immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine.

"For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen." Eph 3:14-21

The Lord has been my strength and my song this week, and these words have been the lyrics. I remember first being drawn to these verses during our first week in Guatemala, and they’ve just kinda stuck. I asked a lot of God when we got here: ‘God I want to do this and I want to help with  that and oh please if you’d just let me bless them in this way or that way…’

It’s dawned on me since that my pleas were of good intention but showed that I hadn’t thought things all the way through just yet. He gently responded, ‘My child, I love you deeply, but you should know that you will not be doing anything, for it is I who will accomplish Love through you.’

Oh, how I love Him so. How I love this all-powerful God who doesn’t need me or you but uses us anyway, with our little faith and halfway decent abilities and the scales on our eyes and our sinful tendencies. We have so many limitations, but yet what He looks for is that enthusiastic heart and a desire to do good and bring healing to the world He cares so much about. And He says, Okay, I can work with that.

So I’ve been learning, and He's been merciful. Been waking up earlier than I’m used to (this is difficult, ha) and immediately my mind starts racing with anxiousness for what the day holds. But as soon as I can remember to, I ask Jesus to steady my heart and try my best to just give the day up to Him. And those days that I remember to do this? Those are the most blessed days!

This week I was given awesome opportunities to learn and grow every single day. Some of those days I was asked to step outside my comfort zone. And other days I was right inside my element. The Guatemalan doctor (Dr. Rivera) I’ve been assisting at the Prince of Peace Girls’ Home clinic serves at another clinic in Palín several times a week. Palín is another town about 20 miles away, but it takes at least an hour with traffic. Isn’t that sick?? I’ve been accompanying him there lately, as there’s been an American group of doctors here on a mission trip for 2 weeks. Working alongside their team and the Guatemalans who normally work in that clinic has been just awesome. Everyone is so kind and loves the Lord and just wants to see lives changed, physically and spiritually. All that drive time to and from during the week has allowed me to get to know Dr. Rivera and another nurse, Susi, really well, and I am so thankful for their friendship! They answer all my questions about their country, and we laugh a lot, too. :)

Something really cool that happened one day last week was that I was not asked but basically told by the mission team coordinator that I was going to be the interpreter for the pastor whose role in the clinic was to provide health education/share the Gospel to patients while they were waiting for their medication after receiving their check-up. At first I balked and did the Moses thing, giving him a really confused/scared face and starting to explain that I was not as good at Spanish as he somehow thought I was (I hardly know this dude) and that there was already an official Interpreter on his trip and why wasn’t he going to use her?? In my mind, I said NO WAY. But strangely, my head started nodding on its own and I just replied in a tiny 13-year old squeaky voice, “Ok, I’ll try…” and pretty soon patients started lining up at the door. And there I was, sitting next to this old white-haired pastor, and looking into the coffee-brown eyes of Guatamalan mothers and fathers and their children. And I translated. Every sentence. God gave me this peace and strength to withdraw from my brain all the Spanish I knew and put it into the words the Pastor was saying. I have done a little bit of translating for Melissa at the orphanage, but I’ve never done this much before, and for such a crowd. It was nothing short of intimidating at first, but eventually I started to feel more comfortable, and then later, just blown away at the courage God so faithfully gave me.

Some other highlights of the week were Zach and I getting to help some teachers lead a field trip to the zoo! ANIMALS ARE SO CUTE. So are 4^th graders. It’s a close tie. And last Wednesday I began a rather large process of performing physical evaluations for all 60-ish girls at Prince of Peace. I haven’t even reached the halfway point yet, so there are still a lot of girls to meet! I record heights and weights, medical history/allergies, vision tests, and a basic head-to-toe exam. I’ve enjoyed this so much, getting to know names and faces and personalities of all the precious girls at PoP. I am so in love! Praise God for that place.

Would love to share more with you, but time runs short. If you feel at all inclined to pray for Zach and I, we would be so blessed by that. You can pray for Zach's learning and teaching in the classroom, and for my safety as I travel to the coast with the doctors for the next 4 days. And for both of us to be continually challenged in our faith and that we would be obedient to love God, each other, and others in all that we do. Love you guys! 

Kristen

two loves. (by Zach)

I love Spanish. I really do. I enjoy the fact that I can just pick up a book in a language other than English and start reading. I am happy I can communicate with someone who might not know how to even say, “Hi, how are ya?” That’s okay though, because I got the good ol’ Cómo estás down.

Learning is something I love as well. I love picking up new vocabulary words while reading those Spanish books and then realizing it when one is used in a Spanish conversation I’m having. Heck, I even delve into heavy philosophical and theological blogs and books for fun to search out the height and depth and width of all that can be known about God and us, which by the way still remains mysterious in many, many ways.

