Monday in Guatemala

On Monday morning we went to the preschool for the first time. Kids swarmed everywhere - jumping up, hugging, climbing - there was so much joy and love in that one little building it seemed sometimes that it might burst at the seams. After a rousing song time, they dispersed into their classrooms for crafts. I was concerned that my camera might be a barrier between me and the kids, so I took the time to talk to them a bit before asking to take their photo. I was really touched when a little boy named Kevin took one look at me, pointed to a flower sticker on his sticker sheet and said "For you!" I helped him take it off the sheet and he promptly attached it to the back of my hand - where I proudly wore it for the rest of the day.

As the kids continued to warm up to us, they would shyly walk up to me and ask if I would take their picture and then they would want to see it. One of the little boys, Denny, was less shy than the rest and kept coming back for more photos. Inspired by the fun I had with Jessica the day before, I asked Denny if he would like to take a photo. Did he ever! Denny and I took photos of everything in site...Eddie the translator, the door, the plant in the window, Andrea and several shots of nothing in particular. Before I knew it, I was surrounded by kids wanting to take photos...and for the rest of our days at the preschool, one of my most used phrases was, "My turn, my turn! I have to do my job!" (Said in Spanish with an American accent.) Another lesson learned in the field - what we see as barriers, God can use as opportunities to show love.

That night, the guys from our team went to the Coffee and Bread service that El Camino holds for a local population commonly known as "the glue guys." These people find themselves homeless and broken because of their addiction to the glue they sniff to numb their pain. While they went, the girls stayed at the seminary and committed to pray for them the entire time they were gone. We prayed for truth and freedom for the people the guys were serving and Andrea gave each girl the name of one of the guys and challenged us to ask God for a word for him. My mind was so busy that night I wasn't sure that I was hearing God clearly and since I had been assigned Cliff, the youth minister, I was pretty nervous. But one verse kept coming to mind, "Be still and know..." Wait, was that for him or for me? I was trying to be still, but it was not working very well.

However, that was all I had, so that is what I wrote down and as I prayed for the guys and the people they were serving, I added a prayer that God would correct me if I had heard wrong. Before we had begun to wrap up our prayer time, the guys returned, banging on our door like conquering heroes bearing gifts of McDonald's ice cream sundaes. Grateful as we were, we insisted that they remain outside until we finished. Once we finally let them in, ice cream was handed around and they began to share about the service - what they had seen and experienced. It was heart-wrenching and many of them wept as they shared about the helplessness and gratefulness of these people held captive by glue. We knew then the weight of the prayers we had prayed that night.

Then came the time to hand the guys the words we had written for them. I could tell that many of the girls were feeling the same way that I was about handing over these slips of paper. What if we were wrong? However, as the guys read them, they began to share how applicable it was to what they had experience that night, and in some cases how it lined up with what God had been working in them for longer periods of time. To the man, each one was accurate and encouraging. Oh, the worship time we had together that night. God was present and had been heard by everyone there. Listening to God became a theme for the week and it was an incredible experience to watch all of these students walk out what they heard God speak.

"Before they call I will answer;
    while they are still speaking I will hear." Isaiah 65:24 NIV

More stories tomorrow...