Serving Guatemalan Families

Where and What

Presently our team of 5 is in Poptún, Petén, Guatemala living with the One Way Community team. We assist this team in their work to holistically support two of the Mayan communities 30-50 minutes outside of the city. Mondays we split up the team, half serving another local ministry in Poptún, half spending the day in Villa Hermosa. Tuesday we all serve in Villa Hermosa. Wednesday morning we are in Villa Hermosa, and in the afternoon we serve in Sabaneta, the other indigenous community. Thursdays we are in Sabaneta. Fridays we ask the Lord what He wants us to do to serve for the day, Saturdays are Adventure Days, and Sundays we Sabbath. 

When we are in a community for the morning, we typically do house visits, getting to know the families of the students so we can better understand and serve the kids in the afternoon. We pray for family members, listen to them (I like to let the dads give me a tour and brag on their crops a bit because I know enough Spanish about plants), and sometimes deliver water filters. Some mornings we have special programs (ex. We had an event to bless and encourage the moms), or we have a class for the kids. In the afternoons, some of us teach children and the others do recreation (usually soccer) with them.

How God is at Work

Hold tight; I’ll type up more here for my next post! God is always doing a lot. I wanted to at least publish on a Sunday afternoon, so check back tomorrow! 

After my last blog, my sister-in-law asked me to share what I’m nervous about when we head into the villages. Truthfully, that experience doesn’t make me nervous. If I’m uneasy about anything, it’s that I want our team to well serve people who have very different lives than them, but sometimes it shows that we as Americans aren’t trained up well in engaging with, honoring, being curious about, and celebrating differences. We are all learning a lot out here, and it thankfully hasn’t led to anything directly impacting our ability to effectively minister and serve, it has just made me more nervous at times than it probably ought to. 

What is it really like out there?

Like training camp, there are trees all around and too many insects! There are mountains and hills all around, and the landscape is totally green. It rains at least once a day, almost every day. Our hosts are about half a dozen young adults, almost all men, and they are very kind and fun-loving. 

In the communities we serve, the greatest physical need is regular access to clean water, which is why One Way tries to provide water filters. Some families have to walk two hours to fetch water for drinking,  cleaning, washing, etc. A material or service need in the community is waste disposal. There is no system for this out there, so homes and school yards are littered with trash. An emotional need is that the children especially, but the parents too, need affection and a regular reminder they are valuable. The young men of One Way have emphasized to me the importance of being a caring male figure in the lives of our students. God has done a work in these communities, and I would say the biggest spiritual need is encouragement.

The indigenous people of these communities have many strengths we can learn from. They are so grateful and joyful, even with comparatively little material comforts. The children delight in simple things, like using a pencil sharpener or playing soccer. The people are also friendly, welcoming, and SO generous! Strangers will smile and greet us, welcome us into their homes to feed us (sometimes 9 of us at once) full meals, even if it seems like they may not have much to offer.

Feel encouraged to comment questions about what it is like if this doesn’t fill in the significant gaps of your imagination. 

What am I spending on? 

For financial accountability to donors who contributed personal spending money, and so you can all delight with me in things I’m enjoying in the field (and maybe pressure me to treat myself and others more), I’m going to start listing how I’m spending said personal money. Here’s everything I’ve paid for so far, since the start of training camp:

~$3.20: soap and deodorant 

$0.64: thrifted wool poncho sweatshirt

$2.54: boat ride to and from San Miguel (where we saw an active archeological site of Mayan ruins, among other cool free things) from Isla de Flores 

$2.50: double scoop waffle cone; pistachio and guanabana (soursop)

$6.23: a boat ride to Chechenal Beach and back, all-day access to the beach, toilet paper for my team to use in the public restroom 

$3.25: A large dinner made by locals as a church fundraiser (and I will be reimbursed for 3/5 of the meal cost via our food budget)

Literally everything else (lodging with Wi-Fi, airfare, local transport, 3 meals a day, professional mentorship, etc.) is covered by the donations you all made. Thank you so much! 

What do you want to hear?

Questions and comments are always appreciated, and they help me know people are following along and praying for me. If there is anything you want to know, please ask so I have the opportunity to share more!

The entirety of this blog and its contents were written and published without any AI assistance.