Teaching is something I’m getting used to… Well, of course I’ve done it before in the states. I’ve been in various American classrooms for more than 100 hours observing and teaching and planning. I’ve made connections with students and been to their activities and events. This seems different though. I’m here to stay (sort of). I’ll be with them for the longest time I’ve been with any class. I also stay at the school all day and get to see behind the scenes of planning and preparation as well as school politics and teacher-to-teacher relations. It’s all very interesting, confusing, and a little stressful at times. I’m slowing diving more and more into this behind the scenes world though. Pretty soon I’m sure I’ll be up to my ears in juggling curriculum, lesson plans, student behaviors, grades and assessments, principals and administrators, parents and sponsors, and classroom instruction and learning. All seems overwhelming at first for a guy who loves Spanish and enjoys learning.

I guess the trick is to have those two loves be the motivators. Sure it takes a bit of time to write out lessons and prepare materials. Sure maybe sometimes it seems like it would be easier to just bypass all the hoops that teachers need to jump through to plan trips or obtain special materials for their students. Of course nobody likes to correct misbehaving students who might be disrupting the learning process. I guess that’s what ALL of this is though, The Learning Process. In order to display my love for learning and for Spanish and in order to pass on those two loves to my students, one must endure the banality of the system and the behaviors, negative or otherwise, of the ones involved. In the end, it’s a beautiful thing when students enjoy learning and rejoice in the material they have learned. Just like God recreating the world, The Learning Process is going to be slow and painful at times, but the rewards will far outweigh the trials.

May I come to rejoice in all of it because all of it is language and all of it is learning.

color.

This past week has been such a blur. Everything is so new and interesting and fun. We thank the Lord for safety, overall health, cold medicine, new friendships, adventures, and new ways to be challenged and stretched.

Husband had his first day of student teaching this week! And he looked fiiine. Here he is with his teacher, Claudia Fuentes:

He promises he will get on and write for our next post, so GET EXCITED.

I wouldn’t even know where to begin describing the week. Here’s a collection of words and pictures:

We’ve been awed, sitting on a giant porch with a majestic view of the sun going down and creating a gorgeous sky-painting with the clouds over the volcano Pacaya, with Christian brothers and sisters around us, worshipping God with our voices and music.

I’ve been speechless, standing on a hill, looking down below at the City’s dump, big yellow trucks filing in and people fighting their way to the front for the ‘good stuff.’ The smell is nauseating and there are hundreds of big, ugly, black vultures swarming overhead.

I’ve been queasy, yet remained strong and standing, as I assisted Dr. Riviera in prying off the infected toenails of a frightened teenager, squirming and shrieking on the table as he hugs his mother and they both cry.

We’ve been frustrated, to see that the little boy who was selling chocolate in the mall before the movie a couple hours ago is still here, and it is 10 o clock on a Friday night, and he is still by himself and eating McDonalds in a booth right next to us, finishing his work day. We talk and he says his parents are at home. He will take a taxi. He can’t be older than 10.

We’ve been amazed, that some of the children at the orphanage I described in the previous post are finally going to be able to go to school for the very first time at 7 years old, because they have a sponsor who has given in faith, and it will be received in love.

I’ve been out of breath, running around a weedy soccer field with laughing children, playing freeze tag and speaking broken Spanish but more importantly, learning the language of love, which defies cultural, status, age, and religious differences.

We’ve been grateful, living with an extraordinary couple who have huge hearts and are so helpful to us, they show us around and take us on new adventures and have made our transition to a new country an incredibly smooth one. Wow. Blessed.

I’ve been totally lost, trying to understand why on earth a recipe would call for the burning, yes burning on purpose, of random ingredients (tomatoes, bread, sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds, and more) and then blending them up and mixing with chicken to pour over rice. But hey, it tasted good.

Some photos!

some pictures i snapped at the orphanage:

a day trip to Antigua last Saturday

Lola:)

sunset over volcanoes.

another one of Antigua. breathtaking.

Zach and hipster Guatemalan lady.

beautiful yellow flowers that hang everywhere.

drinking coconut water out of a coconut!

Peace, amigos!

-Kristen

little children.

We pulled up to the big iron gate in the car and pushed the button to announce our arrival. About a minute later, we could hear them behind the gate, murmurs and giggles turning into all-out hoots and hollers. A tiny hand reached through the side and wiggled its fingers. “MISS MELISSAAA!”  two or three shouted from the other side, to which Melissa in our car replied, “We’re coooming!” At last, a sun-weathered, kind-eyed older man pulled back the metal entrance and the car crept slowly into the drive. Little ones were everywhere, their noses running and mouths laughing and eyes alive with excitement because there were visitors! There were children immediately there to greet us when we stepped out of the car, and we saw others running for us without a hint of hesitation. My heart melted like a stick of butter in a microwave when I looked over and witnessed my husband get attack-hugged by three little boys screaming ‘Hola! Hola!’ He bent down and a little guy clasped little hands behind his neck and hugged Zach like he’d been waiting to see him his whole 6 years of life. Tears stung my eyes. How quick they were to love! 

