Brokenness, Openness, and Love

Three themes that were present throughout our trip were brokenness, openness, and love. The song that was our theme song for the week was “Great are you Lord” by Casting Crowns. The lyric “you restore every heart that is broken” continually pricks my heart and has become one of my prayers for Guatemala.

Everywhere we went we saw evidence of brokenness in the lives and families of Guatemalans. Alcoholism runs rampant in Guatemala and has created a great amount of brokenness in families -- marriages that had fallen apart or were falling apart due to alcoholism, children that were following in the steps of alcoholic fathers, drunk men on the sides of the street, and the death of a young man who had been sick due to his alcohol addiction.

In one of the villages we visited, El Astillero, Dano, one of the young men working for Hands of Hope International (HOHI), said that his prayer for the boys in that village was that they won’t grow up to get trapped by alcoholism. It made him sad to think of pouring so much into those boys now just to see them fall into the alcoholic patterns of their fathers. I told Dano I would join him in that prayer and I invite you all to do the same.

May the next generation of Guatemalans break free of the chains of the addiction of alcoholism and know freedom found in Jesus Christ.

Talk about Him as you walk along the way …

We hiked the volcano, Pacaya, one day on our trip. On the way down, our guide, Marvin, helped me navigate the slippery volcanic terrain. This gave us time to talk. I was able to learn about his life story, about his faith, and about struggles with his son who is separated from his wife. They’ve been separated for three months as she’s been with another guy. They have a three-year-old son. The team was able to pray for Marvin and his family when we got to the bottom. We also gave him a ride to where he needed to go. I saw him wipe away a couple of tears as he got into the van after we had prayed.

What does life look like for a single mother in Guatemalan culture?

Our last day in Guatemala, I went on home visits with teammates Paula and Coe accompanied by HOHI staff Ben and Patty. We came across a woman walking with her daughter and nephew and we asked if she had some time to visit with us; she invited us to follow her to her home. It was a very clean home and we found out that Everilda worked as a house cleaner. As we engaged her in conversation, she shared struggles with her oldest daughter, Shirley, who is eight. Shirley is not obeying her and isn’t engaging in school work. Patty asked if anything else was going on, and she said no, but her eyes told a different story. We asked the guys, Coe and Ben, to step outside and play with the kids for a bit.

When it was just women, Everilda felt comfortable to open up more. She shared how she was on her second marriage. Her first husband had left her and her two daughters. She had been with her current husband for three years. Her family does not approve of her current husband and she isn’t communicating with her mom. She reported her husband drinks a lot and her family doesn’t approve, perhaps because her parents split because her dad’s drinking. She also reported she has a divorced sister living next door. Everilda financially supports her husband and two daughters as well as her father, sister and her kids. She feels a great amount of weight is on her.

A New Sister in Christ!

We asked her if she believed in God. She said yes and again her eyes told a different story. Paula and I shared our personal stories and scriptures that have helped us ... all pointing to Jesus. Everilda shared about feeling a big emptiness in her heart (we later learned that is a rare testimony from a person in Guatemala). We talked about ways God fills our emptiness, guides our lives, walks with us through hard times, and gives us a great hope of heaven. We read John 3:16. We then asked the big question: would she like to accept Jesus as her savior? She said yes!!! Paula prayed first and Patty translated into Spanish. Then I had the grand pleasure to pray the sinner’s prayer with Everilda in Spanish and have her repeat after me. It was such a pleasure and honor to welcome a new sister into the family of God!

Everilda says she is not able to read very well. She has a phone and we showed her a Bible app that has the ability to play scripture in Spanish. We knew of a ladies Bible study that meets up the hill from her house. The group meets on one of the days she doesn’t work, so we encouraged her to attend and build relationships with other Christ-followers while studying God’s word. HOHI travels to Agua Escondida weekly and has plans to follow-up with Everilda as well. I am praying that Everilda’s faith will grow and blossom in beautiful ways!

God brings hope to broken places. It’s so beautiful to see HIM at work bringing light to darkness and making beauty from ashes!

From working with kids in the schools to engaging in home visits to practicing Discovery Bible Study groups to street evangelism, we saw genuine openness from the Guatemalan people to share their hearts and lives with us. We encountered many tears during home visits, and during street evangelism person after person shared their story and the struggles they were grappling with. It was beautiful to see so many open their heart to us. Everyone was very receptive to praying with us.

We were able to work side by side with the Guatemalan people distributing food, carrying wood, sorting beans, and other daily tasks.

When we entered the schools, multiple kids came up to us giving hugs, smiles, laughs, and bracelets. Lives were shared with openness, genuineness, and gentleness.

On our final night in Guatemala, our team sat in a circle with a majority of the HOHI team who walked alongside us during our week. I was struck by the love that was present in that room. It was beautiful to see the love between HOHI team members for each other, the love shown to each other on our mission team, and the love exhibited between the teams. Multiple members of the HOHI team shared parts of their story that night.

Pay it Forward!

Charlie shared how he was found in a trash can as a baby and grew up in an orphanage with his brother, Eric, who is also a part of the HOHI team. Eric had the opportunity to be adopted at one point but wouldn’t leave the orphanage without his brother. It was beautiful to see the love between those two brothers. It was even more beautiful to see the love God showered on them and the incredible ways they both reflected that love to others. They both continually had their eyes open and would step in at a moment’s notice to help anyone. They take the word ‘service’ to a whole new level. Charlie shared that he knows what it’s like to not have food, a bed, or a home. HOHI provides food, beds, and homes to people in the community and all those ministries are close to Charlie’s heart.

[Pic #8 - couple]

Be the Hands and Feet of Jesus

It was rewarding to see the love flowing out of HOHI for multiple communities surrounding Guatemala City and how God is opening doors for them to be HIS hands and feet to many people in need. In the words of Charlie, “Don’t lose an opportunity. Be the hands and feet of Jesus.”

The week in Guatemala has been a wonderful experience! Please join our team in praying for:

· Everilda to grow in her relationship with Jesus, become connected with Christian community, Jesus to fill the emptiness in her heart, restoration of broken places in her family, and to be able to share about Jesus with family and friends.

· Jesus to help young adults and children break the chains of addiction to alcohol that are so prevalent in Guatemalan towns and cities.

· Restoration in Marvin’s son’s marriage and that Marvin’s children will have a relationship with God.

· Jesus’ healing for a multitude of Guatemalans facing broken situations.

· God to direct HOHI ministries to bring physical and spiritual help to multiple communities in Guatemala and beyond.

· God to lead Erik and Amanda Hunt and all the members of the HOHI staff.

· Mission team members to discern what God desires us to learn from these experiences in Guatemala. May we be the hands and feet of Jesus in every place HE leads us! May we take the next steps HE is leading us on to be a part of HIS global mission.

I’m praising the Lord for the opportunity to go and worship HIM with Guatemalan brothers and sisters. In the words of our theme song:

“You give life. You are love. You bring life to the darkness.

You give hope. You restore every heart that is broken.

Great are you LORD!

It's your breath in our lungs so we pour out our praise.

All the earth will shout your praise, our hearts will cry,

these bones will sing,

Great are you LORD!”

Jenny Atkins