Guat-freakin-mala

I realize it has been a while since my last blog and this is due to the difficulties we have faced as a squad and the transition from Honduras to Guatemala. It has been quite an adventurous three weeks and a great deal has happened since Honduras, so I will try my best to give a quick summary of all that has went down. We abruptly left Honduras after a short nights notice and were told we were now going to spend the remainder of our time in central america in Guatemala. There was excitiment, confusion, and tension in the air due to this unexpected transition, but after saying our goodbyes and waiting 6 hours for our bus we were off. Now if you have ever rode in a school bus for any amount of time you will be familiar with the limited space and uncomfortable seats.  Riding the bus with 40 some people, and with huge packs is bad enough, but when that ride is 24 hours long, it makes it even worse. At first we thought we were driving all night with no stops but come 4 in the morning after an 11 hour ride, we decided to stop at a nice hotel for the night. 

I woke up at 10 the next morning with one thing in mind, where the freak is this free breakfast. The highlight of our adventures was this gourmet (well what we consider gourmet now) breakfast consiting of pancakes, an omlet, and tortillas with beans and cheese. After a long night of driving and no dinner this breakfast was a nothing less than a blessing. By 11 we were off again to Antigua, Guatemala which would be another 14 hours on that dreaded bus. 

Two hours passed and lo and behold our bus was now sitting on the side of the street broke down. Thank the Lord though we broke down right next to a mechanic shop, so after 30 minutes of patiently waiting we were back on the road. After several stops for snacks and dinner we finally arrived in Antigua at 11 o clock that night. Despite our untimely arrival we were welcomed with a smile and nice to see you finally by Luis, our new contact for the upcoming week. 

We were staying at Luis house, a fairly spacious, with bunkbeds for most of us. Having a bed to sleep on (a foam mattress) has become a luxury for us all. Anyways we spent the next week here hanging out in Antigua and doing ministry with Cerebral Palsy patients and eldery folk. We all really enjoyed our time spent in Antigua and it was a much needed break from all that had been going on. By the way I got to ride a horse up a volcano so that was pretty cool. 

After spending a week in Antigua we were off again to a little town called San Juan about 3 hours away. The awesome thing about San Juan is that its right off Lake Atitlan, a beautiful lake surrounded by mountains and 5 volcanos. The reason for us venturing all the way to San Juan is because God had something in store that we could not yet see. We arrived at this old campground/retreat center with another long term mission team based in Guatemala, with no idea what to expect. Everyone was hestitate about the upcoming time we were going to spend here, due to the fact we had received no information on anything or what we would be doing.

However, after two weeks I cannot put into words all that God has done for me as an individual or with our squad as a whole. Much of the time here has been focused on our own spiritual lives and learning how to truly live in healthy community. We have all learned what it looks like to seek and know the heart of the Father and how to do ministry WITH Him, rather than just for Him. The Lord has truly blessed us and it has been such a privledge to go out into the streets of San Juan and show these people what the Lord has shown us in this short time.