Wow SO many different emotions this week. God was so present though!
Monday was my sabbath, but holy moly I did NOT rest. I had a bunch of things to do, so I went with Kat to a coffee shop with the intention of resting after. Once I’m going I can’t slow down, so I didn’t really end up resting. God is so kind though, and He still gave me so much energy for the week. Plus I did get my stuff done, so it ended up being good!
Tuesday we went to the prayer room and then Santa Marta like normal. I worked in the kitchen at the beginning, then we had a little pizza party before the kids came. I then went with Loyda and the little kids for Bible class.
Wednesday was the Kingdom Table, where I was with the men for the majority of the time. After we cleaned dishes, my team, Loyda, Oliver, and I went to a coffee shop to hangout for a while.
Thursday we had activationnnnn. Today Gabe spoke about repentance and evangelism. At the end, there was a time to repent and receive prayer from the staff, and then there were baptisms. Sooo actually ever since the start of Guatemala, I’ve wanted to get baptized again. I got baptized for the first time last summer at the Circuit Riders YWAM camp which was awesome. God worked so much in my heart that week and I felt called to do it then, but the Race is the first time I’ve actually started following Jesus. I felt like I should re-dedicate myself to the Lord especially in front of the people who have been here to witness the transformation that God has taken me through these last 8 months. So I got baptized after the sermon which was awesome. THEN KAT GOT BAPTIZED!!!!!!! God has been after this girl the whole Race and I’ve been praying for her for a long time, so this was absolutely amazing to witness. After baptisms, we had a team debrief, and then were sent out for ATL. I went with JJ and Kat to Chimal, where we walked around without any agenda and were actually just out to listen to God. We walked with one mom who we prayed for after, then went to the city center and prayed over a lady with a broken foot after getting ice cream. This whole time was super encouraging, and the Lord worked a lot in little ways. The whole day was just so encouraging.
Friday was our last day with Reindom 🙁. We went to the prayer room for the last time where we had a few verses and songs prepared. The girls and I have felt so sentimental this week, and Lexi read something she wrote for all of us. So sad so precious. Meanwhile, Oliver, Loyda, and Daniella were all preparing breakfast for us on the roof for our last hurrah. We came upstairs and there were Reindom shirts and stickers for each of us. After breakfast, we headed straight to Santa Marta and started cooking/cleaning. We served food and I did dishes with Naty, then we said bye to all the kids. Loyda told them we were leaving, so they said bye, and for a few minutes they all just came up and gave us hugs. They then all prayed for us. SO SADDDDDDD. Wow Loyda and Oliver are so anointed to do this. They are so tangibly a reflection of Jesus’s love with how they love the kids and us. Loyda especially inspires me. Being 25, she’s running a whole school and feeding program with the help of only a few other people that are younger than her. It was incredible serving with Loyda, Oliver, and Daniella, and I hope I can be like them by their age. This evening, we did a worship session in the prayer room (aka Manuel’s house).
Last time at the Reindom House
Last time at Reindom
SATURDAY. Saturday was the day we hiked Acatenango (a very intense volcano to hike). We left at 8:30am to drive an hour to the starting point. Around 10:00am, after we acquired jackets and walking sticks, began the trekking. The first part was definitely the hardest mentally. I started in the back with Lexi, Reagan, and Avery which was good, but then I picked up the pace after our first checkpoint. We made it to the halfway point at 1:30pm to eat lunch. This was for sure the most difficult part for me, right after eating. It was so steep and I just had to pray that whole time. We made it to the final stretch at 3:00pm, and I finished the last section with Bella, Ella, Avery, and Jackson. We took it really slow and had a bunch of fun talking and hanging out. Finally we got to base camp at 5:00pm where everyone else was, and they showed us the little shack with two mega beds (top and bottom bunk) that all 20 of us were going to stay in for the night. BIG SLEEPOVER. We were hanging out in the bed, but then my head started so I drank water and Maya save me Ibuprofen and Tylenol. THEN she prayed over me and I felt better literally instantly!!! We got hot chocolate, then us and the other group that was there all chilled around the fire. we sot spashetti for dinner! Also at this point we had been in a cloud since we arrived to base camp, but I was praying God would part the clouds for us to see Fuego (the volcano across from us), AND HE DID! I also prayed we would see the stars, and there ended up being the most stars I’ve seen in so long. I ended up talking with Alia by the fire for a while. Around 8:30pm, I went to sleep because we were gonna wake up at 3:00am to summit Acatenango 🥲.
Sunday at 3:00am, everyone who wanted to summit got up and got ready. I stuck with Bella, Gabi, and Jackson. Holy this was pretty hard, but the beautiful scenery motivated me, and Jesus was giving me so much strength!! Finally we got to the top of Acatenango at 5:30, and took lots of pictures of the beautiful sunrise. It probably was the craziest view I’ve ever seen. The hike down was lowk so fun because we were basically skiing on gravel, and it took maybe 45 mins to get back to base. We ate oatmeal ond fruit, took some more pics, and started our descent. I walked with JJ for a while, then was with Bella, Carter, Ava, Lexi, Reagan, and Clayton. That part was so crazy because we all were just slipping down the mountain, but we laughed a ton. Ava fell like 100 times. Man my knees and toes hurt so bad actually, but FINALLY we got back!! When we got home, I waited a bit to shower, then SCRUBBED myself down because holay I was so dirty. I am feeling so grateful though because what the freak that was amazing. God answered actually every prayer, and I do think I’ll truly be able to look back on this and remember His power. No one got injured, and although a few people got sick, He had us in the palm of His hand. The weather was perfect. We pushed ourselves, but were still able to enjoy it. ALSO I vlogged all the way up with my camera, so hopefully I’ll be able to post that soon. God totally protected my camera too because that thing was out and about, hanging on my neck all the way up and down. I’m SO thankful we were able to do this, especially before this last week of Guatemala. What a perfect ways to (almost) end the Race.
FEELING SOOO GOOD! #BLESSED
Heading into the last week of overseas ministry. 🙁
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