¡Hola, amigos y familia!

¡Hola, amigos y familia!

It’s officially been one week since LIFT 49 arrived in Guatemala. I wanted to share some insight about how the Lord has been moving. From Wednesday through Friday last week, we each served at our job sites, working alongside Students International staff. The week was full of immersing ourselves in the community of Magdalena and surrounding towns, where many sites would spend their days visiting the homes of the locals, hearing their stories, eating with them, or even just being with them. The community has been so kind to us at women’s social work, undoubtably waving as we pass by and shouting, “buenas!” The SI staff have been so generous to us and intentional with us. Even though we’re only here temporarily, it truly feels like we’re a part of their team. Sheny and Hannah are awesome!! God is so clearly softening the hearts of local women, using the two of them as His hands and feet.

When we aren’t serving at the sites, we’ve been spending time with our host families. We’ve been blessed daily by very delicious food, and tiendas all around to satiate any late night ice cream cravings. Two nights ago, los chicos at my home stay played uno with my roommates and I. Not that the language barrier has been much of an issue (thank God for Caris lol), but playing a card game was muy chillero, breaching the language gap in new ways. It’s funny, for some of us it’s felt like some of our English is leaving us as we try to think en Espanol. Lauren Goodison ("LEG") joked, “go to Guatemala and forget how to speak English, but never learn how to speak Spanish.”

Every morning, we meet up at the park in town and walk together as a class to the SI Community Center. Here, we’ve been gathering for worship (and yummy coffee) and partaking in a devotional that was written by SI. As I write this blog post now, everyone else is in their devotional time. The devo specifically dives into the sermon on the mount, which conveniently is also the scripture passage we’ve been memorizing as a class this semester. This is very typical of God, but the devo has perfectly reflected the posture that our hearts ought to take, whilst perfectly correcting my own heart.

Day by day, especially in the beginning of the trip, culture shock was prevalent. Culture shock is also a just convenient way of saying that we’ve been incredibly privileged in the States and all of a sudden, we’ve found ourselves outside of our comfort zones to some extent. I’ve felt frustrated with myself, trying to reconcile my discomfort with the fact that this is how much of the world lives every day. To be completely honest, this experience has been incredibly eye-opening to the fact that I am not entitled to comfort – none of us are. Any “comfort” we receive ought to be held with open hands to the Lord and to our neighbor. Nothing that I have is mine. I want to encourage you, reader, to revisit the parable of the good Samaritan. Pray for us as the Lord continues to teach us what humility looks like.

I was reading 1 Corinthians 12 the other day, and I knew that I wanted to include it if I was asked to write a post. This passage, I think, describes what it’ been like to partake in cross-cultural missions and Christian community here in Guatemala.

One Body with Many Members

"...12 For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves[d] or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.

14 For the body does not consist of one member but of many. 15 If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? 18 But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. 19 If all were a single member, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, yet one body.

21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” 22 On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, 24 which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, 25 that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. 26 If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together..."

Each devo ends with the question, because of the beautitudes, what do you think the kingdom of God looks like? If you’re willing to respond, I'd love to hear what you think.

Asking for prayer as the Holy Spirit leads,

Love you, thank you!

Lauryn Stornelli

Riding back from our LIFT vs SI soccer night. 

Watching Fuego erupt (voclano on the left). Acatenango (the volcano we'll hike) is the one on the right.

Learning to make tortillas during a home visit

One of the towns we did home visits in with the Women's Social Work Site

Hola amigos! | Our Weekend in Antigua

Family and Friends,

We had the awesome experience of spending this past weekend in the city of Antigua, Guatemala! On Saturday we met at our meeting spot in Central Park and hopped on a bus to ride to Antigua! Our first stop: Chocolate and Coffee tours! We had the blessing of experiencing and learning about authentic Guatemalan coffee and chocolate. Everyone got to sign up for either the coffee or chocolate tours (or choose to just rest in the courtyard) and I took the opportunity of being a part of the chocolate tour! Our tour guide led us to make our own chocolate bon bons using a mold with different shapes. There were many toppings we could choose from such as sea salt, almonds, oreos, chili, and cinnamon. We also experienced and learned how they make chocolate, the steps of fermentation and how to roast the cocoa beans to bring out the flavor. Once we were finished with the tour, we received our customized chocolate bites, but we had to eat them fast before they melted!

