We have arrived!

Hola amigos! Our team arrived today in Guatemala city and we are thrilled to be here. It was wonderful to get off the plane and immediately begin meeting people. One of the workers who helps people carry out their bags came and talked to us for half an hour as we waited for our contacts to come and pick us up. It was very encouraging for me to speak Spanish with such a friendly person and immediately I felt better about speaking despite errors because he explained that he was learning English in the University. Please pray for me because I can be inconsistent with my confidence in speaking the language, and it is going to take relying on the Lord each day to speak. I am our translator whenever the official Buckner translators are not available and I pray that this would go well.

The people here are beautiful. If you smile at anyone, they will meet you with a huge smile and everyone is so helpful. Guatemala city is a swarm of color everywhere amist the lush green mountains and crowded streets. There is a steep cliff outside of the window of the place that we are staying and we went out on the roof when we got here to see the gorgeous land. I am so excited to see more of this beautiful country as we will be doing some traveling by vans later this week to the Zacapa government orphanage. Upon arriving at the Buckner office where we will be staying, it was wonderful to meet the native men and ladies who work to keep the Buckner orphanage system running smoothly. So many times we think that missions is going overseas and packing a suitcase full of things to give away, but these people give their lives away every day to show the love of Christ to needy children.

Thank you for all of your continual prayers. I have some initial prayer requests before the first actual trip to an orphanage.

Last night it really struck me that I have had a mindset for a very long time about service and evangelism that must change. So many times I go into a ministry situation and expect things to happen immediately. I often peg ministry trips or opportunities even in my daily life as either ¨succesful¨or ¨unsuccesful¨ based on what I see happening in peoples lives before my eyes. When I do not see ¨results¨ I become discouraged. I love seeing peoples lives transformed to the point that sometimes this becomes the driving force, rather than simply an expression of my love to God. A statement at the orientation will stick with me this entire trip- no matter how much you give an orphan they are still broken. It really hit me that I am a fixer and often God calls us to simply love and share rather than trying to solve every problem and fix someones life situation. Yes we should be motivated to change someones situation if it is terrible, but it should be out of a drive and passion for Jesus Christ. I may not hear a single child or teen say ¨wow my life was really changed because of you,¨ but why do I need that? I must rather be motivated by the passion Jesus had on the cross and trust them to the Lord after loving them. Besides, someday those who serve our good God will step into the throne room and hear ¨well done, my good and faithful servant.¨ ... the best and most fulfilling words one could ever hear of affirmation. I need to let God do the fixing. I need to learn love with no conditions or goals. Simply an act of obedience out of love. Lord please teach me.

Please pray for the children. Many of them have been abused and we also learned that most are not true orphans. Many have been dropped off at orphanages because their parents cannot afford to keep them. We learned also yesterday that many of these orphans, even though they have family living in the same city, are seldomly if ever visited by their families. This can be equally as difficult as being without families completely because it sends a message to these children that not only are they a burden but also unimportant and unwanted. We must remember that God is good though. He sees each child and knows of their abandonment, mistrust and hurts. Pray that they would be open to Jesus Christ, the great Father, and complete healer.