Reflections of a repeater of Guatemala mission trips

God is my constant. No matter where I am or where I serve, He continues to reveal Himself to me through His provision, His power, His grace and His humility. We have been studying the book of James this week and I have discovered that in James 4 when God asks questions of us, and how we are to respond to His call, I see the need for us to continually seek to be humble. He calls us to draw nearer to him EACH DAY, not just when we are here in Guatemala or feel the need to submit to HIs will, but ALWAYS. One of the SWEETEST worship times always seems to be while I am here in Guatemala, serving HIM, not just as team leader, but also within this very special community. This place, these people, have become as family and it makes me so happy to see my team connect with them, to see more of their lives and learn from them. Today I had the opportunity to visit Carmen, a 32 year old mother of 3 in her house. Her kids all knew me by name, and that just goes to show that people are looking at our behavior when we don't even know it. The visit was a special one, in which I was able to help her snap chick-peas for her as she also worked. She earns 50 cents per pound each day for her labor that takes roughly 3-4 hours to do, 18 lbs. per day. SO many chick peas for so little money  about 9 quetzales (a little more than 1 dollar), These are stories we can't even imagine..but God is still God and He is with them in their condition as He is with us. It is so encouraging to see our world broadened by experiences like these.  We are HUMBLED to hear and witness these stories and strive to be more like Him. For our heart o break for what breaks His. May we continue to allow our hearts to burn for Him in our homes. We have all been very busy in our worksites and working within our team. I just realized I have let a few days slip by before updating all of you on our adventures. We spent Friday night anticipating a long and beautiful hike to the ecological park up the mountain. Most of the team went while others stayed back in Antigua for the afternoon. It was s fun day and we spent some quality "Fun" time together in the evening. Sunday was very exciting as we were able to spend our church worship time with Mario Mendez while Sra. B translated for all of us, and sang praise songs to the marimba!!  Sweet, sweet, worship with our Saviour! In the afternoon we were in Antigua again, and a few of us leaders with Emily Sullivan and Kara Denton had a great dinner in Las Palmas, a local restaurant. Monday it was back to worksites again, and I was able to visit the Hermano Pedro hospital and see familiar faces! Had a special visit with Willy, a patient in the young men's section of the hospital and give him new sunglasses!
Today I was able to visit in the AGRICULTURE SITE and saw some of my students working VERY hard at putting up a pig pen-sawing the wood, flattening the ground, measuring the walls to be put up, and using a machete to cut roots up out of the ground! Wow! God is so amazing and it really helped the family in El Gorrion. They have yet to finish, but God is at work there.  I have so many great pictures I hope to upload this evening!
Many students have been meeting with the families of their sponsored children. So many lives are being touched and it has been fun to see!
We are thoroughly enjoying meeting with the team from Ripon, and pray for even more special times of fellowship with them in devotions and in hearing great testimonies from the staff here at Students International. We have heard 3 testimonies so far, and are enjoying hearing how God has been at work here.