Volcan Acatenango | Sat-Sun Recap

In LIFT, we go on many adventures throughout the year. One such adventure would be hiking an inactive volcano named “Volcan Acatenango”—our highest peak of the year. The volcano, from the trailhead to the summit, is about 5,200 ft in total elevation gain with the peak being around 13,000 ft above sea level. It goes without saying that more than a few of us were nervous about the daunting challenge ahead, but before I get into the thrilling experience of hiking a volcano and seeing lava erupting from an active volcano in the distance (called “Fuego”), I want to talk about the lead-up to the hike.

The hike did not start while we were in Guatemala, but rather it started back at home at Camp-of-the-Woods. While we were still preparing for our trip to Guatemala, we were all aware of the excursion we’d eventually be doing together in a distant land all the way in Central America. Everyone was both excited and nervous about the trip at the same time. Throughout the LIFT year, LIFTers can qualify to go on the hikes which are more physically demanding by climbing up the local Oak ski mountain twice in a row, being about 650 ft base to summit. Shortly before we left to Central America, there would be groups going up Oak Mountain 3 times in a row and encouraging others to do likewise so that we would be more prepared for the challenge ahead. There would even be people praying for one another at times, asking that God would give them the strength, energy and endurance required to safely participate. It was uplifting to see that everyone wanted the rest of the group to be well prepared by reflecting the love of God to one another by intentionally taking the time to train with each other, that there would be a sense of physical accountability around the community. We were all looking forward to the trip and wanted to do everything within our power to prepare as much as we could.

Saturday, 18 April: Day 1. We started the day by leaving Magdalena for the last time at 03:30 in the morning, saying goodbye to our host families and heading out for Acatenango. On our way, we made a stop to get with our guides and gathered additional gear needed for the hike. It was clear that if we, being in the LIFT program having hiked the Adirondacks, needed to have guides with us, then this would be a hike nothing like what we’ve encountered before. After we had breakfast at a local restaurant, we made our way towards the volcano by bus. The volcano was so tall that the top was covered by clouds and the top was not visible. There was electricity in the air accompanied by a shared, yet unspoken sense of uncertainty. While we were at the base of the volcano, there were people encouraging and praying for one another before we embarked on our journey, showing our devotion to accomplishing a shared goal and being present with each other. Once we were hiking up the volcano, Nate Tarnowski and Paul Raucci, who were the leaders of the day (LOD’s), would make the most of every stop by taking the time to give their spiritual emphasis for the hike. The two had worked together on their spiritual emphasis and read a few passages out of Ephesians which to my recollection greatly boosted morale. I recall one LIFTer recounting that as Nate was reading out of his bible, a passerby had exclaimed “Oh, cool! He has a bible!” None of us were ashamed of our faith as people all around us would observe us being in God’s word as they walked by which is an incredible testament to how each of us are firmly rooted in our faith and unashamed of the Gospel.

The plant life from the base to the summit was incredible, watching it go from green jungle life below to dusty, druid, mute colors towards the top. I recall that one LIFTer was not doing so well at the beginning of the hike. The altitude was the biggest contributor, causing altitude sickness. It wasn’t until after one of her roommates, Giullia Smith, had prayed for her during one of our stops that things started to turn around. She had gone from nausea and a pounding headache to hiking up the volcano with no problem in just minutes—not thanks to anything the girls had done, but because they had invited God into their presence to be their strength during the hike. I heard multiple others tell a similar story that they would not have gotten up that volcano if it weren’t for prayer.

Later that evening, 4.5 hours into the hike, we arrived at base camp approximately 1,300 ft (1 mile) from the summit. Off in the distance was an active volcano called “Fuego” which would frequently erupt at all hours of the day. It was incredible to see and sometimes hear the destructive and mighty power of God’s creation in the distance throughout the night. During our debriefing of the hike, one LIFTer had mentioned that the volcano displays the mighty hand of God holding back what could be far more destructive, displaying God’s mercy and grace towards us, that even though we are deserving of death because of our sin, God loves us enough that He would want to redeem and be with us. Numerous people had also mentioned that God was “showing off” to us that evening as well; our camp was above a bed of clouds like what you’d see out of an airplane window, in sight of an active volcano erupting frequently with lightning happening around the billowing smoke. It was so surreal and just magnified the glory and majesty of God’s creation. Many mentioned as well that they didn’t even care that we didn’t have our phones since God’s creation can capture our attention for hours on its own. In fact, a phone is the last thing anyone wanted to see which people had mentioned they want to be a normal thing, even back in the States; spending more time in God’s creation in fellowship with others rather than being trapped inside a digital world, cut off from other people.