We then got back on the bus and rode to downtown Antigua. Once there, we established a meeting spot at Cafe Barista then split into groups and went off to find lunch. In my group was Zach, Julia, and Attie, and myself! We had lunch at a Mexican restaurant called Ta'Cool alongside Caleb, Rachel, and Nivia! The food was so good! After lunch my group headed off to walk around the city. We walked past many tiny markets, shops, and vendors. We stopped into this giant artisan market where there were various pieces of clothing, toys, mugs and so much more! We stopped by the San Fransisco Ruins and walked around remnants of old school classrooms, kitchens, and a library filled with old Guatemalan history books. We walked around some more, taking photos of everything we saw, then headed back to cafe barista to regroup with the others. We all had dinner as a group back at Ta'Cool (it was too good! ) and had a wonderful time of community as a whole group, story sharing from events of the day, and fellowship with one another! After dinner, we rode back to Magdalena on our bus and dismissed back to our host homes. 

On Sunday, we headed back to Antigua for church at Shoreline church. After the service was over, we were given free time to walk around the city before lunch. Alena, Gavin, Andrew, Raquel, Jack, and I stopped back at the artisan market to buy some Hackysacks! We then walked around until meeting back at Cafe Barista for lunch. We had lunch at the delicious Luna De Piel. The menu was full of sweet and savory crepes, salads, smoothies and more! After lunch I headed with Zach, Julia, and Matt back to Cafe Barista to relax my feet! It was really rejuvenating to sit with my bible and journal and have a chance to slow down and reflect on my time here in Guatemala. There has been so much that the Lord has been teaching me about missions, community, and not taking things for granted. How blessed are we that we get to experience the amazingness of his kingdom here in Guatemala! I’m so grateful for the time I have spent and the time I get to spend with the leaders of SI and with my LIFT community! One of my favorite moments from this day was the bus ride home. You wouldn't believe how loud these bus rides have been, but this one was especially loud and filled with conversation and connection. Sharing stories from the past days, laughing with one another, and reflecting on some of the best memories!

As I wrap up this blog, I’d ask that you all would be praying for us as we continue our last week here in Guate! Some things you can be praying for:

• Connection not only between us LIFTers but also with the SI staff
• Personally, my ankle. Its been tough getting around but prayer for healing would be awesome:)
• A continued fire for the Lord and his mission for us here in Guatemala

Thank you all for your support! It means the world,

Regan

Hello from Day 4! | Women's Social Work Site

Friends and loved ones,

As we continue our time here in Guatemala, each day has been filled with new experiences, learning opportunities, and time spent with the wonderful people here at SI and around Magdalena. I am helping at the Women’s Social Work site which is located in the nearby village of San Miguel. Every morning the wonderful site leaders, Sheny and Hannah pick me, Lauryn, Nicole, and Attie up and we head to the site. Sheny and Hannah facilitate a variety of activities throughout the week, each intended to serve, train, and disciple the women and children who attend. Wednesday, our first day at the site, also happens to be children’s day at the site. Here in Guate, children attend school either in the morning or the afternoon, so the site is available all day for them to come either before or after their studies. When they arrive, they are provided with the materials to make bracelets, which SI then sells in their tienda. They also get a snack and coffee and a short Bible lesson or devotional. We got to learn how to make bracelets with them and then help the younger children with theirs, and for the afternoon group, Nicole got up and shared a devotional about heaven, which she delivered in Spanish, which impressed us all. 

