s come up several times this week and something I haven’t learned much about before. On Thursday our lesson was all about intercession and the power it holds. Learning about how Jesus is our perfect intercessor and the authority we’re given to intercede for others. Intercession is a big word but it really just means to stand in the gap. The same way that Jesus stands in the gap for us we’re called to stand in the gap and intercede on behalf of others. We have a responsibility as followers of Christ to stand in the gap and intercede for others. There’s so much power in prayer and in intercession! After the lesson we took some time as a squad to pray and intercede specifically for Guatemala which was really cool!

Since this is already really long I’ll leave that as all for this week! Thanks for taking the time to read this! Scroll down to see some prayer requests for the coming week and pictures from last week!

Love y’all,

Emilee

 

Prayers:

• For continued good health amongst the whole squad
• For peace and comfort with homesickness
• For my leg that I slightly injured earlier this week to heal quickly
• For continued unity in my team

Washing, Feeding, and Serving

I have no idea how we’ve already gotten to November but here we are and we’re already a month into being in Guatemala! There truly is no place I’d rather be or no where else I could imagine being right now, this is right where the Lord wants me to be! This last week was a little different and shorter than usual because of a festival but it was still so so good!

We started our ministry week on Tuesday and we got to start the day in the prayer room again. This week’s focus was on intimacy with the Lord and it was a super sweet time of just getting to sit with the Lord and be in communion with Him! After our prayer time we went to Santa Marta to do a meal for the kids and to do some classes with them! I helped clean and also helped cook the meal a little bit. I got to help serve the meal which is so much fun to do and then helped clean all the dishes afterwards! Then we got to play with the kids until it was time to go home!

On Wednesday we got to help do Kingdom Table for the first time and I absolutely loved it! Kingdom Table is a program that our ministry does in Sumpango where they give a meal to the elderly and homeless and do worship and a lesson with them. This week they split us into groups with some of the other volunteers and we went out to the streets to invite people. I wasn’t super helpful at actually inviting people since I don’t speak Spanish but I did get to talk with the volunteers I was paired with which was super sweet! Even that was a little hard but it gave me the chance to practice my Spanish and they got to practice their English. After we invited people we went back to the building to help greet people. I got to help with the handwashing station which was really just one of my teammates putting soap on peoples hands and me pouring water on their hands from a jar to rinse them. I actually loved getting to help wash hands so much, it was so sweet to just take the time to care for the people in such a small simple way! One of the big things they care about with this ministry is making sure that we’re treating all the people with dignity and respect and for me getting to wash their hands was such a simple way of doing that. After we washed hands we sat at tables with the people while they ate. Even though I couldn’t really understand or talk to them because of the language barrier just getting to sit with them and smile at them was so sweet and brought so much joy to their faces!

After kingdom table we washed dishes and had lunch at the Reindom house, we also practiced some dances to do with the kids in the afternoon. We got to ride in the back of a truck to Santa Marta where we did bible blub with the kids. Bble club is my favorite! This week I got to help lead the motions for our praise time and then we had a message on intimacy. We played games and did activities with the kids and then it was time to head home! Because of the festival over the weekend this was our last day of ministry this week but it was such a sweet day to end on!

Thursday was activation and this week we had a lesson on speaking life. We’re always told that words are so powerful and to speak life instead of death but the way she taught us about speaking life was so different than what I’d heard before. The fact that God literally created everything just with His words and because we’re made in His image our words also hold so much power. The big thing that I took away from the lesson is that speaking life is a mindset on Jesus and not just words. Not just the things you say, but the way you live your life. Our words do have a lot of power but our words really start with our mind and when you’re continually renewing your mind the words that come out of your mouth will bring life. We serve a God that only speaks life and to serve Him well means that only life should come from our mouths. After our lesson we had a team debrief to talk about the day and share our thoughts on it. Honestly this was my teams best debrief and not because we all enjoyed the mornings teaching (which we all did); but because the Lord had a different plan and he used this time to break down a lot of walls in my team and bring a deeper level of communication and unity. We got to spend the afternoon talking and it was just a super fruitful time!

On Sunday we went to a church in Antigua and they had a really good message on Jesus being the One Way. This was my first time being in an actual church since I left for the race and it was so good! I’m excited to go back again next week! There’s a lot more I could say but I think I’ll end here for this week! Thanks for reading!

As a side note this is a post for the week of October 27 I’m posting late due to lack of WiFi. I’ll have another one with stuff from this past week shortly

Love,

Emilee

 

Movie night

Trucks, Food, and Flour

I’m honestly not sure where to start with this past week! It was so so good and I think my favorite so far! I’ve loved every week but this last week was just completely full with so many good, little moments! I’ll do my best to keep this short but I do fear it will end up being pretty long, so bear with me!

