To paint an image of
Guatemala City, you could start with the vibrancy of its lush green mountains
and colorful flowers and fabrics, the bustle of cars and “chicken” buses packed
on its streets, or the rampant neediness evidenced by armed guards and barbed
wire on buildings everywhere—but at the heart of the city is its people, ever
hospitable and full of joy in the humblest circumstances. Indeed, those who are
poor in the eyes of the world have been chosen to be rich in faith (James 2:5)
as we saw in so many faces and heard in so many stories. Alejandra came to
believe in Christ at her junior high school, Kevin played with us at the day
care, Berta came running to meet us on the street before we visited her home,
12 siblings sang and danced for us in their home, Alma beamed with joy as we
lifted her from her wheelchair to play in the carnival.
Even in the darkness of
poverty and of Mayan religion marked by creepy masks, we saw a light shining
ever so brightly in New Jerusalen church. There, the church ladies welcomed us
with hugs and kisses and invited us into Sunday worship. They cried out in
prayer, all at once, with a desperation for the Lord we Americans don’t have,
and sang passionately no matter what their voices sounded like. Through the
week, we saw the church we read about in Acts alive in 2012. They built
relationships with their neighbors and shared the gospel with them
persistently. They provided for the needs around them, hosting a neighborhood daycare
for kids that almost closed. Pastor Morales and his wife opened wide their
loving arms of hospitality to welcome our whole team of around 25 to their home
for a sit-down lunch twice, treating us lavishly from silky homemade soup to
the frozen choco banana delight to our post-meal naps.
And the church gave us
the blessing of fellowshipping with them and, in a very small way, serving with
them. We sang and danced with school children from their neighborhood, their
faces bright with smiles, before praying over them and teaching them God’s
Word. Our team, including our own David Beckham as some kids called Matt Shell,
played soccer with Guatemalan kids and youth. We watched as school children in
rural Sajcavillá delighted to see a 60-foot slide inflate for the carnival we
hosted for them. We walked down city streets and up vertical mountain paths,
led by Mayan women from the church wearing sandals who were not huffing and
puffing like we were, to share with and pray over new friends. We were bold to
share the gospel that has changed our lives when we visited the homes of
nonbelievers. We rejoiced when God moved in hearts to believe in Christ for
their salvation. Wherever we went, the Lord was faithful to teach us to love
those around us.
When we weren’t out serving,
our team was together, eating and sleeping, piling into vans Guatemalan style
and voluntarily moving to the back seat to be catapulted at every bump in the
road, sitting down to three meals a day together, talking about the Word and
also talking about zippers to the point of birthing a business venture, eating
and sleeping, playing cards, sitting on our roof and watching the sun rise and
set in the mountains around us, eating and sleeping, learning to speak Spanish un poco. The Lord removed our daily
distractions of schedules and to-do lists, cell phones and internet, to allow
us to be fully be present for our mission and with our community, and He gifted
us with 70-degree sunshine with zero humidity and almost no rain in rainy
season in which to relish it. Time slowed down. All that mattered was
relationship, with the Lord and with those with us. Life was simple. Life was
full.
But a large part of the
purpose in leaving our everyday context is to come back. We have returned to
the mission field around us, to be neighbors to our neighbors, to love on our
community’s children, to speak boldly the gospel with those around us, and to
share with you, our church, how the Lord is at work in the church in
Guatemala. Ask us our stories. Have us
tell you what the Lord has put on our heart to live out his gospel at home, and
help keep our team, and our church, accountable to the calling that the Lord
has for all us, to make his ways known on all the earth and His salvation among
all the nations (Psalm 67:1). Pray for New Jerusalen, for Sajcavillá, for
Guatemala City, for Pastor Morales, for One Way Ministries’ continued work, and
for their missionaries, the Brown family, in Guatemala City. And pray for the
church, the Guatemalan church, Christ Church, First Baptist of Gulfport (who
sent a team with whom we served), the Birmingham church, the American church,
that it might be filled with the Spirit of the Lord, for His glory.
This post was written by several members of Christ Church in Birmingham, Alabama who recently participated in a mission trip to Guatemala.