Thursdays at the site are when the women come to work on sewing projects. Sheny runs this part of the ministry, which equips women with the skills to make and sell different products which can then be sold for a profit, bringing additional incomes to their families. They spend all day from 9-4 at the site, so they are also provided with a snack and a devotional. It was a joy to watch them work diligently and see the bags, aprons, pants, and many other other projects come to life. There is a traditional woven fabric here in Guate called huipil that they use to make many of the products, and the bold patterns, colors, and texture of this cloth—along with the careful craftsmanship of the women—makes for some beautiful products. That morning I also had the privilege of sharing some of my testimony (also in Spanish!) and received such attentive feedback and much encouragement from them in return. Our team mostly got to observe and help around the site with various odd tasks, getting to know the women a little bit along the way. 

We then packed up all the latest pieces they had made and headed back to the community center, where SI was hosting their tienda, or store night, for us. Each ministry site had a table set up where they sold products made at those sites, and we got to go shopping! Women’s Social Work had the biggest table, as there were dozens of items made by the women and children available for sale. Each item is priced and the women receive 50% of the profits if they used SI’s materials, or 90% if they used their own materials. The rest of the money made goes back to the site and is used to purchase materials. On Wednesday we got to witness the kids receiving their little envelopes with the quetzales they had earned from people buying their bracelets, and the pride and look of accomplishment on their faces was amazing to see. Needless to say, we joyfully pored over the products, choosing items for ourselves and our loved ones that would remind us of these amazing people and this beautiful place. Other sites also sold greeting cards, wooden spoons, coffee, and t-shirts, and we all walked to our homestays last night decked out in our new treasures. 

Please continue to pray for us as we move into this weekend. Here are some things to pray specifically for the Women’s Social Work site:

-provision of materials and support to keep the site running well

-for Sheny and Hannah as they pour into the women spiritually and vocationally

-for open hearts to receive the devotionals and teaching each day

And some things for LIFT and SI in general:

- good health—so far so good, but please pray that no one would get sick or injured!

- humility and open hearts as we face new and different sights, smells, sounds, etc. every day

- unity and good relationships among staff and our teams

Hasta luego!

Giullia

Hola a todos! Day 2 in Guatemala

Hola a todos! We are on day 2 since arriving to Guatemala, and already so much has happened. Yesterday we started with a devotional time and worship with some of our ministry site leaders before being introduced to them and heading out to town. Most of the site leaders are Guatemalans that don’t know a ton of English - and most of us in LIFT don’t know much Spanish - so we’ve had to find creative ways to communicate and work alongside them.

In my site we are focussing on running sports programs for kids all the way from ages 11 to groups of late teens. The our site leader, Byron, is super passionate about creating opportunities for kids (especially girls) facing lives without much future because of the economic helplessness that many of them live in. Broken families, financial struggles, and cultural dynamics force many kids around here to have to drop out of school early to help support their families and consequentially have less opportunities down the road to break out of their state of poverty. Byron is a living example of how God can transform the lives of kids through programs like this, and he shared his testimony of how much of an impact he has already seen this ministry have on this community (and was even recognized by the Guatemalan government for the positive impact).

Yesterday we started our day by traveling to play volleyball with a couple kids clubs in town. We drove there in an open truck, and kids would hop in as we moved through the town. For the rest of the day we played lots of volleyball and soccer with them, just trying to start conversations with them. I did a lot of translating as I am an MK from Spain and am lucky enough to have already learned Spanish, but the LIFTers have been so intentional about finding ways to communicate and pick up words. They aren’t afraid to stick themselves out there and already so many of us are having conversations.

After our ministry sites, we met up at the base of a mountain next to town (yes we are already hiking) and we set out as a group up the slope as training to acclimate to the elevation and prepare for hiking the Volcano Acatenango in a couple weeks. (Alex did wear shoes!)

Then last night we went to the ministry center were the Students International staff threw a Guatemalan culture night for us. We had amazing food with tamales, stuffed peppers, horchata (a rice drink) and lots of fried plantains. Then we played several typical party games and danced as well - the full shabang. A funny moment during the party games was we got these repurpoused egg shells filled with confetti that we were supposed to break open on each other’s heads, but as Americans we started throwing them like water balloons at first and quickly realized that those things are a bit harder than water.

It has been a super full past couple days and we are all super excited for what’s to come!

