Month 2 in Guate

Hi family and friends! I hope all is well! The past few weeks here in Guatemala have been filled with so much growth and joy! Moving here really has been so sweet, and although I miss you all back in the states so so much, the Lord is moving hearts here!!

A few weeks ago our team went through some more training from another missions organization, and we continued to learn more affective ways to share the gospel and disciple people!

Here in the town, there’s been some rough things since it’s an entirely different culture with different laws and rules, but also some super super cool things! On day of the dead, we went to the cemetery, and if any of you have ever watched coco, it looked exactly like that — it was so cool to experience!

Here’s a little look into my weekly schedule since its started to normalize!!

Monday:

Every morning we have to intentionally make time to spend with the Lord, but Mondays they put it in our schedule for 30 minutes! Then, from 9-12 we go through a book study on walking in Holy Spirit with the team! After lunch we have Harvest from 1-5 and meet with our weekly groups for discipleship and evangelism. Then as a program we have debrief, then dinner, and a bible study.

Tuesday:

A few weeks ago we started spanish classes, so from 8-10 is spanish class, then while some others have spanish, I have 10-12 free, and usually use it to spend time with Jesus. Then again after lunch from 1-5, we have harvest and debrief as a program, and then dinner, and some time to work on some spanish stuff.

Wednesday:

This day is usually reserved for childrens ministry in Escuintla, which is an hour away, but we haven’t been able to go since our van is still broken down, and its not safe to take buses there! So we’ve been doing different things on Wednesdays! We’ve had service projects, rest days, training for the field, and this past Wednesday we took the day to go to the zoo and Walmart!!!

Thursday:

On Thursdays, we have spanish again, but I have it from 10-12, so 8-10 is free time — quiet time/ getting things done, then lunch, Harvest from 1-5 and debrief, and then usually we don’t have anything after dinner, but lately we’ve been having worship practice for church on Sunday!

Friday:

Fridays, we start out by going through a discipleship book for a few hours, and after, every other week we go to La Torre which is the grocery store 15 minutes away. From 15, we usually have community time which just looks like prayer walking and meeting the needs of those around us, and for dinner we have a traditional Guatemalan dish every Friday (The food here is so good), and watch the chosen!

Saturday:

One of our sabbath days, so we have nothing scheduled and can just sleep in and relax. Or we can go out and do things! A few Saturdays ago we went to Antigua and just shopped around, and yesterday we went to a mall! Here, there are also big thrift stores called mega paca, so one Saturday we went there for a few hours!

Sunday:

Our other sabbath day! We have church, and then can do whatever! And I’m not sure if many of you know, but the only times I get my phone this year are once a week on Sundays from 4-6, so that’s later on. And then we have a team meeting!

Weekly, Harvest has been so amazing. I love meeting with Guatemalans, and discipling them, and training them to share the gospel! Our harvest appointments look different depending on who we’re meeting with, but they’re usually around an hour, and we do bible studies, trainings for tools to use when sharing the gospel, and sometimes actually take them out to evangelize with us too!

And, one of our community time days on Friday we were able to grab some of the kids from our harvest appointments and play soccer with them!! So much love for the people here!

Some goodness from the lyrics of a song I’ve been listening to these past few weeks!

“You’re my Shepherd, You’re my Keeper,

my Provider, my Protector,

You surround me, You’re in every step I take.

You’re the goodness, You’re the constant,

You’re my First Love, my Whole Future,

You surround me, You’re in every step I take.”

It’s who He is! He’s worthy of everything! All my comforts, my whole future.

Anyways, life has been so sweet here, and God is good! I’m currently living with 18 other people, so that’s been a change, but it’s been so so fun. I constantly feel the Father saying to me “Olivia, this is all about me. You are not here because of you — you are here because of Me”. Oh He’s so good, and the things He’s been teaching me here have changed my heart in so many ways. Daily I’m learning what it looks like to really walk in and with Holy Spirit.

As I close this out, here are some ways you can be praying for me and my team here! Again, thank you so much for your support and continuous prayers. So much love for all of you!!!

• For homesickness, as the holidays are coming up and it will be hard being away from our families for Thanksgiving and Christmas!

• Continual unity with our team!

• The country of Guatemala as a whole —— it feels like each week we find out about bad things happening in the town, and the country!

• The people we meet with weekly — that Holy Spirit would fill them with boldness to share the gospel, and for their spirits because there have been lots of heavy hearts in the community lately.

Some encouragement!

“But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For His sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith — that I may know Him and the power of the resurrection and may share His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.”

Philippians 3:7-11

More photos from the past few weeks!

https://livransome.wixsite.com/guatemala/gallery