Tears, Joy, and Goodbyes

Another amazing week gone and our time here in Guatemala is officially over. I don’t think I could ever truly express how much I love it here and how much it absolutely breaks my heart to leave! I will never be the same again and a piece of my heart will always be here!

This past week was so hard but so so sweet! Our week started off like normal on Tuesday with ministry. We started with some prayer and worship time which was super sweet and then we went to Santa Marta for the rest of the day to work with the kids. I got to sit in one of the classes with the kids while they ate lunch and it was so much fun! I got them to play tic tac toe with me and do some arm wrestling which was a blast. Our ministry ended a little early on Tuesday and our hosts surprised us with a super special meal they prepared for us! One thing about our hosts is that they truly know how to love people well and put so much time and effort into loving us well!

Wednesdays are my absolute favorite day and I know I’ve said that before but it’s so true! It was our last time getting to serve with Kingdom table but it was so good! This week I got the privilege of getting to help the people wash their hands as they came in, it’s one of my favorite things to do! My very first week serving in Kingdom table I got to wash hands and it was super special getting to end with washing hands again! My friend Ash and I also got to have a really good conversation with one of the guys that serves there. It was super sweet and encouraging to hear a bit of what the Lord has done through him and his yes to serve. They ended the morning with having the people pray over us and thank us for our time there. After they prayed each and everyone of the people there came and hugged us and so many of them prayed over and blessed us which was so beautiful! Even though we’re here to serve it was those we were serving that blessed us which was super sweet!

Wednesday afternoon was our last Bible club and it was actually perfect! We got to do one last time of dancing and praising with the kids which was super fun! One of the little boys saved a seat for me and I got to sit with him for the lesson. The lesson this week was on repentance and it was so so good! They don’t sugar coat anything with these kids but they show them the full thing, the real thing! Working with Reindom has shown me the depth of understanding children can have for the Lord and a true hunger for him! After the lesson they had an activity where they had each of the kids write down five things that they regret and repent for, it was so beautiful to see these kids get it! We got to spend the rest of the afternoon just playing with the kids and hanging out with them!

Thursday was our last activation and it was a super sweet time of worship! We ended by singing “I have decided to follow Jesus, the world behind be, the cross before me, no turning back, no turning back” such simple words but so so powerful! It’s such a sweet reminder, “no turning back” this is the decision I’ve made and I will not turn from it, I will never go back; what a huge deceleration that is! Our lesson this week was about the gospel of God’s kingdom and repentance. It was honestly such a sweet message with some simple but good reminders and truths! Kinda crazy that repentance came up so much this week but so beautiful to see how the Lord works and brings everything together!

Friday, oh Friday what a beautiful but sad day! We started the day with our last prayer room, it was actually some of the sweetest and best worship ever! The Lord really met us there and it was so simple and sweet! Our ministry hosts prayed over us, for the rest of our trip but also for what the Lords gonna do with the rest of our lives! I’ve truly enjoyed getting to pray and worship with them every week! We headed out for Santa Marta to do our last ministry day with the kids. I got to sit with one of the classes while they ate and it was so much fun to just hangout with them! After lunch I helped wash the dishes and then we met back at the school for an announcement. The staff at Reindom had shirts that they handed out to the kids and then they told the kids it was our last day. They had us stand in the front and had some of the kids come lay hands and pray over us. After praying over us we got absolutely swarmed by the mob of kids coming to hug us. Every single one of the kids made a point to hug each of us and to say goodbye. It actually broke my heart and I was sobbing hugging each of them. As much as it hurt to leave I truly believe I will see them again in heaven!

That night our ministry hosts invited us to Reindom house and they had a whole night planned for us. First we went out on the town to see all the Christmas lights and decorations which was so cool! When we got back to the house they had set up a whole meal for us and also planned some stuff for us to do! We got to help set up their Christmas tree and decorate it and then we all sat down and did a sweet time of communion! It was honestly so sweet and so good to just sit and hangout with them! They also got us sweet little gifts and just loved us so well! I couldn’t have picked a better or sweeter day to end our ministry on!

