So, I have some big news everyone…… I am moving back to Guatemala to pursue a position as a long term missionary with Adventures Guatemala.
What? How? When are you leaving? – Great questions.
But first, my heart…
I remember arriving in Guatemala in 2013; it was like a dormant part of me came alive. And deciding to leave was one of the hardest decisions I chose to make – a huge loss that I’ve never really been able to get past. A friend recently described it as a musical pop-up banner on a webpage lost in a sea of layered ones. No matter how many pop-ups you were able to close, the faint sound didn’t stop.
When I took a position with Adventures in Missions in 2017, my job brought me back, leading trips for various lengths. I’ve always counted as a privilege to be able to return, and each time feeling a deep sense of homecoming. In February & March of this year, my job landed me back in Guatemala for a month. I was sent as a helper to assist the base with back-to-back teams as hundreds of short-term missionaries came to partner with them. To say it was an honor is an understatement. It was a month of long days each leaving me feeling more alive than ever. And then I heard the whisper, “The door is still open.”
I heard the phrase I’ve been longing to hear for five years. My mind responded, “Really Lord? Is that you?” My human self couldn’t just take that as confirmation; I also needed something else from the Lord. I need a sign – a fleece of some sorts.
Every time I’m in Guatemala, I find a marble. I know it’s weird – but it always happens! So the sign that I asked the Lord for is that I wouldn’t just find a marble, but more specifically that a little boy would be the one to give it to me. So, for about 2 weeks, I was working with a team in a small village installing water filters. With every water filter we installed, we also shared the Gospel. Each group was accompanied by a community member and because they were predominately women we affectionately called them our Mamas. In reality, the one I was paired with was only a couple of years older than me but we became close friends.
One day while we were out, she found a marble and gave it to me. I had an internal dialogue with the Lord, thanking Him for my sweet gift but also reminding Him that this was not what I had in mind. Oh, He knew.
It was my last day in the village and we were at our last house. We had almost completely saturated the village with water filters. We met with a woman who wanted to rededicate her life back to the Lord. It was truly a holy moment as we prayed for her in her one bedroom home. Afterward, we stayed a little longer to talk some more when some boys from a few houses down came in.
Their pockets we bulging with something, making a clanking noise so, I asked, “What’s in your pockets?”
The boy walked up to me and took my hand, and placed a fistful of marbles in it.
I gasped and audibly shrieked, “Jesus!”
My team was a little alarmed with my reaction, but I explained that marbles are very special to me. I then proceeded to give everybody a marble, keeping just one for myself so we could play a game with the boys. As we were leaving and saying our good-byes, the same boy came back to me and not only gave a fistful of more marbles but placed his yellow striker on top!
When I told him it was too precious to give to me, he replied, “It’s a gift.”
At that moment, the Lord not only fulfilled but multiplied the sign I asked for, but He also reminded me of how it’s all about Him. He cares so much for me that He gave His son for me as a gift. He reminded me that I am worth the precious gift of salvation and that there is abundance in Him.
So in that dusty village, I decided to say yes, to the Lord. Not only to come back to Guatemala but also to continue in this crazy journey with Him.
Ephesians 3:20 Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is a work within us.
Stay tuned there are more details to come about what I’ll be doing and how you can be a part of my journey!