Views of Volcan Fuego erupting (on the let) at from our base camp

Sunday, 19 April: Day 2. The plan was simple: wake up early to summit the volcano and watch the sunrise. Easy enough—or was it? Early that morning we were all up by 03:00 to start towards the top at 03:30. We were moving slower than we’d imagined. Every hill was a challenge and the breaks were long. We were fighting against ash and dust with nearly every step and the altitude made each step more difficult than the last. It took us 1 hour and 40 minutes to reach the top—and we were only moving for about 35 of those minutes total. This was much slower than in the Adirondacks. It was clear that now, more than ever, we needed prayer in order to get up this volcano. We had gotten about a 4^th of the way up when the guides told us that that was the last opportunity for anyone feeling unwell to turn back. No takers, yet I knew that there were a couple people feeling unwell from the altitude. As we ascended, it became evident that not everyone was able to make it to the top, but generosity and selflessness emerged from among the group; the guys in the group had offered to carry the girl’s packs for them if they were struggling to climb further. If no one had offered to carry someone else’s bag, there would have definitely been some people who didn’t make it to the top, but the love and generosity of God had shone through our group that day by literally carrying one another’s burdens up the volcano. As we got closer to the top, we had gone up into a rain cloud and wind increased and temperature dropped. I personally had been praying for myself and the group from the beginning of the hike because of potential danger. During our debriefing after the hike, one LIFTer recounted that she wasn’t feeling well at the beginning of the morning hike and should have turned around when she had the chance, but went anyway. She was experiencing nausea and a pounding headache, but they didn’t tell anyone. Towards the top, I recall seeing her bent over. Our LIFT staff and guides were aware of the problem and did what they could to help and we all still managed to summit despite circumstances. She mentioned reasoning for not turning back was pride, thinking that she can do what they want to do despite multiple signs saying otherwise. She related the experience to our walk with God; sometimes God lets us do things our own way, even to the brink of destruction, to teach us that we need God’s presence in everything we do. As we’ve memorized in John 15, “apart from God, you can do nothing.” At the top of the volcano, there was no sunrise. Only clouds. The weather was not getting better and we had to get a couple of people warm and dry, so we departed 20 minutes before sunrise.

After we’d had breakfast back at base camp and descended the rest of the volcano, we had our debriefing later that evening. I would like to end this blog entry with one thought which has stuck with me since returning from our hike. As a group, we discussed the different plant life (biomes) at different altitudes, and something lingered in my mind. I’d formed an analogy between the jungle-like forest at the bottom and the dry, desert life towards the top. The jungle can be representative of our lives when things are going well and there’s nothing to worry about; it’s easy to see the presence of life, vibrant colors, growth, solid ground to stand on—and the dry, dusty, arid part of the volcano can represent our lives when things aren’t going well, when all you can see is a lack of life, no color, no solid footing. However, there was this particular yellow flower at the top, which was difficult to spot, but among the mute colors, it was the one of the most beautiful sights to be found, but you wouldn’t know it’s there unless you look for it. When things are going our way, we can easily spot God’s goodness, but in trials and tribulations, that may be hard to do—but we won’t see how God is working within us through those trials for our good unless we search for God’s faithfulness with eyes wide open.

Ken P.

Hospitality and Generosity in Guatemala!

Hey friends and fam! 

