We're Saved to do Good Works

From the beginning, our team motto has been "Be Flexible." It has kind of been an ongoing joke after one meeting when we were making homemade pizza and ran out of pizza dough. Little did we know that God would test our flexibility right off the bat as the Midwest was slammed with a spring blizzard the night before our flight out of Chicago. So we decided around 10pm that we would meet earlier at church the next morning to drive down to Chicago to ensure that we'd make it there in time for our flight. That added a little bit more stress to our last minute preparations..or in my case, last minute packing.

I woke up extra, extra early on Sunday morning expecting the worst. It had snowed pretty badly but not as much as I was expecting or preparing myself for. Thank God! Before I knew it, my mom was waiting outside for Becky and I.

First, we had to drive to Elmbrook to meet up with the team and from there, we'd head to O'Hare. The ride down wasn't
too bad. All I could think about was how excited I was to get away from the snow!! We finally arrived at O'Hare and said goodbye to my mom. She took it much better than I thought she would...not as much crying as I was expecting! Thankfully, our flight was not delayed at all and we had some time to eat lunch and hang out before boarding.

We arrived in Houston after an uneventful flight from Chicago. We had a few hours to kill before our flight to Guatemala City so we got some dinner together and finished our discussion of "Serving with Eyes Wide Open." We have been discussing this book for a few weeks. Most of the book is about the mistakes that short-term missionaries make while overseas and we are determined to not be those kind of missionaries.

The flight from Houston to Guatemala City was a big blur. I think we all started to get very nervous and unsure of what we were stepping into. Most of the other passengers spoke Spanish so I began to experience the language barrier that I'd live with for the next week. I was feeling a whole mess of emotions...excited but nervous, confident but scared, ready for a new experience but missing my family already. I decided there was no use in worrying about how I was feeling. Instead, I prayed and thought about a conversation I had with our Pastor, Jim, last week at Impact. He had been on the previous trip to Guatemala in November 2008 so he had an idea of how I was feeling a few days before leaving. I told him that I'm scared of being too empathetic and too emotional while I'm there. He assured me that empathy is a great and beautiful quality, but while in Guatemala, I should try to turn my empathy into hope for the people that I encounter. I pray that God gives me the strength to do that.


Our flight landed in Guatemala City around 10pm. I was so surprised to see how enormous the city was when we were flying in. I think this might be the biggest city I've ever landed in! We got through customs rather quickly and then headed outside to find Nora from Potter's House. Walking out of the airport was a little surreal. As soon as we walked out of the doors, we saw barricades and a ton of people begging for food and money. Nora quickly spotted us and ushered us to our bus that would be taking us to the seminary. One safety precaution while we are here is that a representative from Potter's House always has to be either on the bus with us or following behind the bus. Buses are often targeted by gangs in Guatemala City and they want to make sure we are always safe. We met Louis, who would be our bus driver for the week, and then started our drive to the seminary. As we were driving through the city, I noticed how dirty it is and how big and crowded it is.

When we arrived at the seminary, we were greeted by Felipe. He is the groundskeeper at the seminary and will be here 24/7 in case we need anything. He doesn't speak any English and we speak very little Spanish..this should be interesting! He showed us to our rooms, which are much like dorm rooms..concrete walls and floors, a few beds, and a bathroom. Rule #1 at the seminary-no flushing toilet paper. I broke that rule almost immediately!

While settling into our rooms, I began to feel horribly sick. The room started spinning, I started shaking and I lost the little bit of color in my face that I had. I got sick. Really sick. Was it was nerves?? Exhaustion? Had I broken another rule and drank water already? Maybe a symptom of my colitis? I'm not entirely sure, but what I do know is that Becky and Tristan were there immediately. Forcing bottled water into my mouth, rubbing my back, putting washclothes on my face, and holding my hair back. Thank God for my teammates. I know they'll be my rock this week.

After all of that excitement, we decided it was time for bed. We start work at 7 tomorrow morning.