Guatemala: The Pilot

At last me and my companions have crossed the threshold out of good old America into a wildly different type of America, Central America. More specifically the strange but charming land of Guatemala. We have only been here for a week, but man do I love this place. The mountains, the lush vegetation, the weather, the friendly people, the prices (I gotta be honest), and the rich culture, have already started to feel like home for me and many others. From the moment I landed in the airport Ive been filled with an otherworldly joy and gratitude like no other Ive experienced and it hasn’t gone away. The scripture that says “rejoice always” is definitely read by most of us as a little bit idealistic, and while I don’t think it’s possible for us to really rejoice always on this side of heaven, Ill say it, Ive been pretty close here in Guatemala. Its like the accumulation of dreams and yearnings Ive had for my life over the last few years have all come to fruition and for the first time in a while, Im just unbelievably satisfied with where I am and couldn’t ask for anything else.

Everyday I wake up at the crack of dawn and spend time with the big man upstairs in worship, prayer and reading for about an hour and a half. Then we eat a delicious breakfast which usually consist of some fruit, and whatever Sandra or Teresa (our cooks) decide to cook that morning which can be anything from grilled cheese to pancakes. Then at 9 we walk outside base and play hacky sack while we wait for a chicken bus to drive by and take us to our ministry location. For those of you who are confused what in the world a chicken bus is, allow me to enlighten you. The primary mode of transport for the Guatemalans here are these big American school buses painted different colors and lined with LED lights, the name chicken bus is an American term that comes from many Guatemalans boarding these glorious vessels with their live poultry. They are pretty cheap and almost always crowded so at times it can be uncomfortable but I honestly think its way more fun than driving my car everywhere at home. Ive also gotten to meet and pray for a few locals on the bus in an effort to practice my Spanish. Some notable names: Antonio, Isabel, her son Matiche, and Herson. Most days we will take the bus about 20 minutes or so into this little poor town that goes by the name San Lorenzo. There, we work with One Way, a local ministry that focuses mostly on kids but also builds houses and assists locals. Before lunch we do house visits, a period where we walk around San Lorenzo and talk to families about what their going through. This has produced a lot of powerful moments among our team and a few tears have been shed as a result of the compassion we feel when people tell us about their broken lives. Its a time for prayer, encouragement and oftentimes evangelism. Then we eat the lunch we packed that morning and chit chat with our ministry partners from One Way. Many of them have pretty good english and we love getting to work with them. Post lunch, the afternoon consists of either teaching English to a bunch of adorable Guatemalan children (I swear the kids here are cuter then in America but maybe thats just me. At the end of class one day they all came to say goodbye to me and I soon found myself at the center of a 2 foot smiling infant horde trying to give me a hug. It was one of the greatest moments of my whole life.) Sorry I got distracted but anyways, if your not teaching, you will be playing soccer with some of the older, middle school aged boys and helping with drills on the field. I have never been more grateful that I was put in soccer by my parents at a young age, because if I hadn’t I would be getting cooked by these kids and embarrassing myself everyday (not saying my fellow gringo brothers who have never really played footy embarrass themselves during the afternoon soccer sessions but Im not not saying that if you know what I mean) The language barrier makes it tough to connect with these kids but in the least cheesy way possible, the beautiful game definitely helps to bridge the gaps. For example, while we have no idea what we are saying to eachother most of the time, Me and my boy Adolfo have an electric chemistry on the pitch that terrifies our opponents. Around 4:00 we hop on a bus and head home in time to eat dinner at 5:30. After many failures and mistakes, Im slowly perfecting the art of the homeade tortilla thanks to out lovely cooks who allow me plenty opportunities to impede on their meal preparation. After dinner we might spend time together as a team and then after that the rest of the night is pretty much ours to read, mingle, whatever until I go to bed at 9:30 so I can do it all over again the next day.

So theres a basic rundown of what life is like round here but heres some pictures to give you a better idea.