We miss you so much and are so thankful to see your keeping up with the blog! I’ll start off by recapping a little bit of my perspective these last two weeks. I’ve been with the Sports Site playing lots of Volleyball, Soccer, a newfound sport for me called Polish Ping Pong (it’s so fun), and spending lots of time in devotionals with the children and with my site team. It has been such an incredible experience, I could go on and on! I have learned a lot about missions the last couple of weeks. All of the site leaders are so devoted to God-centeredness in their positions and it’s really tugged on my heart in such an impactful way. As you guys heard a lot of from Ben's post, for our site leader Byron the mission is about so much more than sports. He says that the sports are actually just an excuse to reach these children and teenagers with the Gospel and provide them with a new way of living. Being here, I’ve also witnessed and heard about a lot of brokeness in homes and ways of living. Obviously brokeness exists everywhere, but here it exists in some different and more normalized ways. Twice a week the sports site has been visiting El Tablon. It’s a little outside of Magdelena. It is a poorer area, with dirt roads, a small community, and one soccer field. This community has touched my heart. The title of this blog is Hospitality and Generosity in Guatemala because I’ve witnessed it even here in El Tablon, where the people have very little and kids are often compelled to drop out of school after the 6th grade because their families cannot afford them any further education. This little community where the boys work in the fields and the girls work in the home all day every day. Except for those two hours, twice a week. When they come to the sandy, bumpy soccer field at the top of the hill. They play, they learn, and they hear the Gospel. And for those two hours their worries at home disappear. 

The hospitality in Guatemala in general has been so impactful and eye opening. As you know, we’re being hosted and fed by families in the community every day. They don’t have much, but they have a roof over their heads and food to share, and what they have they consider it all the Lords. So they use their gifts and hospitality for His kingdom work, and that is so inspiring. How often at home do we feel like we don’t have the time, or the right meal, or the house clean enough to host a small two hour dinner? We have so much, but hosting even twice a month can feel like a burden. This isn’t meant to condemn any readers by any means. What I’m getting at is how eye opening this has been to me and I know many other LIFTers as well. God wants to use us, however we look, with whatever means we have, He desires to use us for His kingdom work. And this has been His plan all along! He doesn’t need us, but He wants to use us. Like these host families, we should consider everything we have owned by God. Because it is! Scripture says without Him we can do nothing. We were created by God and for God, how silly of us to consider anything our own. It’s such a simple but difficult concept, and I invite you to wrestle with it as I do. 

As I close this blog, which is so difficult to do because there is so much more to share! But I’ll close with a little story from my time here that hit me deeply:

I was in El Tablon for the first time last Friday and we were about to start our second soccer practice of the day. We’d just finished lunch and there were some little boys playing outside so I thought I’d go join them. We started to play keep-away and we were running all over the field going back and forth, juking one another out (btw these 10 year olds are better than me at soccer). I was exhausted, and these kids don’t get tired lol. But this little boy I was playing with named Marco couldn’t have been more than 10 years old. He was wearing a little red shirt, black pants, and a pair of crocs. While we were playing he walked away for a minute and came back with a little square water pouch that we bring for the kids to drink during practice. He handed it to me because I thought he was asking me to open it for him, but when I tried to give it back to him he said “no it’s for you.” (But ya know, in Spanish). Man, I felt so touched in that moment. I felt the love of Christ shine right through that little boy. Not because I was in need of water, but because of his hospitality. He treated me like his equal, like his friend, or even like his guest on his favorite field. This little 10 year old boy who doesn’t have many materials, but he is made in the image of God and he has love to give. 

I don’t know if he has received salvation, but please pray that he will if he hasn’t. And please pray for God's special provision over his life, along with the lives of all the other children we’ve has the pleasure of getting to know these last two weeks. 

More Prayer Requests:)

-The staff here at SI

-More children to be able to attend High School + further education in Guatemala

-Safety and health for the upcoming hike this weekend

-Safe Travels

-That the Sports site would just continue to be an excuse for sharing the Gospel.

Please continue to ask us questions when we get home! We have so much more we’d love to share with you. Thank you for joining with us on our Guatemala journey:)

Lauren G

ps. keep on commenting, it’s my room's favorite bedtime story reading your comments! (One of the staff members is in our home, so we can see the comments!)

