Happenings

So much has happened this last week it is hard to know where to begin writing. The beginning of the week was the Global Bridegroom Fast. It really touched my heart to participate in it here, with the Bride of another tongue. It gave new meaning to what the Lord is doing in the earth by uniting his Bride, that out of every tribe, tongue and nation, she will be one crying out, "Come Lord Jesus." I will say that I sure did miss my Atlanta family and our Wednesday tradition of taking communion together, but was glad to be here with my Guatemala family.

Another gift of timing of the Lord was that the teens don't do their usual outreach to the schools during GBF, so I had more opportunities to teach and impart. Monday I taught on the Bridegroom Fast out of Matt 9, Tuesday was an overview of the Sermon on the Mount, and yesterday the Lord came with revelation of his Father's heart. It was so sweet and I believe many of them received healing from father wounds and an impartation of Abba's heart during the ministry time. Most of them have had rough lives, being either abandoned or abused by their fathers or stepfathers. It is actually ingrained in the culture here, that it is OK to leave your children with extended family members and go to the States to find work, sometimes for good. That is a big reason why Chris has a vision for Mal. 4:5-6 and the Spirit of Elijah to be poured out upon this ministry. I wholeheartedly agree.

Last night I went to one of the girl's homes to visit and cook a meal to break our fast. The whole experience seemed straight out of an episode of The Twilight Zone. This particular girl is enduring so much in her life, most notably, the death of her mother last year. Before that she didn't have a relationship with her father (and still doesn't), so she is basically an orphan, who now takes care of 5 younger brothers and sisters (see pic above). The home they live in is small and poor. There was only one sharp knife and very few other cooking utensils. While we cooked, animals were running around all over the kitchen including: 4 dogs, a duck, multiple chickens, and a cat (her kittens were in the corner). There was one light bulb and no outlets in the whole room, along with a dribble of running water. It was a challenge to cook the meal we ate, but by the grace of God, the issues did not bother me so much. I was overcome by the heart of this girl to want to even have me in her home, and the obstacles she has to overcome in her life. I am talking about one of the 5 full-time intercessors here.

The next time I even get close to complaining about my comfortable life in Atlanta, I thank God I have these images and experiences to refer to. Oh, may I always live in the reality of "to whom much is given, much is required!"

A Day in the Life of a Guatemalan

Sitting at Giovanni`s house, enjoying the breeze. I spent the day here today learning the daily life of a Guatemalan. I arrived around 8:30am or so. The goal was to learn how to make tamales. This is quite a lengthy process, and as I learned today, they only really make them for special occasions like Christmas and birthdays. Amalia, Giovanni`s mom, told me they were making them especially for me... wow! When I got here, she had already made the corn mixture and the sauce that goes inside. I got to help chop sweet peppers and wiped off tons of banana leaves in which to wrap up the tamales. I took a break, went to the Internet Cafe with Chris and came right back here in lieu of going to workout. This was my chance to learn the art of tamale making!

I returned and the ladies were wrapping up all the ingredients in the banana leaves: the corn meal mixture, a piece of chicken that had been marinating in the sauce, some sauce, a couple of raisins, a prune, and a slice of sweet pepper. The folding of the leaves takes a lot of practice. In the time it took me to wrap about 10 of them, the ladies had done probably about 100. I am learning, though, and Amalia said that is the hardest part of the lengthy process.

Meanwhile, World Cup soccer was on in the other room. I got a couple of glimpses of the Brazil/Holland game, and got to watch almost the whole game between Uruguay & Ghana. I finally got to watch a game! I must say I`m glad that Brazil lost and Uruguay won. Now rooting Spain on to victory!

Overall, I had a sweet day, learning more intimately how the people live here. This particular family has lots of animals, including a dog, a cat, a parrot, and tons of chickens (with chicks!). Thankfully, I missed the slaughter of the hen this morning for the tamales! :) The atmosphere is very hot and humid (not unlike Atlanta), and there is currently a breeze, thank God, because there are no fans or A/C. Yet with the breeze, other smells are wafted through the house from the neighbors & the street, such as car exhaust, marijuana smoke, and animal droppings- nice. I will never again complain about having to get my emissions checked!

Yesterday was pretty sweet too. I took all the kids to a sweet water park about an hour away. It was both fun and relaxing. The kids don´t get to do stuff like that very often and I was thrilled to be a part of it. It was interesting to see that somethings don`t change from culture to culture and that youth will be youth.