It is extremely hard to comprehend that the trip that most of us have been awaiting for the last ten years is already more than half over. We have been making the most of each day however, which is re-enforced by the fact that we go to bed around eleven and wake up at ridiculous hours of the morning. Moments of silence and relaxation are few and far between, but contrary to our expectations, the amount of stress in our lives has dramatically decreased. Every moment here is treasured by each and every one of us.
As we have been discussing our experiences among ourselves, there seems to be some common things that stick out. Firstly, every single one of us love an activity called hug lines. We all kneel in a line on the floor and receive a hug from each child that passes by. So many people tangibly feel the love of God through this experience, indicated by the fact that so many of us have tears streaming down our faces as we embrace the students from the Impact Ministries schools.
Worship and devotions at the Impact schools have been so touching to each one of us. They sing so loudly and earnestly! If you stand on the roof of our guesthouse, you can hear the students from the Beerseba school singing. They are so genuine and desire so badly to hold onto God because he is the only thing they have left. We need to remember that it is okay to seek God so earnestly in our lives as well.
On Wednesday, we visisted the Chix’im Catherdral that overlooks the town of TacTic from high up on the hill. There were two things that struck me, in particular, about this experience. The outward appearance of the church was beautiful, as it was painted in light and airy colors. As we approached the door to the church we saw a woman on her knees praying in the doorway. She was crying out to the gods to answer her desperate plea for help. Inside of the cathedral, there was a darkness despite all the windows. You could sense a spiritual confusion and the presence of an unspoken evil. The image of the woman crying out to the powers of the supernatural realm keeps replaying in my mind as a visual picture of the workings of the inivisible world. I think that at one time or another we all get to wrapped up in trying to please those around us, and more importantly, God. We always want to say and to do the right things, just as this woman was kneeling and calling out to the images of the different gods in order to appease everyone. God has reminded me that we don’t need to do or say anything to please him, because he loves and accepts us exactly the way we are. The second thing that spoke to me so cleary occurred when our whole team stepped into a little room filled with plaques praising the faithfulness of the Lord of Chix’im. Once again, you could clearly sense the amount of spiritual darkness filling the entrirety of the small space. I think that we in North America, are just as confused and full of darkness as the people of Guatemala, it just appears in very different ways. The evil in our lives is hidden away because we do not want people to see the pain we are experiencing, where as the people in Guatemala are visibly battling the powers of darkness in their churches and communities. As we began to sing an ancient hymn, a feeling of spiritual lightness returned to our presence, reminding all of us that God never leaves us.
These feelings were echoed when we went to the Chicoy sinkhole today. An unspoken darkness settled upon us as we descended the steep and slippery pathway leading to the bottom of the sinkhole. Candles, bottles of alcohol, dead flowers and smoldering sacrifices to the Mayan gods were scattered across the uneven and sooty floor. There was a sense of brokenness hovering throughout the hollow spaces. After forming a circle, we began to sing. The words to one song declared the exact feeling in my heart. ‘The enemy has been defeated, death couldn’t hold you down, we’re gonna lift our voice in victory, we’re gonna make your praises loud.’ This was the breaking moment for our team. Everyone had hands and hearts raised to God, it was so amazing to see God working in such a visible way in the hearts of all my friends. We were asked to declare the presence of God in the sinkhole, and the words that came out of our mouths were so clearly from the heart of our saviour. We were silent, reveling in the touch from our father we had each received shortly before, on our way up to the top of the sinkhole. When we reached the top, two of us were crying so hard. We gathered around each other and laid hands and prayed for each other like we have never prayed before. It was like we finally found the confidence and trust in one another that we have been searching for so long. I never want that feeling to leave.
- Aly Veck
Wow! What a crazy day!
We were awoken at 4:50 in the morning by blaring music & fire-crackers. A few of the girls had the presence of mind to look out a window and they saw a parade of people being led by a police car with lights flashing & a vehicle with huge speakers on its roof playing music. Later, we found out that the school down the road was celebrating 15 years on Saturday. What a way to wake up! Some of us went back to sleep, others just laid on their beds waiting for the sun to rise. But it sure gave us something to talk about at breakfast.
Then, at about 9:30 that evening, another parade! This one complete with baton twirling dancers & a marching band. The band had trumpets, trombones, saxophones, and lots of drums. The group marched up the street past the guest house, circled through town, and then returned at about 10:30 to make their way back to their school. Even though lights out was set at 10:00 in the guest house, everybody rushed to the front door or onto the roof to watch. With an audience to play for, the parade made a pit stop right at our doorstep for 10 or so minutes. Talk about loud! Full marching band sound echoing up & down the street and through the concrete hallways of the guest house. It’s amazing that we can still hear!
It was a noisy way to start & end the day, but it certainty added something new to the trip for the adults that have been to Guatemala in previous years.
- D. Werth
Another morning when we got to sleep in everyone is exhausted and appreciate the extra rest. We started getting ready at six, ate breakfast and traveled in the bus with Eric to devotions at Chicoi. The intensity of the devotions with these kids was amazing; they put their hearts out and don not care about what the other kids around them think. All the kids went through our hug line, and Zaak explained some of the background of the kids that go to the school. Once devotions finished we piled into the bus to drive up the road to the sinkhole. The bus stopped at the base of the mountain, which the sinkhole was located in. The group then had the option to zigzag back and forth across the mountain or take the shortcut; the short cut being almost straight u was a treacherous but exhilarating way to get up the mountain. We arrived at the top of the mountain to find a family making a fire, waiting for the Mayan witch doctor. We gathered around the entrance to the sinkhole and Zaak shared some of the history of the sinkhole. The decent into the sinkhole was a mud path with roots and rocks sticking out of the ground. Curving back and forth along the wall of the cave with slowly entering the darkness of the sinkhole. The walls of the sinkhole are covered in black smoke and the Mayans believe the darker the place the more holy it is. We explored the sinkhole from front to back going in between all the stalagmites and seeing all the sacrifice and worship altars. We started to sing and the eerie feeling of the sinkhole soon dissipated. The family of Guatemalans who were at the top of the sinkhole started to come down with the Mayan priest. They watched us the entire time we sang and when we started to ascend out of the sinkhole they began their rituals. The sinkhole was an emotional experience for some of the team members; they come to realize things in their lives that they needed to change. The coolest thing about this was that we all go together without being asked and started to pray for each other. We adjourned to Les’ house for Lunch and a little rest time. Our group had heard many stories about the hospital in Coban from the other group. Many of us feeling sick we traveled down a curving road through the mountains to Coban. Once we arrived, we gathered all the stuffed animals and blankets we brought. Entering the pediatric ward worried many of us from the stories we had heard. We traveled from bed to bed giving the kids a stuffed animal and praying for them. None of us cried which caught Les by surprise. After we finished in the pediatric ward we went to the maternity ward to visit the newborn babies. In Coban we ate at Pollo Campero and the balloon animal people bought Israel an ice cream for saving their lives at children ministry. We returned to the guest house for debrief and to go to bed.
- Chris Horback
DAILY ADVENTURES AND REFLECTIONS OF THE GRADE ELEVEN MISSION TEAM
