Hello again,
It's been a while, and I do have a lot to catch you up on, but in the mean time I would like to post you a letter I wrote to my supporters. "Supporters of what?" you might ask. Over the Christmas break I got to go to Guatemala with Pine Cove on one of their Commission Camping trip. Those ten days were truly the trip of a life time. To explain more, here is the letter I sent to the people who supported me through prayer and donations. The letter will help you understand the pictures I posted below :)....(also- Princesitas de Jesus, was the cabin name of the group of girls I helped counsel)...
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| Georgie, Me, and Xaris |
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| Guatemalan and American Team |
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| My cabin and Vicky |
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| Some of the girl leaders |
Hola mis amigos y familia,
I sit here back in the States after serving our God in Guatemala for ten days, and cannot help but feel humbled to have had the experiences I had, because of your prayers and donations. Thank you for being a part of this trip. I believe we all have pivotal moments in our lives that have/will forever impact us, and Guatemala is surely one of mine.
I would love to take the opportunity to describe all that I did, but for times sake and incase I miss anything, I encourage you to read through our team’s blog about the trip. The blog can be found at PCRanchGuatemala.wordpress.com (you will be excited to find a hilarious picture of me as the thumbnail screen for a video post!). Now more about what I did and how I was impacted through my Guatemalan partner and campers…
Along with fifteen other Pine Cove staff, I safely arrived to Guatemala on a Monday evening and was welcomed by some very friendly Guatemalans, who would eventually become my dear friends. We stayed in Guatemala City that night, and then rode in a school bus down the mountain towards a rural town. As we pull into a fruit farm, I realize this is where we would run the camps. This is where we would prepare the way for His love to reach Guatemalan children, whom six months ago, I did not even think about. To preface the rest of the letter, our team was not only there to put on two Christian camps, but more so to train the Guatemalan leaders how we organize our camps so that they can put on a camp by themselves one day. Because of this purpose, each Pine Cover staffer was given a Guatemalan partner to work with. After going through a training session the first day with the leaders from both countries, we were assigned our partners through a matching game. My word, “pies” or feet, matched with Georgie’s word, “zapatos” or shoes, and from that point on I would meet one of the people that the Lord used to influence me the most on this trip.
Georgie is the Guatemalan that I spent the most time with, and we counseled 13 nine-year olds. Nine-year-olds require a lot of energy, attention, and patience, and Georgie provided all of that to them. She was incredible. O, did I mention Georgie is a 41-year-old Pastor and mother of a seven-year-old daughter? Being able to watch a mother sacrifice her time and energy to love on these children was inspiring. She never hesitated to play a game of futbol (soccer) with the girls, chant funny cheers with them, or laugh. I have never even considered counseling nine-year-olds when I turn forty, and yet there she was serving them, giving up her time, and still mothering her daughter so well. I loved watching and serving with her. One of the pivotal moments on the trip was watching Georgie talk to our campers and seeing Christ-like characteristics in her such as humility, kindness, love, compassion, and joy. Then it hit me, the fact Georgie possesses all of these qualities that my family and friends who are Christians possess is not because they watch the same movies or read the same fictional books, but because the same God that loves us and is with us, is the exact same God that is with Georgie and the One she has devoted her life to. He truly is THE God of the Universe!
God not only opened my eyes through Georgie, but also my heart through our campers. The day we got the girls, I was frustrated and wanted to cry. Yes, it’s true I really did! Not because of the girls or missing my family, but because I couldn’t talk to them like I wanted to. I took some Spanish classes, but I am definitely not fluent in the language. The first two-hours with them were so hard because I had been so excited to meet them, and I just wanted to feel a connection with them. Then God showed me that there is nothing that I can do to impact them, but only He can. I was humbled, and thankful that He showed me love truly is the universal language and while I’m not naturally inclined to show love through physical touch or without words, the girls and I began to bond with hugs, smiles, and playing with them in the pool. God took away my pride and replaced it with humility.
Be encouraged also about His work within the children of Guatemala! While we were there 6 of the girls in Georgie’s and my cabin accepted Christ as their Savior, and over twenty more children stood up in front of the camp to proclaim their desire to follow God! It was amazing to see them recognize that because of their sins, they deserve death, and then for them not only to desire a Savior, but also to realize He already foreknew their needs! They acknowledged that God sent His only Son to pay the ultimate penalty and die on the cross to redeem them and give them the gift of salvation! These observations were incredible, and impacted me so much. The weight of the gospel on their hearts and its urgency on a people of a completely different nation and culture solidified its truth and realness to me.
I want to share all these things with you to not only encourage to continue praying for His development of the camp through the Guatemalan leaders, but to also thank-you for being apart of these experiences. I am humbled by your love for me. I pray this letter reminds you of vastness of our God, how He truly is the creator of our Universe! Thank-you for being apart of the His plan for the gospel to reach all of the nations.
Joyfully His,
Lex