“To wake up and realize the condition and needs around the world”

“To wake up and realize the condition and needs around the world” 

            Spoken by Victoria, one of the SI missionary’s who’s been here over 10 years. What do you first think when you wake up? Is it your own needs? Or what does the day have for you? This question Victoria shared with us, came out of her testimony. One of the devotionals that stuck out to me this week was Matthew 5:8 “God blesses those whose hearts are pure, For they will see God”. I can’t help but think of Victoria when I read this verse. Her passion has touched my heart, her hearts is contagious, and only because it is aligned with Jesus’ heart. Is your heart pure? Are you seeking a pure heart? I have been humbled countless times by the devotionals here. But this one hit me hard. There is a lot of self-reflection here in this program. I am learning more than I am serving. How do you live when you are alone or when you are in secret? Does your front stage life match your backstage life? God is not interested in the public version of you, but the person you are becoming in secret. How you live is consistent with what you profess- also know as integrity or authenticity. A friend of mine shared some words that his mom would say to him “son, you have to be honest with God” he went further into explaining that you have to violently rip your heart out to God. Be brutally honest with Him so that no sin is not exposed. How can you purify your heart if you are not real with God? God is honest not fake, a very real God.

              Those are just a few thoughts for you😊 I have been blessed to be serving on the Trade School team here at SI (students international). I have two great leaders, Samuel and Russell. They are a joy to work with. Samuel is a local who knows quite a bit of English, so it has been easy to communicate with him. He is a great man that has given a lot of his time serving. He is what I like to call a “Spiritual weapon”. He serves at his church and plays the drums during worship and on the weekends he and his wife have a little ministry where they minister to little kids that can sometimes go from 30 to 70 kids at one time. It’s encouraging to see someone serving not only at work but at their home too. Their home is where they have their get togethers. Russell is from the States and has been serving at SI for a couple of years now. He has been a blessing when it comes to translating words that Samuel doesn’t know. I am very grateful because I am terrible at Spanish but slowly learning. Russell has a heart for the people here and it’s evident. He and his wife also is expecting a baby, please pray for him! God is using these two very much here. We have been working\building a lot! We are in the process of making a reclining bed, and a roof over an outdoor sink, we’ve made little Guatemala country key chains and spatulas to sell at the SI store to help raise funds for the Trade site, we’ve sanded down chairs and repainted them, we’ve hung up fans in the Special Education site (it gets hot in there haha), we’ve hung up this beautifully made sign for the Physical therapy site. The Trade site has a hand in a little bit of everything in the SI mission field.

               Our service is very helpful, but the main focus here in these two weeks is relationships. I’ve never learned more about relationships than here. I have also learned to eat slower when at the table, haha but seriously. People enjoy each other’s company and spend a long time talking when eating with each other. I’m told breaks are usually an hour and a half, which is not existent in the states. They encourage rest! It has been hard with the language barrier, but actions speak louder than words. I’ve learned that you can say a lot just by the expression on your face when you walk into a room. Or when you are sitting in front of people. A lot of what we do here is spend time with people. Simply sitting in the presence of people, sometimes that is all that is needed, letting someone know that you are there for them. You will be surprised as to what that can do, I’m sure some of you know. I’m reminded of Mary and Martha, how Martha was busy washing dishes but Mary was sitting at the feet of Jesus. I personally have been caught up in busyness in my life, and it hasn’t been until now where I see the culture in Guatemala is to prioritize spending time with people. A lot of the time we stop what we are doing and enjoy one’s company. I can’t help but bring this into a spiritual aspect of how often we are too busy doing work that we completely forget that Jesus is in the other room waiting for some company, not that he needs it but he does want it. Woah did you hear that Jesus wants your company, the all-powerful God wants your company, wow!

               Here is something else I’ve noticed. There are a bunch of beautiful dogs here in Magdalena. A lot on the streets and in homes. But I can’t help notice there are some dogs that are malnourished and with scars, rummaging around in the trash for food, eating an empty chip bag, I mean it’s pretty sad but real. Mark 7:24-30 “the Gentiles women’s faith” her famous line that got her son healed from a demon “Yes Lord but even the dogs under the table feed on the children’s crumbs” Here she is calling herself a dog in front of countless people and in front of the king of kings, what humility! Wow I mean can we publicly call ourselves dogs in front of everyone at church and mean it?! How humble are you before God? Being meek does not mean one is a coward or spineless. Neither does it mean indecisiveness or lacking confidence. Meekness is not weakness, but rather harnessed and self-controlled strength!

