So I've been back in the States for about four days now and I've got some great stories, new experiences, and a little bit of that Guatemalan tan (maybe just a hint.) I have sort of been in a daze, a "what is real life and what isn't" kind of daze. I think this happens a lot to people when they return back to their normal lives, though they might have better words to describe it than I. But I can't wait to share a little bit about our trip to the really very beautiful Guatemala!
My team and I from Pine Cove were in Guatemala for 10 days. We were challenged but had a ton of fun. We spoke a lot of Spanglish, so much in fact that we were all stumbling over our English. We forgot about grammar so communicating in Spanish and English became a little more difficult. So now that I have been in school for a couple days I am still trying to process everything. I've been thinking about my new friends I left behind and our team that had gotten so close in such a short amount of time.
We got to live in a different culture in a different country. We helped lead a camp with our Guatemalan counterparts. The camp was towards the coast near Taxisco and about two hours from Guatemala City. If it wasn't obvious enough that we were "not in Kansas anymore" after seeing the mountains rise out of the landscape every direction, hearing a different language, volcanoes casually pluming with steam, then the very large iguana found in the boys' bathroom definitely reminded us of that. Camp was amazing though. We had two sessions: one with younger kids and the other with older. I was personally very nervous for being with the older kids because it is harder to have a deeper conversation in a language you don't particularly know. They aren't as entertained with "what is your favorite color?" as the little ones are. But before I even thought of going to God with this prayer he answered it. He goes before us and intervenes on our behalf and he went beyond all the barriers that were accounted for on this kind of trip and he formed friendships, created bonds, and changed lives. We saw a lot of kids accept Christ into their hearts. And the amazing thing was that their ways of worship and camp and Bible Study looked a little different than what we may be used to but who am I to say that God isn't big enough to work in a way I just wasn't used to? I was humbled and inspired and energized on this trip. It was such a sweet time to see God in a place that I am not familiar with. We talked about this on our trip but we did not bring God to Guatemala, he was already working there.
I have been keeping up with some of my friends that I met in Guatemala and it is so exciting to have friends from around the world. This trip confirmed my passions for others and meeting others from todo el mundo and I cant wait to see where God takes me next!
God's Blessings,
Karsyn Penelope
For more on the trip here's the link to a blog I got to write about how God was working!
I love you Kar and your heart for the Lord.
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