I’ll never know all their stories, or where their mommies and daddies are, but in that moment I was completely overwhelmed at how children are so eager to love and play and cuddle and laugh, even these children who, at such a vulnerable age, have already experienced the world as a dark place at some time or other. I praise Jesus that they are here now, getting to run and chase and be silly and eat snacks and learn how to make their beds like normal kids. And I praise Jesus because I could almost feel His love for them within my own chest; I felt like I was going to explode. I know how much God loves children; I could feel it when they hugged me tight and even when one started bawling in my arms. I want to BE like one, like a child who is so quick to love and trust and wonder. Quick to jump in His lap to rest, quick to seek comfort when I’m afraid or hurt, quick to run to Him in joy when something amazing happens. And always being curious and wanting to know more.

I will try not to grow into too old and serious and independent of a woman, because I think what Jesus delights in most is a childlikeness. He is pleased when we grow and mature, and we must, but if we can keep that rowdy childlikeness within our hearts, we will see God. For He said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” (Matthew 19:14) 

PART TWO

[Wrote this last Friday and am just now able to get it up and running! Much has happened since this day, so I'll be updating more as soon as I can. Thanks for reading!]

Zach and I flew into Guatemala City on Wednesday evening, greeted by Richard and Melissa Jefferson, our sweet American southern-accented host couple for this semester. We loaded our bags into a big white 15-passenger van that belongs to the school, and drove through crazy Guatemalan traffic about 45 minutes to our new home with them on the Christian Academy of Guatemala (CAG)’s campus.

Here’s a few shots of the campus that I took the following evening. It’s like a little oasis!

the soccer field with Volcano Agua in the distance

front view of campus buildings

garden on the side of our home

the Jefferson's 4 month old french poodle Lola!

what you'd see if you'd walk out our door

and here's the front door!

The weather is absolutely perfect. We were just trekking on snow and ice in Nebraska a few short days ago, and now we throw on sandals and t-shirts every morning before we head out the door. We’re surrounded by palm trees, flowers of every color you can imagine, and volcanoes in the distance. Beautiful dark-skinned Guatemalans offer shy smiles more easily here than the Spaniards did Spain. Rich and Melissa drove us around a bit yesterday (we live in a suburb-like area outside of the ‘City’) and my heart leapt at seeing women in brightly-colored traditional Mayan dresses carrying baskets full of who knows what on top of their heads! I love that. I’m so excited to see more of this whenever we get the chance to venture out into the smaller villages. My heart has almost immediately connected to this place; just the way I felt during my month in Ecuador 3 years ago.

We have quickly learned that as much beauty as this part of the world holds, there is also much darkness and pain. We have heard stories of the poverty, of the crime, of the evil that corrupts the police system and the government. Of the civil war that happened here not too long ago (ended only in ’96) that gave way to senseless slaughter of innocent men, women, and children of the indigenous communities. Of the closed adoption system here that prevents anyone but Guatemalans to adopt the many thousands of orphaned or abandoned babies and children. Of the families that live in the city’s dump and scrounge for recyclable items and food to eat and where the children don’t go to school. Of the children who start sniffing glue as young as age 4 or 5 to make them forget about their hunger. Yesterday we visited the orphanage Melissa serves at twice a week, and as I pushed back wisps of black hair from her face, I looked into the wary eyes of one of the newer girls, a precious 4-year old whose father had raped her before she was brought to the home.

Although there is a lot of things like these that make me want to just sit down and weep or clench my fists in anger, I know that Light is here among us. In the short 48 hours we’ve been here, I’ve heard so many good stories. Of children getting to go to school for the first time because somebody from the States has given their money. Of babies left on doorsteps but now safely in the arms of a couple who started a children’s home. Of a Missions Aviation group that sends planes with medicine to the more remote villages in the country. Of the quickly-growing Deaf Ministry at a church where the Gospel is preached in Spanish and translated into Guatemalan sign language so that the deaf, too ,can know Jesus.

It’s incredible how massive the need is in this country, but it is so exciting and encouraging to see the Lord moving in different ways here. I want to be part of that movement.  I need to be part of that movement. Something rises up in me just thinking about all the ways I could use this short time that I’ve been given to be here. I am delighted by the array of serving opportunities that have been presented to me, because in Spain it wasn’t so simple to find somewhere to volunteer. Now, just about everyone we’ve met so far works with a different organization and has told me that if I was interested in joining them, ‘We’d love to have you!’ I joked with my dad on the phone that it feels like high school all over again with all the fun extracurricular activities—how in the world do you choose?! The big lesson I learned during those years was this: learn to say ‘no’ and don’t spread yourself too thin. Pick one or two things you’re passionate about and dive wholeheartedly into it, not forgetting the One you do it for.

As of right now, I'll be working as a nurse in a clinic alongside a Guatemalan doctor a couple afternoons a week at Prince of Peace, a home for girls. And some mornings I'll be joining Melissa at another orphanage to teach and play with the children there. I also might be of use as a nurse here at the school. Can't wait to start all of this!! Zachary starts student-teaching on the 9th, so prayers for him would be so appreciated. We've heard lots of good things about the teacher he's paired with, so we're excited! He's gonna do amazing.

Muchísimas gracias for joining us on our journey to Guatemala, friends! We love you so much!

K&Z