Week in the Life: Ministry Edition
Guatemala, March 2022
Ministry here in Guatemala has been incredible! I get to work with 3 different ministries every week and each one holds a special place in my heart. Having a set ministry schedule here has been amazing. It has given me the opportunity to do ministry with my whole team for the first time on the Race, this has been challenging at times but also so rewarding and a lot of fun! Seeing the same people every week has truly allowed me to connect with the people of Guatemala on a deeper level and form beautiful friendships.
I hope this blog gives you glimpse into what a typical week of ministry looks like here in Guatemala!
Mondays and Fridays: Hope4Kids
My team and I leave base around 10am and head to Nueva Esperanza, a small town 15 minutes away from the AIM base. Here we partner with Manuel & Mayra, a sweet Guatemalan couple with huge hearts and so much joy. Every week 15-20 children from low-income families come 3x week to this ministry to receive a nutritious meal and have a safe, loving environment to pass the time in while their parents are working. Our role is playing with the kids, planning and teaching English lessons, and helping cook the meal for them. I don’t pick favorites but if I did…Hope4Kids would be at the top of the list haha. I have fallen in love with the children and have seen so much of Jesus through them!!
Left: Amy has such a special connection with this little girl! Top right: Abby and her friend showing off their drawings. Bottom right: While doing house visits we found some of our friends playing cards in the street!
Left: Kalyssa using her incredible gift of teaching while Alexander smiles for the camera. Right: We try to bring different activities every week, drawing supplies were a particular favorite!
Above: Abby and Emily pose for a photo with a few friends!
You can find out more about Hope4Kids here: https://www.instagram.com/hope4kidsorg/
Tuesdays: Hope Ministries
Leaving base around 9:15am, my team and I make the 40 minute drive to San Antonio. Here we get to partner with Jeofrey Carmona and the other members of Hope Ministries to do house visits and help out with a kids program. A typical day starts off with a bible study and worship session. I love this because it allows me to really focus my attention on the Lord and prepares me to serve well! Next, we break into teams to do house visits. Most of the time we bring bags of food and supplies to the families. I think house visits are always my favorite part of the day. We don’t go in with any agenda, we are simply there to connect with the local community and lend a listening ear and an invitation for prayer. One sweet aspect of Guatemalan culture is their hospitality. Almost every house you visit you will be offered a drink and snacks. I look forward to doing this in my own home someday after seeing it modeled so beautifully here! We break for lunch and then around 2pm the kids start arriving! This ministry has been going for just over a year and they have over 80 kids in their program! Once they all arrive and check in they gather for a game, worship, and prayer time before breaking off into separate groups, depending on age. Each group does something a little different but typically a bible story is read and then we do a craft or work on reading skills with the kids. One thing I love about serving with Hope is we simply get to come alongside them and be extra hands in what they are already doing, not come in trying to create our own thing.
Top left: During a house visit the family went out and bought a juice, a common act of hospitality here in Guatemala. Bottom Left: After praying for these sister’s friendship, a ministry partner offers a group hug. Right: 3 generations were represented in this home, including this beautiful grandmother.
Left: At the end of every house visit we offer prayer to the family. Right: We give bags of food to each family and the children are usually all over the giant bag of colorful cereal!
Top left: In the afternoon we help run a children’s program. It always begins with a group game led by the incredible staff. Bottom left: Amy spins her adorable friend Blaze. Right: 3 boys play what I can only describe as an aggressive version of leapfrog
You can find out more about Hope Ministries here: https://www.instagram.com/hopegt.wr/
Wednesdays: Beauty for Ashes
We have the morning off so you can usually find me at a local coffee shop getting my dirty chai fix while catching up with family or responding to emails. Around 1pm our amazing ministry host Rake. We make the 40 minute drive once again to San Antonio. If asked to describe what Beauty for Ashes is I’d sum it all up by saying it is a safe spaces for women to encounter the hope and healing of Jesus, find community, and get to spend time doing what they love. Every week looks a little different but typically the team is split in half, 3 providing childcare and the other 2 spending time with the women. The program opens with an ice breaker (this is my favorite part as laughter and silliness abounds, especially when I attempt to use my Spanish haha). Next there is usually an activity planned such as painting kitchen utensils, planting flowers, or decorating cookies. After the activity, Rake gives brief teaching and we always end in a time of prayer. This is country filled with women who hold so much strength and wisdom, it has been such a gift to be able to spend quality time with them and simply be their friend.
Left: A woman shares a moment of laughter as she stacks chairs. Top Right: Rake teaching the women on identity in Christ. She is an incredible teacher and wonderful wife and mother. Bottom right: a woman helps pass papers during a teaching.
Left: Amy sits among the incredible women in the ministry, my team and I learned so much from them and quickly became good friends, Left: A paper explaining the different aspects of identity in Christ. During the teaching the woman circled which part of their identity in Christ they struggled with and then spoke them aloud followed by praying for each other as a group.
Above: Every week the team splits in two, half providing childcare so the mothers can attend the program. Here Emily shares a special moment with the sweetest little boy I have ever met.
Above: The children here are so kind and loving, it is an honor to do ministry with them and get to minister to their little hearts as they minister to ours.
You can find out more about Beauty for Ashes here: https://www.instagram.com/beauty4ashes613/
Thursdays: Activation
Every Thursday looks a little different but you can always count on it being an adventure and that you will end the day feeling changed and inspired to pursue the Lord even deeper. We start every Activation day with an hour of worship and prayer and then spend the morning in teachings given by the amazing AIM staff! A few topics we’ve covered are Identity, Healing, and Intercession. After a quick lunch break we embark on the “adventure” part of the day…leaving base to go live out what we just learned. Whether it’s going to local towns to do evangelism through ATL (Ask The Lord), worship in the park, or going into Antigua to pray for tourists. At first I kind of dreaded activation day, fearful of having to go talk with strangers and maybe not knowing what to say…but I have learned so much and am so thankful! It has given me the confidence to start conversations (and really helped me grow my Spanish skills) and be more willing to share my faith. A good example of the growth I’ve experienced is this past week while on the way to the clinic for my teammate, I noticed a women watching me as I went through photos on my phone. I turned to her and began explaining about the ministry I had been doing in Guatemala. We had a sweet conversation and she mentioned that her eyes were causing her a lot of pain and issues. So you know what the Lord asked me to do? Ask to pray for her eyes right there on the chicken bus.
Above: Every Activation day begins with an hour of worship. A time where we get to worship the Father as a Squad and prepare our hearts and minds for the day.
Above: Emily and Kalyssa walking the streets of Antigua during our final activation day. That day’s ministry “assignment”: seek out people who speak the same language as us. Gulp. This was a bit nerve-racking but also so fruitful! We got to talk with many tourists and saw fruit in both their lives and ours.
I am finishing this blog from a coffee shop during our Guatemala debrief, which means I am actually finished with ministry here in Guatemala. Although it was so hard to say goodbye and writing this blog truly brings up so many emotions, I have a lot of peace and gratefulness for everything I got to be a part of over the last 2 months.
Next stop: Eswatini!
