Day 2: Church

Sunday morning we went to church in La Pinada with Pastor Hilmar. The church service was awesome and just seeing the faces of the people as they worshiped was amazing to me. They are so in love with God and have such a hunger for Him. The church is a small building with 3 rooms. We packed that place full. It was so eye opening. We had no sound equipment, no microphones, no flashing lights or pews or A/C. We sat on small pews, windows and doors open, children walking around through us, and dogs walking in and out. And yet, we were still focused on worshiping God and bringing glory to Him. It was amazing.

During the service there was this one little boy, Jose, that sat in my lap the entire time. If we stood up to sing and would jump off my lap and turn around and hug my waist really tight. I could barely move! He was so sweet and precious. Yanci, a little girl around 8 years old, sat next to me and she was so sweet! She had her Bible with her and when whoever was speaking would say a new passage she would look up at me with her big eyes and push her Bible towards me. I was able to find all the verses we read from for her and each time I would find them and show them to her I could hear her reading them.

We spent some time with the people from La Pinada for a little while after church. They were all so welcoming and gave us a ton of hugs and were so thankful to have us visit their church. They were so proud of their church and it was such a great time being with them.

To get to the village there, you have to walk down a really, really steep hill. It is literally so steep that it almost hurts your toes in your shoes because they slide to the very end of your shoe. And since walking down is the only way there...walking back up was the only way out. It was so steep going back up. But, we made it. On the way we saw a few of the kids from the village and their houses. A few of the kids even walked all the way up with us and hung out with us at the bus before we left. They did not want us to leave at all!

Being in that church was so peaceful. It was amazing to serve and worship God in two totally different languages. To sing and pray in English and Spanish and know that God heard it all the same. It showed how great and how big my God is. The mountains that surrounded us were huge and so beautiful. God made them all and to just be surrounded by His creations in the quiteness of a mountain village was so refreshing. It wasn't busy and loud like it is here. We were truly able to just sit in His creations and appreciate the beauty of it all.

Day 1: Travel Day

We arrived at the airport in Knoxville at 10am. After checking our bags and saying goodbyes to our friends and family we headed to our gate. We didn't have to wait too long to board the plane and we were off to Houston, TX. We arrived in Houston on time and our flight was great. Found our gate we would be leaving from in Houston and set off to find some lunch. Our layover in Houston was a little over 7 hours long, so we found some things to do in the airport and just hung out. Our flight to Guatemala left on time and we arrived safely there sometime that night. I can't remember exactly what time it was. The Parker's were there to meet us when we got our bags and leaving the airport was crazy! There were so many people outside the doors of the airport, all trying to get you to take their taxi and buy tours from them. It was crazy!

We all piled into several vans and headed to the house. The people drive there just like the do in Mexico. Fast and crazy. We got to our house and settled in for the night. We were all pretty tired from a day of traveling so we went to bed pretty early. Sunday morning was going to come early, and we had a busy day planned!

Back in the States!

I just got in a little while ago from Guatemala. The trip, the experience, and most importantly, GOD, was amazing! I have a journal full of thoughts and experiences to share....and that will happen this week! As well as lots of pictures!

Clubhouse Guatemala Video

The Days Have Turned to Hours

Only a few more hours and I'll be headed to Guatemala. This time tomorrow I'll be on an airplane. I am so blessed by this opportunity and can't wait to share God's word with the people of Guatemala. I can't wait to see God move and work in the lives of these people!

2 more days!

I can't believe that in two days I'll be flying to Guatemala. I'm feeling much better and I only know it's because of all the prayers that have been lifted up on my behalf.
I know I've said a million times, but I'm so excited to see what God is going to do next week. I'm praying for so many lives to come to know Him.
This trip is not about me or any of the other members of our team. It's about the people there and our awesome God. I'm humbled and blessed to be a part of His plan and that I'm able to serve Him in ways that not many have the opportunity to serve.

As far things on this end of the trip...I'm almost done with laundry and have started packing. I took a last minute trip to Cedar Springs Christian bookstore and bought a Kids'EE Cube. It's an amazing little cube that tells the plan of salvation and it's a perfect explanation for kids.

Please continue to pray for us as we spend the next day preparing for our trip. Most of all, pray for divine encounters so that we may witness to as many as possible and that they will be receptive to His Word. God Bless!

Prayers Needed

This week started as a very trying week for me. Monday night I spent several hours in the emergency room. I left with a diagnosis of a kidney infection. I got a wonderful shot in the hip and some antibiotics to fight it and today I'm feeling much better.

Please pray that God will heal me before my flight on Saturday. I have so much to do and feeling sick and in pain is not any fun at all!

Packing and Preparing

This time next week I will be in Guatemala! I'm so excited and can't wait to see the work that God is going to do in the lives of the people there. This week I'm doing last minute preparations and packing. I have so much laundry to get caught up on before I can even attempt to pack though.

I can't wait to serve alongside the other members of the Northstar team and the Parker family. We are excited about the VBS that we will be putting on for the children there and have some great Bible stories, crafts, and games planned. While this will be such a fun time for us and for the kids, our focus remains clear: praying that souls will be saved and lives will be changed.

Please pray for me this week as I get things ready and prepare myself for this trip. I know that I'm going to come back with new desires and that God is really going to work in my heart and life. I just pray that I can be the best light for Him while I'm there, all while telling of His grace and loving on those sweet people.

If you haven't had a chance to "meet" the Parker family, please do so by clicking on the picture at the top of the post. There, you can read all about Clubhouse Guatemala and what they do in Guatemala. You don't want to miss out on an opprotunity to pray for such an awesome ministry!