Prayer for Mixco

It wasn’t until I felt the light breeze from the car window washing against my face and through my hair did I realize how overjoyed I was to be in Guatemala. I get to serve locals. I get to share the love of God. I get to live in community with five outstanding ladies. I get the opportunity to wake up in a different country and serve a wide variety of communities during a pandemic. I was very unsure of what this year would look like, especially with the prominent presence of COVID. After living in Guatemala for over a month now, I can look back with a smile and a warm heart.

What has it looked like living in Guatemala? What ministry have we been working with? My team and I have partnered with a local church and ministry outreach called CASA Guatemala. CASA was started by Alex, our host, whose love for God is so evident in the way he loves his community and family. Alex prayed for over a year asking for a team of missionaries to join and help him serve Mixco. We were an answered prayer for Alex and CASA. How crazy is that? We have hit the jackpot getting to be the first group to work with CASA not only in general, as well as being the first group from AIM. 

God was working in Mixco before we arrived and He will continue to after we are gone. Many of our days consist of buying and taking food to the homes of locals, where we pray over them and create connections with them. Through these connections, we have the opportunity to love them well and share how God changes lives. 

Though delivering food has been our main focus the past couple of weeks, we have served in all kinds of ways. As a team, we have held two ministry programs for kids, washed over 1,000 guisquiles (a vegetable similar to squash), visited the community with a doctor, and put on a Beauty for Ashes event. 

As we are walking into our last week of serving Mixco, Guatemala I find myself overwhelmed with all sorts of feelings. It is sad to leave such a great ministry behind, but I am hopeful for what God has for us in our next destination. My time in Guatemala has been such a blessing and this is only the beginning. Below are highlights from our time in Guatemala:

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 These are the boxes we carried all over Mixco to deliver goodies for the families!

 

This is Marta. Marta sits here every day and sells bread. Rachel stopped to say “Buenas Dias!”

 

 As a team, we were able to help Alex prepare communion one Friday for the church.

 

Friday nights are full of laughs, we get to hang out in the streets inviting people to church. How cool, right?

 

 Our first ministry day for the kids! I truly found this time to be so sweet; in which we got to serve these families through a game, story, song, and snack. The story we shared was the healing of the paralytic man!

 

Such a wild morning of carrying bags of guisquil weighing around 65-pounds… talk about a workout.

 

 After carrying over 20 bags of guisquiles; we washed, rinsed, and rebagged them to handout to the community. What a way to serve the people of Mixco!

 

Meet Genesis, she is the daughter of one of our community leaders. Genesis has such a large heart and she is always willing to lend a hand accompanied by a smile.

 

 

Second community, second kids ministry. What a wonderful day of sharing the love of God through the story of Jesus calling Peter in  Luke 5:1-11.

 

After our second children’s program, we handed out the guisquiles to the families that attended. 

 

Alex, on the left, baptized SEVEN members of the CASA Guatemala community. Access Church gave us the space to fulfill the Lord’s hand in the lives of those who gave their hearts to God.

 

Alex wanted us to get spiritually fed during our time here in Guatemala, so he took us to Access Church every Sunday. Alex’s heart for God is such a blessing and I could not have asked for a better host to start off the World Race. 

 

The perfect partnership: Alex, his family, and our team! Who knew there could be such sweetness?

 

Please join me in prayer of Mixco:

Dear Heavenly Father,

Thank you for making a way to Guatemala. Thank you for your heart for your children. Abba I praise you for having this opportunity of searching for something bigger than my own life. I lift up Alex, his family, his church, and his outreach to you. I pray blessings upon his family and the way he blesses those he comes in contact with. I pray that Alex’s heart never stops burning for you. Lord, you are moving and I pray over the next team that will be working with CASA Guatemala. I pray that this next team will help Alex serve Mixco well. I pray the people of Guatemala will fix their eyes upon you and align their hearts with yours Father.

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 Thank you for your constant love and support! Please contact me if you have any questions or are interested in partnering with me or Alex. The Lord is moving big time!

with all my love,

PJ