 My next question to you is are you willing to serve? And when you are done serving are you willing to serve again when you don’t see the fruit of your service. I won’t lie it’s hard to see the fruit here at least in the Trade site, I’ll be real and say it! But! I know the Lord is at work, and especially here at SI. I will leave you with this, Luke 17:7-10 “In this way, you also, when you do all the things which are commanded of you, say, we are unworthy slaves: we have done only that which we have ought to have done.” I can’t help but selfishly think how God will bless me for the work I’m doing here. But Praise the Lord for this reality check, nothing I do matters and nothing I do here is because of me, it is the Holy Spirit clearly working through the lives of the Lifters and the SI staff.  Now this morning I get to proudly boast in Christ by singing these words “so, here I am to worship, here I am to bow down, here I am to say that you’re my God. And you’re altogether lovely altogether worthy, altogether wonderful to me, And I’ll never know how much it cost to see my sin upon that cross.” Would you humble yourself before the Lord today? I am praying for you. Praise the Lord!

         Please pray for the hearts of us LIFTers, that God may continue to do a work in us through the power of the Holy Spirit. Please pray for the staff here and their families, they truly are amazing and humble. Please pray for God's ministry here, God is working in Magdalena, Guatemala. Your prayers ARE NOT IN VAIN! THANK YOU!

God be with you! Maranatha!

-Matthew Pepe

Hola Amigos y Familia! | Child Sponsorship Update

Hola Amigos y Familia!

 

Where to begin? This trip has impacted me in so many ways. From the beginning, it was clear that the people here have a different way of living. The hospitality, humility, and hunger for connection, even with strangers like us Gringos has been so evident with each family we meet. 

Working with the Child Sponsorship site has not been what I expected it would be. Time and time again, I’ve noticed the radical unhurriedness of my site leaders Cesar and Yvonne.  This was first seen when we walked around town to get to know the area we’d be serving. Yvonne walked SO slow and us LIFTers consistently found ourselves way ahead of her. She walked slowly to be interruptible. Every person she passed, she not only said “Buenos dias!” but she intentionally began a conversation, checked in, and stopped for at least five minutes to hear their stories. 

One of the biggest things I’ve taken away from LIFT has been to take things slower and to be interruptible, but I didn’t realize how much I still had to learn. Early in this trip, I realized how addicted I am to my timetable, to my watch, to my schedule. At one house we heard the testimonies of a family who has been greatly impacted by Child Sponsorship. I didn’t understand a word of it and I was falling asleep, constantly looking at my watch, wondering how long we would need to listen to an untranslated monologue. That night, I reflected on the day and was disgusted with my hurry sickness. It doesn’t matter if I understand, it’s not about me or about my schedule. It’s about being present, engaged, and sharing Jesus’ love and compassion. That night, I decided to stop wearing my watch.

No longer did I care about the schedule. I went with the flow of where Jesus’ compassion led. I was able to be engaged during the sharing of testimonies, I wasn’t glancing at my watch constantly to make sure we were finishing at our sites on time, and I was able to be present, interruptible, and hungry for connection with the people here. I found joy in listening to the rapid Spanish conversations surrounding me, and I tried my best to understand. It was exciting to realize how much I could understand when I looked up from my watch and started listening. 

Connecting with our host family has been challenging but so so good. Oftentimes, our attempts to communicate has resulted in snorts from our host mama Marta and chuckles from our host sister Veronica. We tried to say we love bread and said, “Te amo pan!” (I love you, bread!), and the snorts and chuckles bounced off the walls of the small, lovely, and comforting kitchen! One night though, we were able to have an impactful connection with Veronica. We told her about the humility we are learning here in Guatemala and how thankful we are for the hospitality. She told us about the poverty that she’s seen in the area, about families that have lots of kids but not enough money to feed them. She asked if it was the same in the US. We told her that the poverty we’ve seen is more among adults who face addiction, who are homeless and hopeless. It was hard but beautiful to connect over the brokenness of the world, to see that there is hardship everywhere, even in the States. We, as the body of believers, must come together to fight this brokenness, this hopelessness, this hardship. 

