I spent my summer in Guatemala City, Guatemala. If my entire time in Guatemala was anything like my first week I don’t think I would have any inclination of ever going back. Luckily, after the first week it all got better. Of course there were days when I felt alone, but overall I had the best summer of my life. I truly hope to go back.
After being in the country for a total of 5 hours I was dropped off and left alone at the house that would soon become my home. I was not prepared for what I was about to encounter. In the course of 20 minutes I met at least 13 people. I later found out that all of them live in the house that I just toured. After putting my things in my room I was brought down to the living room and the family asked me question after question. I was so overwhelmed! I had been awake since 3 am, I was in a country I had never been in, a house that was not my own, with people I had never met before, and a language that I only knew somewhat. All I wanted to do was go to my room, call my mom, and sleep. All I really wanted to do was go home. I wanted something familiar. I wanted to be somewhere where I could speak English. Not only was my question time difficult for me but so was dinner. I did not feel well, and I was not about to eat the beans, fried plantains or the eggs that were set before me. I also didn’t want to be rude. After taking a bite of each I said I wasn’t hungry anymore and I went to bed. Luckily for me, I was really, really tired, so my nerves and all the noises outside did not keep me awake my first night.
Unfortunately, the next few days didn’t get that much better. I spent the days trying to figure out the names of everyone in the family, trying to understand what the students in my class were saying, and trying to feel better so that I could eat food. I never expected it to be so hard, but I truly understood that when you feel weak God is strong. When I felt like I couldn’t do it anymore, God could. When I felt like I would never be able to communicate in Spanish the way I wanted to, God would speak through me. When I felt like I would never be able to eat anything my 2 months there, God gave me the appetite, and I finally started to feel better.
I’m not sure if there was a definite turning point for me or not. I’m not sure if there is an exact moment that I can look back on and see where I finally started to love it there. It just took a little time. It took time to get used to the food. It took time to learn more of the language and more about the culture. It took time to get to know the family and learn more about their lives. I think I was expecting adjustment to be faster, or maybe even just easier. It wasn’t easy, but in the end I learned so much.
First of all, I learned so much about their family. I learned all of their names in my first few days there, which was incredible since there were 13 people plus all of the orphans and students. I learned how the family first started the school in the city dump. They saw a need for kids to be educated so they brought materials to the dump and taught them outside in the blazing heat. After a year at the dump, they rented the building across from their house and that is where they have been now for 8 years. They started with 20 some kids and now have 132. They really can’t afford to do what they do, but they survive because they truly depend on God. God truly is good.
I also learned so much about community. Living with a family of 13 and sharing a bathroom that had a curtain for a door was a huge stretch at first, but then I learned to love it. Being home now has made me miss that aspect of their culture. Where nothing is their own and everything is shared. I loved riding in the car with the entire family of 13 just so we could all go to church together on Sundays. I loved never being alone. I loved learning how my family of 13 took in 7 orphans because it wasn’t about them or the money. It was more about people. They saw a need and did something about it. My mama always told me that one day she will have a bigger house (not because she is cramped in the house they have) because she wants to take in more orphans. What a beautiful sense of community.
This summer I also learned about Guatemalan time. This is just another look on how important community is to them. Time is more about people and less about deadlines. My church for the summer was a 3-3 ½ hour long service. (One Sunday it was only 2 ½ hours and the first thing my family mentioned on the way out of church was how short the service was.) No one was angry when the service went long, and the pastor was never constrained to fitting his sermon into a service that could only last 1 hour. It was also very understandable if I was late. Unfortunately, that doesn’t always work in the states.
I also learned about being thankful for the things I have. Seeing how people live has never made me more aware of the things that I have. It makes me wonder if I really need everything that I have. I lived out of one suitcase for two months. I never once missed the other clothes that I had at home. Once home, I kept wearing the clothes that I had worn this summer instead of all the things that I left behind. I also became very aware of water. One thing I really missed was being able to drink from the faucet, and drinking fountains in malls. I became thankful for hot showers and running water. I became more aware of the little things that I took for granted. I will never do that again, because once I do they are taken away from me.
Also, I learned a great deal about the organization that I worked with this summer. Seeing this ministry work in Guatemala has forever changed my view on missions. Here in Guatemala, The Strategy of Transformation has made it their mission to identify the least, last, and lost of society. They identify them in their culture and work among them, seeking transformation. One of the most hated people groups in Guatemala is gangs. One Friday I had the opportunity to visit one of the prisons and talk with some of the men. It was an amazing look at incarnational ministry. Just being in a place where no one wants to go and showing God’s love by just talking to the men was an unforgettable experience. These men are hated and blamed by society for all of the crime and corruption. Everyone hates them, and even in prison the justice system treats them unjustly. It’s great to know there are chaplains who care enough about them to visit them and just care for them.
Most importantly this summer I learned how to depend on God. This summer took away some of my independence and my plans for the future. I now know that I don’t have it all figured out, and I’m okay with that. I learned to depend on God when life felt like it was too hard to handle. I learned that God has plans for me that I never would have imagined. Trusting God to take care of me and knowing that I don’t need to have my life planned out was a hard lesson to learn, but now knowing all of this I am very glad that He is in charge of my life and I’m not.
This summer was absolutely incredible. I spent the summer helping my host sister with her class of 3, 4 and 5 year olds. I helped teach some English but mostly I just helped her with whatever she needed. I spent the rest of my time learning about the culture, the country, and the ministry happening in the city. I couldn’t have asked for a better learning environment. I learned about community, how time is more about people and less about deadlines, how to be dependent on God, about being thankful for tiny blessings like running water, and I learned about the huge love a family of 13 can have for people that they would choose to take in 7 orphans and me, a gringa. Guatemala stole my heart this summer. I can only count the days until I will be able to return once again. Whatever God has planned for my life I am now more than ready to do it.
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