The drive to San Lucas this morning was beautiful and a bit terrifying. The landscape captivated our senses as we drove the steep windy roads. We marveled at the volcanoes puffing black smoke, the farms cut into the steep hillsides and eventually, at the views of the lakeside town we will call home for the week. At the same time, the steep cliffs caused us each to let out a few gasps as our skilled drivers navigated our minibuses around mudslides from the previous day’s rain. Like I said, it was both beautiful and terrifying.
Once we were checked in to our hotel we explored the village and ended up playing basketball with some local kids that were hanging around the town square. I was so proud to see our students courageously navigate a new language, culture and the street dogs as they intentionally made friends with those they met. After a good meal and some cold showers we got dressed up to head to church. We are not used to a three-hour church service with a sound system that could power a football stadium, but once again our students rose to the occasion, joining in the worship and prayer times with eager hearts. It was a full day experiencing and joining a new culture and a new place.
As we circled up on the hotel roof-top deck for our evening “porch time” we studied Matthew 25 together. Talk about something that is both beautiful and terrifying! Matthew 25 teaches us that when we serve others we are serving Jesus himself! That’s beautiful. It also teaches us that failure to do so has some severe consequences. Terrifying.
We talked about the things that hold us back from leaning into these opportunities. Our fear, our pride, our misplaced priorities and our self-interests can easily become excuses not to help. Not to live out our faith as Matthew 25 teaches us to. Currently the students are journaling through this as they read 1 John 3:16-19 and James 1:19-27. You can read these passages too. Do your faith and actions overlap? What’s one thing you could do differently to encounter Jesus tomorrow as you serve those around you?
Excited to build three houses tomorrow!
The Guatemalan Team
