Guatemalan Roads Take Me Home

Friends and family! Hello from Guatemala 🙂

I have officially been in Guatemala for a week now and I am filled with so much gratitude just to be here. The last week has been busy to say the least, but I’m going to try and catch you all up a little! 

Monday 12th-Tuesday 13th: I arrived with my entire squad to the Adventures in Missions (AIM) base just outside of Parramos, Guatemala. There was a team of Guatemalan students already there who were being trained and equipped to be sent out as missionaries as well! We shared meals with them, played soccer with them, worshiped alongside them, and spent time hanging out and talking with them. 

On base my friend Kara and I also learned how to make tortillas from scratch from one of the sweet cooks, Theresa. We made 150 of them for one meal, so it’s safe to say we had a lot of practice haha. 

Thursday was also Guatemalan Independence Day. So on Wednesday, our squad partnered with a local youth soccer team to participate in something called Antorcha. It’s essentially a torch run from town to town down the streets of Guatemala. Here, runners carry torches and Guatemalan flags and blow whistles as they go. Meanwhile, the people you pass by throw bags of water at the runners (like water balloons) as well as buckets of water! It was an incredibly joy filled event and it was amazing to experience Guatemalan Independence Day as the Guatemalans do! 

Wednesday 14th: My team woke up early, packed our gear, and ate our last meal with the squad for six weeks. We then headed north to our new home of Chicamán, Guatemala. Our drive was supposed to be six hours and we would arrive in the early afternoon! However, about two hours into our drive we stopped to go to the bathroom/fill up with gas. Here, our driver Eric was informed that there was a mudslide that washed out the road ahead of us, hence the dense traffic we had entered. We got word it may be almost cleared, as it had been blocked for a day and a half already, but after 30 minutes of waiting we decided to turn around and take an alternate route. This route would turn our 6 hour trip into an 11 hour trip. 

It’s safe to say I learned a few things that day:

1. Guatemalan roads are not like American roads hahaha. We drove primarily gravel switchbacks through the mountains of Guatemala the entire way.
2. Guatemala is a beautiful place, but the people are even more beautiful. Our extremely kind driver Eric didn’t speak any English but we talked for much of the drive. It turns out he’s also a Christian. He shared his heart for Jesus with us and the story of how God had changed his life. He also told us all about his wife and kids. Giving us his best marriage advice after 36 years of marriage: To keep God at the center of it, and to work diligently to protect the unity of your family. 

We arrived in Chicamán very late but finally got to meet our ministry hosts (Katie and Wesly) and their four kids. Unfortunately food poisoning hit a few of us pretty hard only 30 minutes after meeting them. So Katie and Wesly drove us to our accommodations a few blocks away, which they lovingly call “El Café”. This is where we will be living for our time here and we already love it so much. 

Thursday 15th: Wesly picked us up bright and early and we headed into the mountains. Today was officially our first day of ministry. We got to sit under Wesly’s last teaching of a 9 month pastoral training class. This day we prepared the graduation ceremony space, handed out cap and gowns, hemmed the gowns (turns out American graduation gowns are a little long for the average Guatemalan), took graduation photos, and served the graduates and their family’s a traditional Guatemalan meal. The graduates consisted of 30 pastors from the surrounding indigenous villages, some traveling many hours each week to take this class. It was really special to be apart of this day following their 9 months of hard work.

Friday 16th- Saturday 17th: We finally had a minute to catch our breath, settle into our home, and explore our new town. We picked up clean water, groceries from the market/tiendas, and propane for our stove. We also got to spend some more time with our ministry hosts and get to know the hearts behind who we’ll be working alongside for the next two months! Ministry will also kick into full gear this week and I cannot wait to share more in regard to that! 

Our first few days in Chicamán were a whirlwind but it is crazy how it already feels like home! After moving from Gainsville to Parramos to Chicamán I’ve felt a little bit like a nomad hahah. But God kindly reminded me of Psalm 90:1 “Lord, you have been our home (our refuge, our sanctuary, our stability) in every generation”. He’s our home regardless of where we are or what we have, and what we leave behind doesn’t matter because we are taking the One who never leaves.

Blessings,

Mikahla