Tuesday, October 18, 2011

News from Guatemala

I'm sitting in our room, here in Guatemala, wishing I could paint, draw, or write poetry, anything more creative than accounting. And I'm reminded of what I have seen in the past week....

Being in Antigua gives us a unique opportunity to see how our organization (Students International) is impacting lives in Guatemala. Last week, we took two days off from language school to visit the sites. We were simply blown away with the way people are using their strengths for the benefit of the Kingdom. Who knew that neutering farm animals could have a profound impact on a person's spiritual life? Well, it happens! In this poor town of El GorriĆ³n, where they have just received running water for the first time ever, people are extremely dependent on agriculture for their livelihood. The leader of the agriculture site with Students International has identified this need in the community, and in essence, has become the "town vet." He told us that this is what ministry is about... meeting both the tangible and intangible needs of people. Because they need his services for their animals, he has a platform, from which to share Christ. It was incredible to see this in action, especially considering my strengths are completely different. Of course, we also visited the sites that are more "up our ally," too. Obviously, we are gifted in other areas, and cannot wait to see how the Lord uses them. We left the sites feeling excited, inspired, and as if the Lord is expanding our vision for Nicaragua. Now, we're just ready to get there!

A few of my fave captured moments from our visit with SI-Guatemala.




Thankfully, only five more days until our Vision Trip to Nicaragua! We leave early Saturday morning, and we'll be staying a little over a week. Please pray for us if you think about it.

Monday, October 10, 2011

Thoughts of the day...

There is obvious value in preparing mentally for ministry. We are certainly called to worship the Lord with all of our heart, mind, soul & strength. At the same time, I am taking comfort in the fact that God often shows up in our weakness. We're believing 1 Corinthians 2:1-5... that faith comes not through the wisdom of man, but the power of God. I am thankful that the Lord chooses to use us in spite of ourselves, and in spite of our brokenness.

And just for fun.... here is a picture of the town where we spent our anniversary. (That little town in the background. Our hotel was on the lake.)