First off we started our ministry week on Tuesday at the Reindom house in Sumpango with the prayer room. Usually for prayer room we do some speaker led worship but this week me and my teammate Clara were asked to lead the worship. It was a super sweet time getting to worship with them and getting to lead! Some of our ministry hosts played with us, so we had almost a full band which was so cool! I love that we get to start off our ministry week this way! After that we went to Santa Marta and helped clean and make food for the kids! We got to ride in the back of a truck, which was so fun! After lunch I helped wash dishes and then played soccer with the kids. They absolutely creamed me but it was still so much fun!

Wednesdays are my absolute favorite days! We get to start by going to Reindom and helping with the ministry called Kingdom Table! This week we helped set everything up and then split into groups to invite people! My group ended up going and getting the tortillas for the lunch but I got to know the people I was paired with more and also practice my Spanish! Which was so good! After that we just helped out with the activities, crafts, and handed out the food! I just love getting to serve at this ministry! We helped clean up and then washed all the dishes back at the Reindom house! We all got to sit and have lunch together to just talk and laugh which was so much fun! After lunch, we rode in the back of a truck to Santa Marta and got ready for Bible club! I love Bible club! This week, we did a game that involved flour and balloons. As we set up, Ash and I made the mistake of “accidentally” throwing some on Renzo (one of the guys we work with). We did Bible club and it was insanely good, we got to pray over the kids as they learned about how God loves the nations! We ended Bible club with some giant praise and dancing and it was so so good! After Bible club Renzo dumped an entire balloon full of flour on Ash and I, and it turned into a whole war! It was crazy but so much fun! When we finished ministry Manuel picked us up and took us to McDonald’s for a treat!

Wednesday night we had squad church and Clara and I were asked to lead it! Worship was such a sweet time for our squad to really just sit together with the Lord! We ended by having a huge praise party at the end and it was crazy! I’ve realized this week that the Lord has been calling me into more leadership and more boldness in him! He’s been providing so many opportunities for me to step into new roles and grow in him and it’s been so sweet! I’m going to continue walking in obedience into all the new and deeper things he has planned for my life!

Thursday we had activation and it was a sweet time of getting to worship and learn more about evangelism. We all got paired up with someone else for our squad and then sent out to evangelize where the Lord was calling us. My partner and I chose to go to Parramos where we bought flowers and gave notes and scripture out to people. We also got to pray for a lot of people which was really sweet! If you ask almost anyone here if you can pray for them they’ll almost always say yes which is so different from America! It’s so beautiful how open they are to prayer! ATL was such a sweet time of stepping out in boldness and talking to people!

Friday we started the day by going to Reindom and doing prayer room again! We’re literally so blessed that we get to start our days off in prayer with the Lord! We headed to Santa Marta and made a meal for the kids! I helped clean and then ate lunch with one of the classes. After lunch my friend Ash and I taught the kids an English lesson, this week it was about the seasons and it was actually so fun teaching them! I’d say we crushed it! While we were teaching English I realized that since being here I’ve actually picked up way more Spanish than I thought, which is such an answer to my prayers! We cleaned up and then rode in the back of a truck to Sumpango again to get ice cream with our ministry hosts! I realize that I’ve mentioned riding in the back of a truck several times now but it’s genuinely one of my favorite things to do! The Lord has really been teaching me to find joy in the little things and riding in the back of a truck is just a small example of this!

I know this blog has already been super long, but there’s one more thing I wanna talk about. My friend Manuel! Manuel works for the base and lives on the base with us, he also drives my team to ministry everyday. There’s a lot I could say about Manuel. He’s one of my favorite people and he’s basically become Ash and I’s Guatemalan uncle. Every day when he drops us off at ministry he tells us to “have a good day, make good choices, be nice, and be safe” it’s actually my favorite thing ever! He’s also quite the prankster and I’ve helped him with several good pranks usually involving shoes. He lets us jam out to music in the car, takes us to McDonalds, and even let me steer the car one time. He’s so funny and brings so much joy to my team.

Now there’s a lot more I could say but this has been super long already. Thanks for taking the time to read this and following along it means the world to me! Below are some pictures from this past week and some prayer requests for the coming week.

Prayers:
– Against different sicknesses that have been taking people out for the last couple of weeks
– For good communication and unity to continue within our team
– Against homesickness that my team and I have really been feeling recently

One last thing this post is for the week of November 3 it’s just a little late because I didn’t have WiFi.

Love,

Emilee