Guys I am in Romania! We start ministry tomorrow here! I wanted to post a blog with a little reflection on how it was. Guatemala held a lot of highs and lows for me, a lot of joy, so much growth, and healing. The Lord has shaped and reshaped thinking patterns that I have walked in for so long. I have a few blogs on that to come. He has showed me time and time again that he is faithful, a comforter, and a counselor. He is the redeemer of all things and he designed community to be beautiful! He is writing and rewriting my story and the story of everyone around me. He showed me through the people of Guatemala what hospitality and generosity look like. It might be inviting 7 strangers into your home, using your last bit of change to buy a snack for them, or even simply just a sweet hug from a little girl. The Lord loves his people and desires the lost to be found. He uses vessels to carry the gospel and chooses us to do it. What??? That’s a whole blog.
Thank you Guatemala for showing me love and embracing me. Being a place of growth and a ripe harvest. I will miss the sweet friends I met, kids club, riding on chicken buses, the tortilla, but I am so grateful for the time I spent there. There was not one day I would change, even the really hard ones. Every hug given, prayer prayed, tear shed, hand held, swing pushed, word preached, or footstep taken was God’s plan for our time in Guatemala. It was so good! Thanks God!!! I leave you with a collective blog that my squad wrote about Guatemala and our time there. May you catch a glimpse of the beauty that it holds. the secret…the people!
-Morgan Kate
This blog is a collaborative post made up of responses from my entire squad.
Here are their responses to the prompt, ‘Guatemala is…’.
Guatemala is where God gave me a heart transplant.
Guatemala is my home. It is a Spanish speaking country which makes me happy because it feels like home. It is super friendly, people are always talking and gladly receiving prayer.
Guatemala is beautiful place, littered with beautiful people, clouded with a sadness that hungers for love incarnate.
Guatemala is teaching me about discernment of what is truth and of God.
Guatemala is a place where the Lord has changed my perspective on alcohol and began to give me His heart. He keeps on showing me He is good.
Guatemala is special because it offers a glimpse of the garden. The glory of God & his creation is magnified in this place!
Guatemala is lively and vibrant. The harvest is plentiful and God is displaying his power here in the most astounding ways.
Guatemala is a place hungry for healing in so many places. It is a platform that God has utilized to enable us through His glory to advocate for the hope that is to come through Him. It is a community overflowing with gratitude and a vibrant culture full of people eager to smile.
Guatemala is a place where there is always enough room, specially in modes of transportation. Guatemala is a place of sacrificial giving.
Guatemala is more than a temporary home, it’s a lifestyle I want to adapt, one of undeserved hospitality and grace.
Guatemala is sweet in every area.
Guatemala is a beautiful country, full of lush greenery, and picturesque mountains. The rural villages are more traditional, and the people wear beautiful, hand-made clothes. The cities are full of life, with many sounds – from caballeros riding down the cobblestone streets, to vendors shouting their wares, to bands playing, to chuchos barking, to church bells ringing and bombasgoing off at all hours. The people are friendly, and move at a slower pace. Relationships are important, and people practice hospitality so well. There is also a lot of brokenness. Alcohol has imprisoned many people, especially the men, and the enemy has used it to tear apart the family. But I have seen God bring so much healing. I have seen God working restoration. I have seen God healing hearts and giving hope and bringing freedom. God has such a love and a plan for the people of Guatemala, and I’m so grateful to have had the opportunity to witness some of it!
Guatemala is refining and galvanizing, constantly pushing me to shed myself for God and the community.
Guatemala is a beautiful demonstration of colorful, all-enduring love. Guatemala is such a beautiful place with a warm and welcoming culture. Guatemala is a colorful burst of God’s heart!
Guatemala is fulfillment of the law; Love God and Love People.
Guatemala is a perfect place to practice the presence of God despite the “distractions” of kids running up to you to giving hugs, long ministry hours with people who desperately need God’s love, and being crammed into public transportation.
Guatemala is like that grandmother that just welcomes you in even if you are a new face. We’ve been received here in Guatemala with so much love and grace by the people. It’s a land rich in many things like hospitality, agriculture, love of God, and a deep historical culture that needs more time to discover. It’s a hidden gem that is unique when discovered.
Guatemala is a place seen, known, and loved by God. There is no where else Gods’ heart of hospitality is shown more greatly, where eyes are bright, and love transcends language barriers.
Guatemala is filled with such kind and hospitable people that do not refute the power of prayer. Guatemala is smiles and greetings from everyone you see, kind eyes, old traditions, and
beautiful views.
Guatemala is where I rebuilt my spiritual house.
Guatemala is people with warm hearts quickly extended friendship, hospitality, generosity, laughter, and warm hugs.
Guatemala is a harvesting nation and the numbers of people accepting Christ is growing every day.
Guatemala is teaching ABCs and shouting God’s love on the mountainside.
Guatemala is life in color. Smiles, volcanoes, chuchos, tortillas and open doors. It’s a fertile soil full of people hungry for Good news and the one true living God.
Guatemala is walking into freedom from idolatry and alcoholism! Amen
Guatemala is full of love, hospitality, and is a little pocket of heaven on earth.
Come on Morgan, that was simply an awesome recap and encouragement to my soul. Oxygen and life, in which my heart feels enlarged towards what God is wanting to do more of in me and through me.
I can’t help but repeat this one short paragraph of yours. That you wouldn’t change a thing and a couple days before Thanksgiving simply telling him, “thanks God “so worth repeating, and so filled with humble gratitude.
There was not one day I would change, even the really hard ones. Every hug given, prayer prayed, tear shed, hand held, swing pushed, word preached, or footstep taken was God’s plan for our time in Guatemala. It was so good! Thanks God!!
Love you, my little sister, and so proud of you for enduring/persevering in your childlike trust of following closely behind where he is taking you. He is with you and for you and the reality of your last two months in Guatemala in the totality of the holy Scriptures, testify to that fact:-).