Adios Guatemala you were so good to us!

Coming up on our final few days in Guatemala and looking Im shocked how the time here flew by. I have so much love for this country and its people.

It’s been a minute since I’ve updated the blog, so let me tell you what we’ve been up to. My team has been partnered with a ministry organization called Hope; here’s what a typical week for us looks like:

Monday: We spend the morning in a coffee shop in Antigua worshipping and then getting trained in running gatherings of intercession and beholding the beauty of the Lord. After lunch we head to the Hope base in San Antonio to assist in English classes for kids.

Tuesday: We go to San Antonio and get to join the Hope staff Bible study. Then we go and visit members of the community to encourage them and pray for them. After a break at our favorite lunch spot Bayit, the kids come for VBS and we play with them until it’s time for us to leave.

Wednesday: We have a later van slot for our ride to San Antonio, so most of the morning is spent in one on one time with out teammates to intentionally invest in those friendships. When we get to Hope, it’s another VBS day!

Thursday: Thursday is Activation day! The Adventures in Missions (World Race organization) base staff hosts worship, a teaching, and a time to activate us into applying what we learned in nearby towns. Intercession, evangelism, and speaking life are some of the topics we’ve covered!

Friday: Sports day! Friday morning, the young teens from the soccer league come to Hope to practice and have a devotional time. In the afternoon, our little friends from vbs and English class come and we help run drills and play scrimmages!

This is Jeofrey:

Founder of hope, administration mastermind, and fearless leader, Jeofrey plays a crucial role in running this organization. Though we don’t see him everyday he makes sure to make time for the kids and the community of his hometown San Antonio. He’s also always intentionally pouring into the staff which made being welcomed into the Hope team for a little while that much sweeter.

Within the first few weeks of being at Hope, April fools rolled around and being the faithful Americans that we are (Guatemala’s prank day is in the fall) we lead Jeofrey to believe that Raya had broken her leg. Jeofrey then decided that April fools was extended through the whole month; a few days later he got us into a panicked frenzy thinking that we had forgot his birthday. He got the rest of the staff in on it wishing him happy birthday. As soon as lunch time hit we ran off in search of balloons and party food. We came literally running through the streets and Jeofrey rolled up in his car laughing and filming us. This was just one of the fun moments we shared and what made it so hard to say goodbye to our hosts.

The relationships that we’ve built with the both the staff at hope and the children will make for a difficult goodbye. But we almost won’t have time to be sad.

Looking forward, here’s what our next few weeks look like:

May 8: flying back to the United States

May 9: Day in Georgia (probably visiting target and all the places we’ve missed)

May 10: driving down to Fort Meyers Florida to help take down the temporary AIM base

May 18: Drive back to Gainsville Georgia to have a final debrief

May 23: back to NH!

Continue to keep me and my team in your prayers as we are entering a time of goodbyes and transitioning back home. And also that we can keep our focus in the moment that we won’t miss anything that the Lord has in this last little bit on the race.

Thanks for reading!

Love you all

-Sophie