I am currently on a hammock listening
to the music from a wedding reception that is happening just a few feet away.
LIFT 40 got up early this morning, November 12th, to head to Panajachel.
After arriving to our hotel, we took a large boat to the other side of Lake
Atitlan to the quaint village of San Juan. Some of the group hiked up a very
steep mountain called, The Nose of the Indian, while others stayed back and explored the
town. On our way back to our hotel, the boat stopped so we could swim in the
1000 foot deep volcanic crater lake. The scenery is incredible; the lake stretches
over 10 miles and is surrounded by mountains and 3 large volcanoes.
Yesterday was our last day at our various
ministry sites in Magdalena. Noah and Scott, fellow LIFTers, and I worked and
served in the Sponsorship Site alongside our leader Steven. In the morning, we
played soccer with people from the other sites and kids from Magdalena. After
lunch we visited some people in the community to say our goodbyes. While walking
around El Gorrion, I realized that there are a lot of people I am going to miss
and a lot who had impacted my life. In less than two weeks I formed
relationships with people who speak a different language than me and that have
a different culture.
Later that day we all gathered at the
community center for a banquet. After dinner, we split up into our different
ministry sites for a few last words and goodbyes. For almost two weeks the four
of us worked together, learned from each other, and served together. It was
very clear throughout that time that Steven was making a huge impact on us; from
the Bible study he led for the LIFTers, to the words he exchanged with people
on the street. After we shared a few words about the influence he had on us, he
said there were three things he needed to say before we left. Sharing all three
would be a little extensive for this blog post so I am just going to highlight
his last point.
He
started off the third point by asking us if we knew what an Ebenezer was. I
timidly replied with something along the lines of that in the Old Testament, when
God provided, people would set up an Ebenezer to remember what He had done.
Steven shared the story about how the Lord parted the Jordan for the Israelites
to cross from Joshua 3-4. After crossing, “The Lord said to Joshua, ‘Choose
twelve men from among the people, one from each tribe, and tell them to take up
twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan from right where the priests stood
to carry them over with you and put them down at the place where you stay
tonight.’” Joshua did as the Lord said and he told the people that “These
stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever.” These days, Ebenezers
are used to remind people of a spiritual truth, especially of Gods faithfulness
and goodness. He encouraged us to take a rock from outside of the community center,
as a stone of remembrance. He suggested that we put it by our bedside so that
when we saw it we would remember the things that God taught us. As he was
talking, I thought about all the incredible ways that His goodness and
faithfulness were displayed for me to see on the trip.
I thought about the time we went to a woman’s
home to do a house evaluation to see if her son could be considered for sponsorship.
After the paperwork was completed, we began asking her about the culture. Eventually
she started talking about her faith and it was so clear that she trusted in the
Lord and found peace in Him. She told us that one time, her husband was on the
bus home from the grocery store with a bag of their food for the week and it
got stolen. Her husband was nervous to go home and tell her what had happened
because they didn’t have enough money for any more food. When he got home and
told her, she replied with grace and just said that she trusted that the Lord
would provide. There wasn’t one day that entire week that the family didn’t go
without food on the table. His faithfulness to keep His promise to provide was very
evident in that story.
I was reminded of God’s faithfulness and
goodness in answering prayer. Thursday night, during dinner with our host
family, we found out it was our “mom” Esther’s birthday. My roommates and I had
mentioned that it would be nice if we bought flowers for her but by the time we
had finished celebrating and cleaning dishes, it was well after 8:00pm and most
stores close at 9:00pm. We decided go out to try to find flowers. As we walked
down the hill towards the stores I prayed that we would find flowers. After
walking for a few minutes I mentioned that we should try to ask the man at the
bakery who hosted a few LIFTers if he knew where we could get flowers from. I
was able to get out “where” and “flowers” in Spanish. He said something to his wife
who was in the house and quickly moved aside the table and chair that blocked
him from getting out from behind the counter. I thought he was going to point
us in the direction that we might find some, but instead he motioned for us to
go into his house. We walked in and immediately saw tons of plants and bouquets
of flowers along the wall. At that moment Lynette, one of my roommates,
remembered that she had found out this woman, Maria, was a florist a few days
before from the LIFTers staying with them.
After the banquet I took Stevens advice
and grabbed a stone from outside. I am so grateful and thankful for the time I spent
in Magdalena and the ways that God revealed His goodness to me. My prayer is
that when I get back to the states, I wouldn’t forget all that God has done
these past two weeks. He is so good and so faithful.
As we head to the airport tomorrow, I ask
that you pray for safety for us while we travel. Pray that we will take what we
learned here and apply it when we get home. Pray that we won’t forget that
serving and missions isn’t a calling, it’s a command. Thank you again for all your
prayers and support.
Christy
White
LIFT has been on the shores of Lake Atitlan enjoying two days of rest, recreation, debriefing the last two-week experience,and worshiping our Lord. Please pray for LIFT as they will be flying from Guatemala to Houston then to NYC then drive 4 and 1/2 hours to the snowy CAMP-of-the-WOODS. They plan to arrive around 6 PM, Monday.
See photos in the LIFT 40 photo album on Facebook at the LIFT
Discipleship Program page:
No comments:
Post a Comment