Reflections from Alissa:
Today was really what I consider to be our first day here. Yesterday was a fairly relaxing day, but today we really started to prepare ourselves for the week. Our day started off with breakfast and then chores. We had some down time before we had to get on the bus to go to church. A lot of us spent our downtime on the balcony with the beautiful weather. I was initially really surprised with how lovely the weather is here. The church service today was outside and it was also really lovely. I thought it was absolutely amazing how universal praise is. There was a moment during service where I genuinely forgot I was in a different country and that the service was in a different language; it was just so similar to our services in the States. Even down to the communion, it was just so similar. After church, we went to this really fancy area for lunch. I was struck by just how beautiful and clean the area was. It just seemed so rich for my assumptions that I had about what we were doing in Guatemala.
That quickly changed. After lunch, we visited the ravine. It was just so shocking to go from this really rich and beautiful area to these shacks built on the side of the ravine. I had the distinct thought about how just one, only one earthquake or mudslide would just devastate the area. One house goes down and it takes out a chain of homes like dominoes. That for me was the hardest to deal with because these are people’s homes. It was all very shocking and surreal at the same time. I think that this week has a lot more of that in store. I really hope that God continues to open our eyes to this and helps us to have more revelations like this throughout the week. Tomorrow we are really going to begin working with the kids and I’m really excited. Thank you for all of your prayers! We’re having a great time so far!
Reflections from Mayra:
Today was the first official day in Guatemala. I can’t believe the trip that we’ve all been looking for is finally here. Taking in Guatemala today was amazing. We attended church today and even though there was a pretty big language barrier for some of us, we could still feel like we were in a US church and were listing to a regular church service. Being able to worship with them was absolutely amazing. Afterwards, we went to lunch in a nice place which seemed almost like the US. In contrast we visited the community where we will be passing out food packages, the culture shock was immense. The stark contrast from where we were eating to where we will be serving. The houses in the neighborhood hang off the side of ravine, but they still have a huge sense of community. The most touching part today was the group worship during our teaming meeting, listening to everyone lift their voices in song. So far my favorite part is our mini worship group we are currently having. Thank you for all of your prayers! Please continue praying that we will be able to have open and receptive hearts and minds during our trip.
LC Senior Go! 