Countdown To Guatemala – Some Details Of What Will Follow
Yesterday, I got an update on what we’ll be doing in Guatemala next week.
Do you want to hear about it?
We’ve been told that the missions field is a place where flexibility is critical, so these details are subject to change during our trip. I’m hoping these details will give you a better idea of what we’ll be doing and will help you pray for us next week as we serve in Guatemala.
On Sunday (the day we arrive), there is a big week-long festival starting in the town of Xenacoj where we will be spending most of our time. When we arrive, we’ll be enjoying the festival with our team, and we’ll be spending time with a young single mother and her five children. I got a little bit of her story when I spoke with Dave Sgro yesterday. You can pray that she would find hope in the midst of her personal obstacles of life.
Monday morning, we’ll be serving a meal to 100 kids at a local school. And Tuesday, we’ll be serving meals to 200 kids at two separate schools. You can pray that this meal would meet an obvious physical need and that it would also provide an opportunity to share the love of Christ in a practical way.
Wednesday and Thursday, we’ll be traveling 5 hours away to another village where we will be helping GO! Ministries explore the opportunity to expand and mirror their ministry to another village in need. Pray for safety in our travels to and from this new village and for confirmation, effectiveness, and discernment in this new venture to bring Christ to the people of Guatemala.
Thursday night, we will be back in Xenacoj to party with the 200 widows from the community. Here, we will have an opportunity to distribute baskets of goodies and necessities to each of the widows. These items were donated by our H.O.P.E. group. Pray for the practical provision and for hope for these women.
Friday, we’ll be serving meals again at a different local school. And Saturday morning, we’ll get to serve kids at the Xenacoj Center. And Saturday afternoon, we’ll visit Antigua as we finish up our final day in Guatemala.
At some point during our visit, we’re looking forward to visiting with the family we built a house for last summer. It will be great to introduce Leanne and Isaac to this family that touched our lives last year. Pray for a sweet reunion. And pray that we would be an encouragement to their family.
Finally, we’ll be traveling back home on the 11th. We would greatly appreciate your prayers for safety throughout the trip. And we pray that we would be open to God’s movement in our lives during this trip. We also pray that our trip would be an encouragement to those back home in the United States that they would find ways to serve in their local communities and around the world.
Next week, I’ll have some guest posts interspersed throughout the week, and I’m hoping to send a couple of updates from Guatemala. Stay tuned and keep stretching along with our family!
What has your experience been with short-term missions? How have you learned flexibility through missions and ministry? What would you like to know about Guatemala that we might discover while we’re there next week?