I knew leaving would be hard but I never expected it to be this hard or to make such deep and beautiful friendships here. Saying goodbye to the kids broke me but I know that if nothing else we’ll be reunited in heaven! I made incredible friendships with the people we got to work with and gained so many brothers and sister in Christ! This place has impacted me in ways I can’t even describe and these people have touched my heart so deeply! My prayer as we drove away from Santa Marta was that the Lord would edge this place on my heart so deeply that I can never forget it, that every little moment would be so engrained in my mind forever! I hope with all my heart that I can carry and share all the things I’ve learned here with me for the rest of my life and show others the love Reindom has shown me! Thank you Reindom! You’ve impacted me in ways you’ll never know and I’m so so thankful the Lord let our paths cross!

This is my last week in Guatemala next week we’ll be arriving in South Africa. It breaks my heart to leave but I’m beyond excited for what the Lord has planned there! For our last prayer room at Reindom we sang Missionary Anthem with the words “The harvest is ready we have to go, we won’t stop till the whole world knows. The power in your blood to save every soul, we’re not ashamed of the gospel.” Singing these words gave me a new hope and joy for South Africa! I truly believe that the Lord has good things planned for there, I believe that the harvest is ready and I’m ready to go! 

I’d really appreciate your prayers for safe travels and peace as we leave! Prayers for my team and I to have open hands and open hearts, being expectant of what the Lords gonna do! Prayers that I’d continue to walk in a deeper obedience and depth of Christ love! Thank you for reading, thank you for all your support and prayers! If you wanna hear any more about what the Lords done here and what he’s done in my heart reach out or leave a comment and I’ll do my best to respond!

Love,

Emilee

Patience, Joyfulness, and Obedience

“Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice and to listen than the fat of rams.” – 1 Samuel 15:22

I’ve realized since being here in Guatemala that I’ve never actually taken the time to read the Bible all the way through, front to back and actually study it. I know so many of the stories but I’ve never actually read all the little details and tried to understand it in deeper ways before. Honestly I’ve always struggled with consistently reading the Bible (especially the Old Testament) and actually getting something out of it but I decided to use my time on the race to work on that. The Lord has been so so good and patient to work with me in this area. He’s blessed me with new eyes and a new fire and passion for digging into His Word. More than that he’s also been so good to teach and reveal more than I ever thought through His Word! With all that said that brings me to the main focus of this blog which is complete obedience.

There’s a lot of things the Lords been teaching and revealing to me in deeper ways but obedience is one He’s really put on my heart recently. One theme that has been so consistent all through out the Old Testament is obedience, not just obedience but complete obedience (there’s a difference). Honestly if you dig deep and look closely obedience is really the only thing the Lord ever asks of us.

You can see it all the way back at the beginning in the garden of Eden; sin was brought into the world because of Adam’s disobedience to God when he ate the fruit. Disobedience is the very thing that brought sin into the world so how beautiful is it that obedience is the very thing the Lord asks of us! Going past that when God told Noah to build the ark He was really calling him to be obedient. The Lord asked Abraham to sacrifice his son Issac and because of Abrahams faith and obedience to the Lord Isaac was spared and blessings were brought on them. There’s so many more times in the Bible where all God was asking was the obedience of his people, but the group that’s taught me the most is the Israelites.

Ever since the Israelites left Egypt and began their journey to the promised land they had many ups but especially downs. Over and over again they complained, they turned away from God, but more than that they lacked obedience. Instead of trusting and following the God who literally saved them out of Egypt they were disobedient and turned to other gods. God gave them so many opportunities to follow him and to be obedient but they turned away again and again. Even after the Israelites had gotten into the promised land they were still called to complete obedience. As Joshua led them in battle after battle to take over the promised land God told them how to do it in specific detail. He even divided the land in such a specific way for each tribe to have what they needed. He gave them opportunity after opportunity to walk in obedience, the problem is most the time they only walked in partial obedience.

