First couple of weeks in Guatemala!

(this is a project we did with the kids, finger painting crosses⬆️)

(Brooke, Stella, and me⬆️)

(me drinking pop in a bag that the kids at the small school bought me⬆️)

(my boys waiting to play soccer⬆️)

(me on our adventure day with the kids!⬆️)

Hi everyone! We’ve officially been in Guatemala for a couple of weeks and it has been so life changing (this might be a longer blog, so get comfy). We landed in Guatemala City on October 14th and from there we took a bus to Antigua. We stayed in Antigua for a couple of days for our “mini debrief” between the two countries. Our mini debrief was so refreshing and restful. Our squad Mentor, Amy, and her husband flew out to meet us in Guatemala for a couple of days (that was such a treat, we love Josh & Amy!).

On Thursday the 17th the squad set out for the AIM base where we spent the night. We got to learn more about our ministries we would be teaming with for the rest of our time in Guatemala. The next day our squad split and half of us (the team I am on) spent the day in a bus for 9 hours on our way to Poptún, Petén, Guatemala!

We started ministry in Guatemala this week, and it’s been such a blessing! We are partnering with a super cool ministry called One Way and we are mainly working in kids ministry here. Kids ministry looks like teaching at schools, playing tons of soccer, VBS type work, and doing house visits to the homes of students. We will also be putting on an event for the moms of students at some point while we’re here too.

On monday the team and I went out to a super small village (only 6 students came to school that day). We had sort of an adventure day and we each partnered up with a student and walked around the village. It was so fun and intentional. By the end of the day I had a huge bouquet of flowers because the little boy I was partnered with kept picking me every flower he could find.

(this is the small school⬆️)

After this school, we went to another community where there was TONS of kids. I got to play soccer with a bunch of girls and boys. I think that it is so fun to be hanging out with the kids, there’s such a lightness with them and seeing how they view the world around them is so eye opening. Also, I feel like when I am with the kids it’s a great opportunity to practice my spanish 😉

Throughout the week, we proceeded to visit another school in a different community (surprise, surprise, I also played soccer here… Shout out to pastor Dan for teaching me all of his soccer ways at mega sports camp this summer!) We also did many house visits with various families. It’s so cool to see the generosity of the people of Guatemala and how they will invite you into their homes and make sure that everyone has a place to sit. At some of the homes, people would offer us refreshments out of what they have (we had the pleasure of enjoying corn juice, crackers, empanadas, and tortillas this week).

I love what God is doing in Guatemala and through One Way. I feel His presence so deeply here and I am so excited to see what the next couple of weeks will bring.

Something that I have been learning lately is how to be a friend of God. I’ve specifically been focusing on Peter and reading in the book of Luke. There is such a peace and excitement in fully knowing the friendship that Christ offers.

Hey! You made it to the end of my blog! Thanks for reading and keeping up with my blogs. I love to share what the Lord is doing! Feel free to reach out if you have any questions or comments!

prayer requests:

• for the other half of our squad at prayer mountain!
• Good health for the whole squad!
• Deeper friendship among us!
• Continued learning of spanish for me

Thank you!

~ Danica