Heyyyyy yall! It is official. One month down. It’s come to its end. We are packing up our things and venturing off into Honduras in less than 48 hours! A few days ago we said our goodbyes to our host family and our ministry hosts - it was bittersweet. If this is what every month of goodbyes will be like, we have a looong year ahead of us. 

Team Ablaze & Evergreen with our wonderful host Erica

After saying goodbye we headed to the city of Antigua for our month 1 debrief. We have spent the last few days here as a whole squad, leadership and all! So far debrief has been awesome - a great time of reflection and rest.

Under the famous Arch in Antigua

This week we have had sessions, reflection times, and some time to explore!

Session at debrief about Hearing from God

At Hobbitenango - a place where if you know about Lord of the Rings, things would make a lot more sense for you than they did for me lol

Hobbitenango was such a fun time to connect with other members of the squad at enjoy nature

Hangin' on a rope swing at Hobbitenango

As I have had time to reflect on my past month in Guatemala, one morning with the Lord really stuck out with me. So I’m gonna share this story with you guys. So. God painted a picture for me in my mind the other morning as I was praying about surrender, and in this picture, I was at the beach. I was with the Lord, and in my hand I held a piece of paper. The paper had past hurts and things I have wrestled with God for years about written on it.

I felt the need to throw that paper into the ocean, to never be seen or talked about again, but I couldn’t seem to let go of it. As I tried to reason with God about it, I heard Him say to me, “It’s not your burden to carry.” So I chose surrender in that moment, giving God the paper in my mind/the real burdens in my heart. As He took that paper though, He didn’t cast it into the ocean. He held onto it. It was something that was dear to the Lord’s heart too. 

Reflecting on what I’ve learned in Guatemala has been eye-opening, and I wanted to share that one piece with you guys. Not only is surrender to the Lord so sweet because He wants to take our burdens, but He cares about us so much that even our burdens are something He is gentle with. 

We had a session this week on hearing the Lord, and we all got the chance to share our stories and write down on a poster what He has said to us. I encourage you to share with someone today what the Lord has been saying to you, and if you haven’t heard anything from Him, pay attention as you go about your day. Sometimes He speaks in whispers, to spur us on into closer intimacy with Him.

What the Lord has spoken over K squad this month

What’s next: On Friday we are taking a bus ride from Guatemala to the top of a mountain in Honduras, and will be camping for a month! How you can pray:

• Safety in our travels Friday as well as for our location as we camp

• Health! Pray against covid, parasites, and all other illnesses (Praise report: we all received negative covid tests this morning which means we can travel together as a WHOLE SQUAD!)

• Unity; our whole squad of 31 will be together this month camping, so prayers for unity and cohesion as we serve together would be greatly appreciated. 

• Open hearts for the people of Honduras; that we would reach many people with the Lord’s love this upcoming month!