Partial obedience really isn’t obedience at all, it’s honestly just disobedience. I think this is where a lot of people get stuck including me. We hear what God says to do and we follow it to some extent but when it becomes really costly to obey a lot of the time we don’t. There are so many examples of this in the Old Testament. The Israelites would follow the law and the voice of the Lord when it benefited them but then they’d twist it up a little bit when it didn’t benefit them. One example of this is when they conquered the promised land. The Lord had made it clear that he was using the Israelites to execute his judgement on the inhabitants. This sounds super harsh but it was all people that were serving other gods and living in sin. God had made it very clear that when the Israelites conquered the land they were to destroy all the inhabitants and get rid of any idols. The main reason for this was actually to protect the Israelites from being tempted and distracted by false idols and falling into idolatry. The Israelites started off strong fighting and obeying but eventually they settled into what was easy and they began to let people live alongside them and not completely conquer the land. Eventually this does come back to bite them and Israel is led astray by the false gods of surrounding people and nations.

Complete obedience is incredibly hard to walk and honestly it does cost us but it’s so worth it. This is something the Lords really been teaching me recently, not just walking in obedience but walking in complete obedience to all that he says and calls me to. Not just walking in the parts that I want to but actually obeying every word he says. It might be easier to walk in partial obedience but it’s so much more worth it to walk in complete obedience. Learning to have a heart of obedience and a heart that’s willing to obey whatever He asks. Another thing that I’ve really learned recently is that obeying and loving the Lord go hand in hand. If you love the Lord then you’ll obey Him and if you obey the Lord then you’re loving Him. You can’t have one without the other, so if you’re saying you love the Lord then you should also be walking in obedience.

I know this blog was a little different than my other ones but I wanted to share what the Lords really been teaching me and working on my heart. Thanks for taking the time to read and hear my heart it means the world! Check out some photos from the last few weeks!

Love,

Emilee

Playing, Laughing, and Driving

The Lord is so good! Another amazing week in Guatemala just getting to be the hands and feet of Jesus and getting to love people like him! Each week is so special and different but this past week we got to do a VBS for the kids in Sumpango! 

Usually we go to the village of Santa Marta and do our normal ministry days there, but this week we got to care for the kids in Sumpango! Everyday we’d get there early in the morning and get everything setup. After we set everything up we’d split into groups and go out to the streets to invite any kids we saw. I love getting to go out and invite people! It’s such a sweet opportunity to walk the streets of the town and see a little bit more of this beautiful country! Each day a couple more kids would show up and it was so cool to see our number grow little by little! 

Everyday for VBS we did some different activities with the kids! We’d play games with them, do some praise and worship time, give a little message, do crafts, and end with a snack. I helped out with the games for most of the week and it was so much fun playing with them! It doesn’t matter how old or young they are all the kids play so willingly and help each other out with such gentleness and kindness! No matter what we were doing each day the kids would show up so excited and do each and every little thing with such joy it was so beautiful to watch! We ended the week by having a little graduation ceremony for the kids for completing all the days. It was the sweetest thing ever to just cheer and celebrate them! Our host made them each a little certificate of completion and their little faces just lit up when we cheered for them! 

One of my favorite parts about working with Reindom is the people we get to work alongside! We’ve been so blessed to be able to build super sweet and deep relationships with all of our hosts! Each and everyone of them has a special place in my heart! The amount of crazy and hilarious stories I have with these people is insane! There truly is never a dull moment, whether we’re having a drawing competition (on people’s arms), hitting each other with balloons, or dancing around and doing Zumba I love it all! This week doing VBS our days ended a little earlier and we’d get to go back to the Reindom house and hangout with our hosts for a bit. No matter what we’re doing we’re literally always laughing and giggling! I’m beyond blessed to have met these people! 

Another super sweet thing about this past week was getting some extra time to rest! Since our ministry ended earlier each day we got to have some time in the afternoon to rest for a bit. My friend Ash and I chose to use some of this extra time to hangout with our friend Manuel. I think I’ve mentioned Manuel a bit before but for those who might not know he works at the base as a maintenance man and drives us to our ministry each day. A couple days this week Ash and I would ride with Manuel to pick up the other teams from ministry and help him pickup the squads laundry. During our car rides with Manuel we’d get to have a party listening to music and also just get to laugh and talk with him a bit more. I’ve loved getting to hangout and talk to Manuel more. One thing I’ve truly loved about being on the race is all the little friendships you get to make and this is one of them.

Now I’ll admit that I’m posting this blog a little late but the main reason for that is because I got sick over the last weekend and wasn’t able to get WiFi till now. Thanks for taking the time to read this. I’ll have a post for this past week up soon!

Love, 

Emilee