In the parable of the Good Samaritan, this posture of humility and interruptibility is so evident. The Samaritan had been raised to hate, detest, and loath the dying Jew. And yet, he swallowed his pride. We don’t get to choose our neighbors. As Mother Teresa said, we must help the person in front of us. Who in your life is a neighbor that you wouldn’t choose? How can you help them?

Another beautiful part of this trip has been the lack of phones and technology. It has been so beautiful to connect with people without our rectangular distraction device that we hold so dear. My only wish is that I could communicate with my fiancée Mitchel and my family. In fact, I wish they could have been on this trip with me! This trip has been so incredibly impactful and I long to share it with those closest to me! I love you and I miss you <3 Also, shout out to my grandma for faithfully commenting on each blog post! It’s meant a lot to me (:

With so much love,

Caris

 

As I write this, the LIFT community and Students International staff are singing How Great Thou Art in Spanish and it is so so beautiful!

 

Thank you for your prayers! 

·      There is sickness going around, I had my share of the virus and it wasn’t fun. Please pray for health for us all!

·      Please pray that we would continue to learn and continue to grow in humility

 

Acts 2:42-47:

And they continued steadfastly in the apostle’s doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in the prayers. Then awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need. So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the Church daily those who were being saved.

 

 

Gracias a Dios por todos!

Dear friends and family at home, 

Tasked with the assignment to contribute to this blog (I did, in fact, volunteer), it is hard to know where to begin. There is so much to tell! For traveling to a new country always brings a wave of new impressions with it. There are the big things, like the change in landscape, culture, infrastructure, or food; but it is the little things that make the biggest difference. It’s in doors opening with a little string, in noting the Chuchos (street dogs) stationed at their same territory every day, in the new smells and flowers, and even in toilets flushing a little differently (at our site, we flush it by pouring a bucket of water into it).…More than once have I prayed under my breath in Spanish for it to flush at our homestay.

Yet, wherever in the world you go, God’s Spirit is the same. After only a few days spent in Guatemala, I already felt I would miss the people here when it’s time to go. Let me tell you about a few of them...

Our homestay has been wonderful. Together with Nicole, Grace, and Attie, I am staying with Blanca, her husband, and her daughters. She has four daughters, one of whom is married and living elsewhere. Every meal includes tea and sweet bread, and many include homemade tortillas. They have a brilliant view over Magdalena, which means we have to walk down and back up the hill every day. It is good mini-training in this high elevation, and I have been grateful for the conversations we have on the walks. They also have two dogs: “Doggy”  and “Gordo,”  or “ Gordito,”  as we usually call him. (This is huge. Camp has a no-pet policy.) Gordo does not live up to his name (it means “ Fat” ) but it gives us a good laugh. There has been much laughter at our homestay. Blanca teases a lot, and Mariana, her eldest, speaks a lot of English; so we banter with her, too. She also came along with us to Antigua for one afternoon, and has joined us twice for the Eco hike, which is our fitness training for the upcoming Acatenago hike.

I’ve found incredible support in rooming with Attie, our RA, and in the prayer time we share with the four of us at the end of most days. It’s been so sweet to spend time with these girls. …and extremely entertaining.

Today marks exactly one week since our first day at the Special Education site. I’ve been working with Jeff, Jack, and Evelyn, under Brenda and Daniella. Brenda and Daniella are both very humble, inspiring people. I wish I had the time to share their testimonies here. Suffice it to say that God has worked in powerful and redeeming ways in their lives, and I look up to them a great deal. We also love seeing the laughter and and friendship they share with one another.

We start every morning in prayer. Thereafter Jeff and I dutifully sweep the floors, while the other two wipe surfaces. And so we prepare the space for the kids to come. We play games and puzzles with them, and beyond that, every day looks a little different. On Monday, a teacher came to give a music therapy class. We do exercises that involve movement, developing rhythm, and counting. Similarly, the puzzles help the students to recognize colors and shapes—though the learning points are different for each student. Thankfully, my broken Spanish is not too much of a hurdle. Some of the students talk a lot, but some communicate non-verbally. On other days we have joined forces with the sports site, and on others, no students come. We’ve also made greeting cards for fundraising, bookmarks for the mothers, and painted some walls. One fun example of the variety at our site is found on Monday, when Jeff was a gentleman as I was painting in full midday sunlight. Through some creative thinking, he found a frying pan to hold over my head for some shade. This turned into a four-person system in which Evelyn and I painted, while Jack and Jeff gave us shade with their combined umbrella and pan.

