4th of July in Guatemala

If you haven’t had the opportunity to check out the other blogs for the week, I suggest you stop what you are reading and check it out. We have been so blessed by the Malnutrition Center.

I about half-consciously joined this trip with previous missions experience. I knew my heart would be touched and God would change me and blah blah, but I couldn’t anticipate these kids. Suddenly all the same sappy-stories of missionaries and orphans makes sense, and I know why they sound like a broken record. (I like to think of my record as just being scratched.)

Now that you’ve caught up, you know how special yesterday (Day 2) was for the group. I thought about our experience the whole night. Our WOW! time went from awkward story blurbs to conversation, one story chasing another as we wove the events of the day into this missional mosaic. I believe yesterday was defined by personality, but through these connections communication expanded. We opened our hearts to one another - enough to cry and to share intimate prayers of longing through this trip; volunteers with no Spanish speaking background were talking with kids and staff, and they were talking back! It was like watching Peter speak at Pentecost and realizing we all share a common language in Jesus.

Going back through all the pictures and stories of yesterday I found out that every group had taken up the task of reading. These kids were soaking up the stories from Noah and the Ark to Green Eggs and Ham. Admittedly, some of them were more interested in the physical book than the story, but God was using us. It’s not easy reading a language you don’t speak, and then in the middle of “I don’t like green eggs and ham Juan Ramon” (they changed the name because ‘Ramon’ rhymes with ‘jamon’, the Spanish word for ham), you worry if you’ve just pronounced something wrong and told the kids about who know what! But I believe God was using us, and in His great sovereignty comes the reassurance of translation.

We had a special celebration of the night for Bryan with the Jacksonville group. He took it upon himself to clean toilets and dishes all day and rightfully earned himself a McFlurry. This member has been especially encouraging to me as he has shared his story with the humility of an I-T man on a mission trip in Guatemala. (I’ll give you a minute to catch the joke.) He shared a special devotion with us last night reminding us that we are all members of one body working under God’s purpose. Somehow this manifested in our time yesterday. It was like no one needed instruction, we just moved and flowed.

I’m glad you’ve stayed with us this far. Let me share with you a little about today. Today is the 4th of July, Independence Day, America’s proudest time celebrated in grilled-to-a-crisp burgers and 100 improper uses of amateur pyrotechnics. (I plan on a roman candle war myself upon return to the States.) Today was also the mid-day hump-day of the trip. The general consensus may be summarized in this: SICK and TIRED. At least three members have been nauseous and/or sick since well before the wake-up call and it seems the children have shared our disposition. It’s difficult not to attribute these times to spiritual warfare when you realize how Jesus is claiming these little children as His own. Of course, if this is warfare, the enemy has chosen down feathers as WMDs: by lunch the stories became more humorous than spirit-breaking.

Special thanks go out to Timothy Carter and Kim Ellis with the Brooksville group as they stood their ground on the front lines amidst flying excrement. They will both be receiving a change of clothes and plenty of hand sanitizer for their brave efforts. We would like to ask for your prayers over Ovidio who has had a rough day and needs some rest and healing.

Yesterday’s quote from J.R.R. Tolkien enchanted us today, setting the mood for play time, which looked slightly more like nap and cuddle time. For the most part, we enjoyed some R&R just sitting with the kids. I did, however, notice an abnormal congregation of children outside just out of ear range and will be keeping a close eye on the conspirators. We had a few first timers today as Curtis Fisher took a deserved break from painting to help feed the Bunnies. If I were him, I would have stuck with the painting, but to each his own. Zach Ellis with the Brooksville group also successfully finished lunch with ROSA without any assistance. This really is a special experience, and I’m excited to see them stretched beyond their comforts. Congratulations gentleman, tomorrow you can help feed me.

With yesterday being a day of personality, today found us at rest. But I see more than naps in the day, love is rooting deeply in the hearts of everyone at the Center. Kids are comfortable with the volunteers, and our arms are growing that much wider. Jesus intends for us to open wide our lives to His people and those who captivate Him, and I believe these volunteers are realizing this truth.

Depth is the real theme of today, as we all have become that much more vulnerable. Tomorrow’s departure will be hard. No doubt we’ll continue to pray for these children. Tom from Melbourne spent a part of this morning taking individual children to the playground singing to them and praying over them. Not all of us had the opportunity to do this, but I hope that many ears begin to receive the message from the volunteers here, and prayers and petitions are made for the lives of these children. Life will only get harder for them when they leave the Center.

I’ll note again that today is the 4th of July. We did celebrate through consumption of many hot dogs and hamburgers and a miniature fireworks display (which was actually in celebration of a birthday), but it was an especially memorable day for the staff. It was the first time in 4 years that all the staff members were at the Center together. Ron cooked up 22lbs of shrimp per request, and we got the opportunity to serve them a meal of shrimp, french fries, salad, coke, brownies with ice cream, chocolate, and hot dogs (I’ll note that only one is pregnant), and they polished off the whole meal!

Additionally, we put our money together earlier in the week to gather groceries and cooking supplies for the staff and parents of the kids. It’s always a blessing to give back to those who have done so much. As I watch the final fireworks display before we pack up, I find myself eyeing the people more than the explosives. I’m understanding more personally the unification that happens in the shared mission of Jesus. Language barriers, cultural differences, foreign/domestic, none of it matters right now. My prayer is to bring this attitude back to the States. Sometimes members of the same church can’t even get along, but through the witness and life of Jesus I believe we can change.