RECAP

Although my name was found at the bottom of each post this week, most of the writing has been done by others. I know that each of us who attempted to capture the week in writing will look back at this blog and only half remember putting together these sentences. We were rushed, so our words are incomplete and there will be spelling errors. That being said, there’s still a lot going on in my head that I haven’t written… As some of our team still works out the details of getting home, those of us back in the States are still processing the details of a long week in our minds and our hearts. There are moments that all of us will remember that cannot be described. We can attempt to describe the landscape, the beautiful mountains that surrounded us, but the true impact will not be words in a blog but in the lives of the people affected. I can tell you about the look on a friends face after saying goodbye, I can describe the look on hundreds of childrens’ faces as they sang songs of praise, I can tell you about the moments I watched as spiritual gifts emerged from my friends and teammates for the first time, or I can describe the emotion in friends’ voices as they poured out the truths that God was teaching them. Unfortunately, those will only be descriptions. I know that you will hear descriptions of events from the people you know who made this trip, but you will only be able to truly understand the depths of what has happened as you watch the changes become a reality in all of us. It could be very easy for the team as well as our friends and family at home to concentrate on the sickness that interrupted the trip, and for some, has delayed their return home, but I am certain that our hindsight will prove that we were firmly held in God’s protecting hands at all times. I am continually learning this lesson. So many times I see my circumstances and wonder where God is, yet each time I look back at my life I see his hand at work to guide me and to protect me. This is the same God who gave his hands to healing, to washing feet, and to be pierced by nails. He has not promised to level our path, but he has promised to go with us. This is a truth that God continued to blossom in my mind that is easy to write about from my comfortable home, but was not as easy to apply in the middle of my own trials. I was sick and had so little strength, and I was offered the chance to excuse myself… my mind told me to rest in bed, but God asked me to rest in his strength. Like he has proven to me over and over, he was enough. It may be that this is just another inadequate description, but I hope that my life can be a testament that this is true of our God. He is our strength. He is our redeemer. He is all powerful and all loving. Please continue to keep the team in your prayers. We still have some that are yet to return. Pray for safe travels and continued healing. And for all of us, pray that God continues to keep us mindful of the lessons and the truths that he has revealed to us so that we may grow up in our salvation. Continue to pray for Guatemala. We have left a piece of our hearts with the people of Guatemala. There are people who spent the week faithfully serving us despite divided hearts. Please keep Tony in your prayers as his father is in need of heart surgery. Lift up Freddy as well, praying for his young son who is sick. Although they may only be names to you, these men and the rest of the Impacto team were unbelievable servants. They are doing great things to lift up the name of Jesus. Pray that God continues to work on behalf of the great ministries that are already thriving in Guatemala, and ask that God continues to build up leaders who will lead that nation closer to the heart of God. Again, thanks for all the support, Richie