Through these days, God has been causing me to reflect on a great deal. The first is practicing being present. Whether I am sweeping floors at our site, or seated around the table with our host family, I have been trying to treat each moment as having eternal significance. It is not in an effort to over-spiritualize, but out of necessity. For with LIFT approaching its end after this trip, my mind has been much fixed on the future. It hit me in the week leading up to this trip. However, there is enough to focus on here, and now. So God has challenged me to entrust him each day with my daily bread. Jesus teaches us not to pray for our needs tomorrow, next month, or five years down the line; only to entrust Him with each day. This has been an invaluable lesson for me in Guatemala. It is in the slower days that I wrestle with this most. For as packed as our schedule is, the rhythm is slow. And so for every morning that I spend in quiet with Him, I find peace and rest in that day. In this way, the 30 minutes we get between worship and our group devotionals have been one of my favorite parts of the day. I sit and overlook a valley adjoining Magdalena from the SI site even as I write.

As such, the first week has flown by. Now I am once again challenged to stay present, and entrust the Lord with my daily needs. It has been good.

Another thing that has jumped out to me during our time here, is the ways in which SI pours into us. We came here on a short-term trip, ready to help however we can. But our experience is as Caleb, Rachel, and Tim told us beforehand: most of what we do is rooted simply in being present. We are a support to the leaders at our site, and we are intentional with our time with our host families. The staff of SI, on the other hand, has done a lot for us. They provide devotionals for us every morning, have prepared amazing dinners several times, pack us lunch every day, have treated us to meals in Antigua, have shared testimonies with us and passed on life lessons, and are gracious in helping us understand and operate in Guatemala’s (and Magdalena’s local) culture. And so I hardly know who is serving who.

Lastly, since we don’t do many home visits at our site, but are more stationary, it has been a gift when we have gotten to hear stories from people in Magdalena. Just yesterday the mothers of some of the kids came for a Bible study. We worshiped in Spanish together with them; Evelyn led and played guitar, Jack was on percussion, and Jeff and I harmonized. As we had prayed before, the Spirit moved, and the mothers each shed tears as they worshiped and shared prayer requests after. It is interesting to find that I am completely comfortable praying over people, now. Because, well, it’s not about me. I just invite the Holy Spirit to give me the words, and they get to receive. It is humbling to hear the burdens they carry; there is illness and alcoholism in this community, and social stigma around special needs. This past week, I have witnessed how SI meets people in their needs; through the material (sickness, education, sports, etc.), they also meet people’s spiritual needs (to know the love of God!). And on a more personal note, I remember how I used to squirm at my own parents praying for people on the streets, even as I saw the good they did. Yet now, I find myself doing the same.

And so I see, this is one small example of how God has been transforming our hearts all year. I have seen this in many of the LIFTers. This trip has been an invaluable place to put what we’ve learned about missions into practice… and the Lord continues to disciple us through it. It has consisted of newness, challenge, and a lot of joy. My heart has been very full.

I find my time runs short now. So, I will close with some prayer points:

• Pray for wellness among LIFTers; we’ve been dropping like flies with a bad cough going around. We want to do this volcano hike all together!
• Also pray that everyone will be able to go to Acatenango; we will have another hike to qualify today
• Pray for continued group strength and unity. There is spiritual warfare going on, I have felt this in my own mind. It has also been a lot of fun, and special, to be in a different country together. So may God continue to strengthen and teach us. Pray that any hardship may form us into being more like Him, and to greater unity.
• Pray for energy! Nights are fairly short, and the sun is hot.
• Please also pray for the people of Magdalena, and how we may be a support to the work SI does in this short-term context. Pray that they may see Jesus through all SI does.
• For me personally, pray for peace, and presence. God has been good to me this week. But on some days I feel a little lower than others, because of circumstances outside of this trip. Pray that I may be fully present in all I do.

So, all that is left to say is,

Gracias a Dios por todos, y adios por hoy,

Rosalie Baak