Some causes that we would love you to pray for these next couple weeks would be:

• finding ways to communicate and building strong relationships between LIFTers and our site leaders
• seeking opportunities to be tested in our faith and perseverance
• safety whenever we’re out in town

Ben C.




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¡Hola from Guatemala! (LIFT 49)

Hello friends!

Yesterday (Tuesday) all 36 of us arrived safely in Guatemala! It was a long travel day, and right as we stepped out of the Guatemala airport and began to experience the culture and meet people, it filled us with more excitement for these next two weeks. After the trip from Guatemala City to Magdalena, we had orientation with the Students International staff, and then met our host families. What a blessing they are! There’s nothing like being immersed in the culture and language right from the beginning and getting to experience a little bit of what daily life is like for the people here. Though our homes are thousands of miles away from them, one thing brings us together: the Gospel. Sitting around the table with my family and praying before our meals and worshipping in Spanish this morning reminds me of the power and love of God. It is beautiful.

Today, we begin work at our ministry sites and meet our site leaders. We all are looking forward to it and the opportunity to learn and serve. I’m sure tonight will be filled with many stories, joy, and laughter, as we debrief our day when we all are together again. 

Thank you for your prayers! We ask continued prayer for:

-Humble hearts ready to learn and serve

-Connecting with the Guatemalan people and showing and sharing the love of Christ

-For the people to know Christ’s love and prayer against poverty and difficult situations

-Safety

I already see God at work, and I am so grateful for this trip. I’d like to close with a Bible verse: “Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”- Ephesians 3:20-21

Abbie J

Some photos from our travel day!

Education Ministry Site Reflections

On Thursday April 3, I went with the SI education site leader Anna Parker and my fellow Education site LIFTers down to the lower school in San Miguel. Now, it’s not called the lower school because it’s for the lower grades. Instead, it has to do with the fact that it is actually lower on the mountainside. To get anywhere in San Miguel, you have to either go up or down. We arrive at the school, entering through the community gymnasium to enter through the gate into a small courtyard surrounded by two levels of classrooms. We set up a tutoring station in a supply closet with a table, chairs, and some materials brought by Anna. The first hour, I’m helping a fourth-grade boy work on putting simple syllables together to form words for the pictures on the worksheet Anna gave us. To save paper, she uses clear dry-erase sleeves and markers to write over but not on the worksheets so she can use them for other students. Teaching a child how to read in Spanish isn’t that hard as long as they know the word for the picture. Spanish phonics are much more reliable than English. We spend time putting together simple two-letter syllables into sight words, rolling dice with word starters to write more known words, and reading a pre-K to Kindergarten level book together. This young man is several years behind in reading level for his grade. His teachers work to differentiate instruction and work for him, but extra support is needed.

Anna has been working with the teachers, parents, and community to be able to help guide thirteen students who with ADHD, social-emotional issues, or who are simply not where their grade level dictates them to be. Anna would love to help more students, but she recognizes that the quality of education she can provide requires that she keep her class sizes small. On Tuesday and Thursday, she has the older kids and has the littles on Wednesday and Friday. The elementary school day for San Miguel runs from 7:30 to 12:30, and her after-school program runs from 1:15 to 3:30. The Education ministry site is on the second floor of a yellow and white building above a tienda and a small hardware store. It’s decorated very much like classrooms in the US except all the posters are in Spanish. The posters are educational for both the students and us LIFTers who are still trying to comprehend the language. Before class we spend time playing Jenga and Sorry, building with blocks and magnets, and coloring.

Anna leads a small devotional for the children going through a kid’s curriculum for Tozer’s Attributes of God. Anna’s foremost desire is that the children can grow a deeper understanding of who God is both in Himself and in relation to them. Her practical applications continually focus on how the children pray to God, worshipping Him, giving thanks, and asking for help. The students’ prayer requests are continually focused on their families and their studies. Looking back on my life, I don’t think I ever prayed to pass a grade in school. I never thought I was going to fail, and how much did I care about my performance in school other than competition and comparison with my classmates anyway?

