Just an Update from Guat

I didn’t get a chance to post yesterday, so this will be an update for 2 days (Thursday and Friday). Thursday morning, we went over to the AMG headquarters and began our marathon of meetings. We covered all sorts of topics and questions, and had some great discussion about the logistics of ministry. I am so enjoying getting to know our partners here. Rachel, the Director of Family Care, has been with us every day, translating, organizing, facilitating, and basically RUNNING this thang! She’s amazing, and so is her husband Gary who serves as the Public Relations specialist at AMG. I also got to meet Hefer, the Director of the Home Based Care program, and Jeny, one of AMG’s psychologists. It’s been awesome just hearing their stories and getting to know them.

After having meetings from 9 to 3, we then started putting together materials for the training workshop. So we spent a few hours cutting nametags, making copies of the workbook, hole punching, etc.

When the pastors and committee members began arriving, we served them dinner and had a little time of fellowship. Then we dove into the training as Scott and Hefer spoke about the Biblical foundation for volunteering and for orphan care.

So that was yesterday. It was a great day for learning and growing as a ministry. This morning, we woke up early to head to a breakfast with the pastors and their wives. We drove to Zone 14, which apparently is the much more affluent area. I called it the Times Square of Guatemala City. There were lots of nice, very swanky looking restaurants, skyscrapers, and high end shops like Armani. It blew my mind that this was less than an hour from the dump we visited! Clearly, this is a country of extremes.

We pulled into this NICE mall (with the smartest parking deck system ever which we totally need to implement across America) and walked to this crazy cool AQUARIUM RESTAURANT! You heard me…aquarium restaurant. My pics didn’t turn out well cuz it was dim and has reflective glass, but trust me…this place was ballin. THERE WERE FISH IN THE FLOOR! And each table had a little flatscreen with the menu on it. We hung out for a bit watching sharks and stingrays, and I thought, “well this is unlike any place I’ve ever eaten on a mission trip before.”

After a few minutes, we realized this is not actually where we would be eating breakfast. We had a pastor from Nicaragua and his family with us, and they knew someone who worked at the restaurant, so that’s why we made the stop. If we knew any Spanish at all, we would’ve known that, but instead we were just along for the ride! So we left the aquarium restaurant and went to another restaurant that was still very nice and enjoyed a delicious, traditional Guatemalan breakfast with the pastors and their wives.

Scott (the President of World Orphans) also led us in a devotion, and it was a wonderful time of sharing. The pastors all really seemed to enjoy having that time with one another. Hefer was with us also, and he shared that he is always there for the pastors and is always willing to help them in whatever way he can. (Have I mentioned how wonderful Hefer is?). Then the pastors also told Hefer what a pleasure it is working with him and how he has become a dear friend. Hefer was moved to tears by their encouragement.

It is such an honor to work with such loving, encouraging people. Sometimes ministry is really hard and really messy. But it’s also beautiful.

Tonight we will continue with the second portion of our training. Then tomorrow the training will go on most of the day, followed by the live Bluetree concert! Looking forward to seeing God continue to move here in Guatemala.