This morning on our walk to breakfast, we noticed that everything had started to feel familiar. Our team has become comfortable with the route and greeting the people of San Lucan Toliman. The walk through the streets has quickly become one of our favorite parts. After breakfast each morning, we start our day with musical worship and a "mini porch time". This morning, as we gathered, we were reminded that we are to praise God in all circumstances and that we are fearfully and wonderfully made.
We headed out to the school that we were tasked with painting. We drove through the beautiful mountains of San Lucas Toliman. The schools have very little funding, so painting is not ever a first priority. We are grateful that we are able to help in that way. Our prayer today is that by us painting and making the school feel more alive, the teachers were able to better provide a safe place for their students. So that is what we did. We painted. We painted with joy.
Painting is not an easy task. Once you add high school students into the mix, it feels more difficult. And yet, our team today persevered. We lifted each other up. We laughed. We got frustrated. We repeated to ourselves our memory verse from Romans 12:10-12. You might be curious to know what it was like painting a school here in Guatemala. All the walls are made of cinderblock. They are low-budget. They are often not in the best shape. But these schools are a vital part of the community. The teachers here in Guatemala have immense pride in what they do. Even though a fresh coat of paint may not seem like a big deal, it brought immense joy to the school leadership. Painting was hard, but today we painted with joy.
After dinner, we headed to grab some ice cream and to walk down to see the lake that San Lucan Toliman is on. Each of us was grateful for a sweet treat and getting to spend time together as a team near the lake. We laughed. Played on some swings. It was fun. Then we headed back to the hotel for porch time. Tonight, we looked at the idea of forgiveness. We talked about how, since Christ forgave us, we are called to forgive others. Forgiveness is a key concept to being able to fully follow Jesus. We also went around the table and talked about some things we saw today that were beautiful, challenging, and different. Some things that were mentioned were the fun memories we made painting together. The challenge of painting a school for 8 hours. We talked about how beautiful the volcano was that we got to look at all day while painting. This has quickly become one of the leader's favorite parts of the trip. It was amazing getting to watch the students process the people, places, and experiences that they are encountering. We are having the best time. There is always laughter. Always joy.
For The Kingdom,
The Guatemala Team
