I have wanted to start a blog so that I can update everyone interested in knowing what God is doing through me here in Guatemala. I hope to update regularly.
I have lived in Guatemala for the past nine months. During this time God has opened my eyes to many things that have helped me grow. Christ has shown me what He wants me to do to further His Kingdom. Even though it may not always be in Guatemala, God has brought me where I am willing and open to go wherever He wants me.
From a very young age, God has given me a special ability to connect with kids. No matter if they had disabilities or were healthy, he has put kids on my heart , especially those who are hurting and need extra love. Christ also put on my heart to surrender my life to him and to go wherever he sends me as a missionary.
The first time that I came to Guatemala was on a mission trip with my dad three years ago. We came on a weeklong mission trip to Hope for Home, the ministry that I work for now. After that week I knew that God wanted me to come back as a missionary.
While I was in Guatemala the first time, I felt an instant connection with the special needs kids that I was with. Guatemala became close to my heart as a whole.
At the beginning of June 2019, I came down to Guatemala as an intern for Hope for Home Ministries. I moved into home 1, one of the three homes the ministry runs. In June, when I moved down, we had 15 kids living in our home. We now only have 14 kids living with us, two of whom are aged out.
The names of the children from oldest to youngest are; Checha, Alejandra, Yenifer, Brian, Walter, Rafael, Cesar, Humberto, Rauvis, Olimpia, Esther, Alison, Kevin, and David. In my future blogs, I will put in pictures of them.
In the home, I care for the kids, everything from getting the kids up to their therapy. Most of all we show them Jesus' love through our love and time that we spend with them.
In the past months, we have been through many struggles that we have had to completely surrender control. We had a period that we didn't have enough funding to accomplish everything. Through that, we saw God's handy work. He showed us that when you relinquish control, He will always provide. Another time was when Marylin, one of our girls from house 2, was given back to her mother even though we had proof that she was involved with child trafficking.
While I have been here, I have also helped Taryn with a feeding program that she runs. Taryn is the daughter of the Director of Hope for Home. Through helping her is where I have grown the most. When we first started going, the people of the town were very closed off and did not trust us at all. Through prayers, consistency, and help from Jesus, we have been able to reach the families of the town. We have been with them through both the good and bad times and have helped the families trust us.
When I return in June, after my visit to the states, I plan on moving out of the home. My goal is to help with the feeding program and work with the rural village side of the ministry. I can't wait to see where God takes me and the work he does through me.
This looks like an interesting blog to follow! Love you 😘