After the devotional, we do regular classroom activities like going over the calendar, story time,singing a kids worship song in Spanish full of hand motions, shouting, and laughing. For time spent on specific school content, Anna splits the class in two, half with her and one LIFTer and the other half with the other two LIFTers to play, color, etc.. I’ve been learning to use the little Spanish I have in order to most effectively teach things like borrowing in subtraction, multiplication, and calculating perimeter. Anna is very helpful giving a word or two that I need to get my point across. I forget the words often, but she is happy to remind me again. When I heard I was going to be in the education site, I expected to be a minimally helpful teacher’s aide, just running to grab what the teacher needs, helping in administrative tasks, or just being a slightly awkward presence in the classroom, just smiling and waving. My expectations were wonderfully subverted through Anna’s leadership and guidance. While my teaching may not have been as easy to comprehend as Anna’s, I got to see improvement in not only the kids I worked with, but also in Christian, Peter MP, and myself in our confidence as teachers and Spanish speakers.

A final thing I would like to note about the work of Anna in the education site is her intentionality in making education a community effort. When traveling anywhere in San Miguel, we have to stop for five or so minutes for Anna to chat with someone in town whether it be a kid she knows from the school, a parent of one of her students, or someone selling avocados or mangoes (which we have eaten plenty of both over this trip). One impactful occasion over this time was a home visit to Ruth, the mother of one of Anna’s students. We sat and listened as she and Anna talked for almost two hours about her life, her family, and her involvement in her daughter’s education. Very little of this time was actually spent talking about education, but that’s okay. This trip has been teaching me about how missions isn’t about productivity. I spent just as much time watching people talk as I was being “helpful.” Anna is focused on prioritizing her relationships with the members of the community to open more doors for the Gospel. Her ministry is so much more than helping kids pass their grade. Her ministry is to see a community transformed into the image of Christ, and education is how God has blessed her with the opportunity to be a worker in His plan for the people of San Miguel and the surrounding areas.

Back to that Thursday. After the first session of tutoring, it’s recess for the kids. Anna goes to talk with one of the teachers, leaving Christian, Peter and I to stand in the courtyard while around a hundred kids are running around, eating snacks, playing games, and waving at us. For a while, we just awkwardly wave back. We give the usual, “Hola,” “Buenos dias,” or “como estas.” We’re kind of awkward standing there, just a couple tall white guys who don’t know how to really connect with all these kids we barely know or even understand (these kids talk really fast).As we sheepishly walk around, we see two kids making a bridge with their arms for a circle of some other kids to run through and around. Christian and I look at each other with a look that says, “Hey, we can do that too,” and put our arms in the air. It starts with the excited shout of one little girl, and within the next 10 to 15 seconds, there’s a mass of thirty children running and laughing around us. Next thing you know, the bridge is me and a little boy with Christian running with the group. Peter starts playing with some boys who got a marble, swatting it to the concrete to bounce it around. He teaches them how to launch a plastic bottle cap out of their hand across the courtyard. Christian and I start playing futbol with a ball of crumpled paper that has been tied into a plastic lunch bag, and then we and 10 kids start throwing it up to some kids on the second level balcony who throw it back down. Those moments were filled with so much joy. We may not have been sharing the Gospel with our words. We may never interact with these kids again. We probably didn’t change their lives that day. But we had an opportunity to show and share love in that moment. And afterwards, we learned that Anna was able to have a very impactful and encouraging conversation with the teacher she left us to go see.

Anna’s work is powerful and is made possible through the Holy Spirit, the prayers of the people who care for her and her work, and the support of those who go to work with her and those who give to make her work possible. Please pray for her and the other SI sites you’ve been reading about. Pray for the community of San Miguel, that they will as a community be transformed through the power of Jesus Christ. Please pray for the kids, that they will be filled with love for learning and not despair when they’re told they can’t succeed. Pray for the parents, that they will value the education of their children and provide the support they need in concert with the teachers. Please pray that God continues to move and work in the lives of every person Anna interacts with. And she interacts with everyone, because everyone says “Hola!” in San Miguel.