Making a disciple out of me

Through out my whole month here, God has spoken to me in so many ways. One thing that I can't get away from is the fact that I'm supposed to be His disciple. Last night we attended Pastor Rony's church, and when I say we attended, I mean we were the church in some sort of fashion. Sometimes I feel as if we're on tour here in Guatemala, we've visited so many churches, and at almost every one we perform a drama, spanish songs, which Belle plays on her guitar, and two of us share our testimonies. Then we get asked to take pictures with them and their children, so basically we're famous. But what am I "famous" for? Performing a funny drama, or telling my testimony? Or is it because I can sing a few songs in spanish? The more I think about it, I don't want to be known for that, yes it's great and fun at times, but being a disciple isn't about having fun and getting your picture taken, it's about going into the nations and making God famous and His name known! All throughout the book of Acts, many disciples went all throughout Asia and parts of Europe proclaiming the Gospel to those who hated to even hear the name Jesus. They were famous and they were known, why? Not because they sang pretty songs or performed dramas (which is in no way bad at all) but because they gave up all they had for Christ, despite what people said, thought or how they treated them. Look at Stephen for example in Acts 6. He was performing great wonders among the people, but the people of Asia and Ciicia lied and said he was "speaking blasphemous words against God." Therefore they took him before the Council. The high priest and everyone below him became familiar with Stephen. He was famous. But what did the council do? They began stoning him and gnashing their teeth at him. During all this Stephen lay there crying out "Lord! Do not hold this sin against them!" After saying this, he died.

Look at Paul, he was famous, but hated by most. He traveled city to city preaching the gospel. In Acts 26:29 Paul says to King Agrippa, "I would wish to God, that whether in a short time or long time, not only you, but also all who hear me this day, might become such as I am." Paul wasn't fearful of the King. He didn't know how Agrippa would react, but he still full heartedly preached the word hoping he would persuade the king into become a believer. All throughout his life, Paul was persecuted and tried because of his obedience to God. That's how I want to live, and how I am slowly learning to live while I'm in Guatemala. The Lord never once said it would be easy, in fact he said it would be hard, but in the end it will be worth it.

I'm want to be God's disciple, because that's what he called me AND you to be. Sometimes we're scared to go out into the world because we don't want to offend anyone, but Jesus was offensive and people hated him. I want to know what it feels like to be suffer for the sake of Christ. In John 15:18 Jesus says "If the world hates you, you know that it has hated me first. If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of this world, because of this the world hates you." I'm slowly coming to the realization that I'm okay with that, because suffering for Christ is so much better and so much more rewarding than being of this world. 

God called us to "go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that [He] has commanded [us]." And I know that I can do this because I'm not okay with the fact that more than 3 billion people don't know the love of the Father. But it can only be done through His strength and His power alone!

Two weeks and counting.

Today marks the 2 week anniversary of us being in Guatemala. When I try to think back on what all has happened I have a hard time remembering it all..

In two weeks God has brought 7 girls together and has forced them to be friends. We are all so close to each other and feel like we've known each other for centuries. We already have many inside jokes and continue to make more. It is absolutely amazing how we can share our struggles and triumphs and be there for each other through litteraly everything. For example, last Saturday I was having a hard day, and to make it worse, a house down the street starting shooting off their guns. I was terrified.. So my whole team decided to get together and pray that the Lord would bring me peace, and it worked!

In two weeks, the Lord has made me fall deeply in love with this country and these people. Everything about Guatemala brings a smile to my face. I love how everyone at church comes up to us and greets us with a hug, smile and a kiss! Last night we went to Andrea's church ( a friend of the ministries) and we sang songs in English. Even though they didn't have a clue what we were singing, they still sat there with a huge smile on their face! When we sang the last song, "Mighty to Save" many of the them sang in Spanish. As we were singing the chorus, I got chills just thinking about what the Lord must've been hearing. Two totally groups of people, worshipping the same Almighty God in two different languages. One thing I've learned in these two weeks is that I don't have to know the language to worship my God, as long as I'm still praising Him in spanish, He gets all the glory!

Lastly, I have experienced spiritual warfare in the last two weeks more than I have in my entire life. As soon as we got here we all slowly got sick. We were weak, tired and desperate to feel better. We had to learn to be joyful and energized in every activity, even though all we wanted to do was sleep. Satan failed. Sometimes I feel discouraged because I can't communicate with the people. I hear little whispers of doubt, telling me "I have no purpose here," because I can't speak the language. But then I hear the voice of the Lord telling me if I wasn't meant to be here, then He would've made a way for me to be in America right now. Thus, Satan fails again. Last night we were on our way to Andrea's church when the van tire popped. We were afraid we were going to miss the service, so we huddled together and prayed that the Lord's will be done, and if we were supposed to be at church, the Lord would find a way! Well, the Lord prevailed, five minutes later Andrea showed up with her pastor in a large AIR CONDITIONED bus! After church our team got together and we recapped the day, during that time Elizabel said something that really stuck with me, she said "we must be doing something truly amazing if Satan is having to intervene this much." But even though Satan tries to stop what we're doing here, he never succeeds. And whenever we start to feel discouraged, all we have to do is remember that we know the end of the story... our God wins!

God's doing big things already!

So far the only way I can get free internet is by going to the mall across the street from where we are staying, plus it has AC so it's kind of a treat! Guatemala is not what you would expect. It's not really like Haiti or Africa where you see poverty literally everyhwhere. Guatemala is a cheap place to live in when it come to material goods. It is common to see people with a TV in their homes, Iphones and malls. But when you walk up the hill by our home, you see houses falling apart, starving pets and children with worn out clothes on and it's very heartbreaking! But even though the people here are broken inside, you will always see them with a smile on their face. They welcome us with warm hellos, or ''Holas'' to be exact, and they go out of their way to make you feel comfortable.

Monday night we were able to go to the park where we played soccer with the children. I had so much fun lifting them up on my shoulders, racing them around the field and even having them jump on me unexpectantly. About an hour into it someone asked me to play basketball, of course I had to say yes, so I went. I surprisingly wasn't too bad, they encouraged me so much whenever I made a basket, they even asked for my autograph... Hudson and Haddon would be so proud. After the game we talked to them and we exchanged some lessons in spanish and english. As we were leaving they asked me when we would be back to play another game, it was so encourgaing knowing that they wanted us there. God's already building relationships and we've only been here for 5 days!

There is no doubt in my mind that this is where I am meant to be, and I wouldn't want to be anywhere else!

It's the little things, like not being able to throw ANYTHING down the toilet, sleeping with no AC, which isn't actually so little. Eating rice and beans for almost every meal, and last but not least, sweating 24/7...even right after you get out of the shower. But for some odd reason, I love it all. The smells, the food and the people.
We went to church yesterday, and even though I had no idea what they were saying, they were all so welcoming and genuinely happy to see us there. Our first ministry experience was praying for a sick elderly man across the street. To see his wife cry out in desperation was such an unreal feeling. People are fighting for their lives daily and it's something I'm not used to. But it's a humbling feeling seeing people cry out for the Lord.
We hasn't done too much, we're really just trying to acclimate and m