Jake and I headed to school, Colegio Cristiano Elim, today! We were welcomed in such a huge way! There was a sign right when you walked in that welcomed us and each class also made signs to welcome us.

Thursday mornings they have chapel. It consists of praise and worship, but for those of you who have been to Guatemala, this is not your ordinary sing songs and hear a preacher preach type of chapel. This was an all out invitation for the Holy Spirit to come and fill hearts.

The music was nothing crazy. It was quite “normal”, but the heart behind it was amazing. At one point, the worship leader said he felt like he needed to call on anyone who needed prayer; anyone who currently has issues at home or school. He asked them to lift their hands so someone could pray with them. It soon became an amazing prayer time with teachers and students praying and crying to the Lord! Please note: These are kids from Pre-K to seniors, so to have kids who are outwardly asking for prayer was truly amazing and humbling. (Sorry, the common word I use to refer to Guatemala is “amazing”!)

The praise and prayer time was followed by a short sermon from Pastor Ronny (our host and Debora’s dad). He preached on how God is a God of provision. He referred to Exodus 4 where the Israelites left Egypt. One point that Ronny made that hit home was that although the Israelites may have been comfortable in Egypt, they were slaves and God’s people are not meant to be slaves. He then noted that it may have looked bleak or even like a punishment when they went into the desert. Even though they were slaves in Egypt, they were not used to the heat nor food or water not being readily available. In other words, they were not used to fully relying on the Lord. God knew they were not used to being so “uncomfortable” so He provided everything they needed; a cloud for shade, daily manna and the pillar of fire at night to protect them from the dangers of the desert. Lesson learned: Sometimes the place God calls us to go may not be as comfortable as where we were, but He will provide all we need as we need it!!

The English teacher was not there today, so I sat in with Jake in the 6th grade class. I had warned Jake that we would be the center of attention since I know he can overwhelmed easily and I didn’t want it to go bad. He handled it pretty well. Most of the day, we were surrounded by kids asking tons of questions or just staring at us. We felt like we were on display. Jake put it nicely. He said we are like rockstars! LOL!

It was a great day followed by some food shopping for some things that would make us more comfortable like cereal, milk, orange juice, etc. We are now home relaxing for the rest of the evening.

Prayer Requests:

1. Colegio Elim: Today’s chapel really showed me that God is moving in this school. It is a school with several underprivileged children who would have not gotten an education higher than the 6th grade if it weren’t for the scholarships provided by people in the U.S. They are several more in need, if you are interested in sponsoring a child, please let me know and I can provide details.

2. The Medinas: Our host family, Pastor Ronny (dad), Lucita (mom and principal of Colegio Elim), Debora (sister) and Isaac (brother). They have been so gracious to us and continue to try to make us (a picky eater and her extremely shy teenager) as comfortable as possible. May God continue to Bless them and use them as Ronny pastors a small church and Lucita administers the children at the school.

3. Jake: First day of school was great. Pray it continues to become comfortable and he finds someone who will befriend him so he isn’t so alone! Also, that he feels inspired to seek the Lord in everything!

4. Me: That I teach the children as the Lord would have me teach them. This morning I had a good devotion time and felt like I needed to pray with Jake (yes, I know I should be doing that at all times!), so I did and it was great to hear Jake’s heart. Pray that I continue to lead him to the Lord so he will soon seek Him on his own!