Thursday, June 10, 2010

More than physical

Hey bloggers, this is Addie again. It was Erica's day to blog, but she stayed home today due to stomach sickness. The good news is that she was feeling better this evening and will hopefully be ready to go tomorrow and the rest of the trip.

Today started off with a devotional from Erica on 1 Corinthians 13. We discussed the meaning and the very foundation of how to love someone. It is more than words, it is action, a decision to love someone takes work. We then headed to our contact's house and were fed pancakes and eggs! Delectable! It was the good start to the day we needed.

When we were finished with breakfast, we headed to the church to load the 50 large sacks of food we created earlier. We had an assembly line set up to move the bags quickly (thank you Henry Ford) to the pick-up. We loaded up in the van and the pick-up and headed up the mountain. We stopped only once on the way up, making the trip about 3 hours.

We arrived in Zacapa and ate lunch with the team. From there, we loaded up in the back of two trucks (about 7 in each) and drove about 30 minutes into the mountain village. As soon as we got there, we broke out the soccer ball and started to play. Ha! My first time being goalie and I didn't do half bad (against 10 year olds). Another form of entertainment was creating balloon animals for the children. Our Global Infusion contact was super good - she was cranking out flowers, swords, and poodles, while most of us were lucky to give the child a snake!

During this time, quite a few people were gathering around the outdoor court. Our job was to entertain the children while most of their parents listened to a sermon from our contact and Dr. Best's testimony. The sermon was about the woman at the well, a story found in John 4. Oseas described the physical need the woman had and the importance of her spiritual need, a very fitting sermon.

Then we were able to pass the food out. This was an emotional time for the team. We saw many families walk away with food for many weeks. This was tremendous in itself, but the majority of these people carrying this load were older, small-framed, women. They could lug a 60 pound bag over their shoulder better than most! Witnessing this, it all seemed to make sense; this is why we came, to be the hands and feet of Jesus, to feed people both physically and spiritually, to show how much God loved these people with our actions.

It was a great experience and as a team we are so blessed to have this opportunity to serve in this capacity. For the people who walked away empty-handed, please join us in prayer that the Lord would provide and multiply the food in those bags. We serve a God who is in the business of miracles and nothing is impossible for Him!

We finished the afternoon with an ice cream cone and then drove home through lots of rain. Praise God for the safety in traveling today and that the rain was held off until we were finished in the mountains! Praise Him for who He is and for the love He has shown us by sending Jesus to willingly die on a cross, so we would not have to! Please take time in the next few days to think about the many blessings God has given you and thank Him!

Thanks for taking time to read this and pray for us!

Team Guatemala (Addie)

3 comments:

  1. What a blessing these updates continue to be to us. Thank you for your team's willingness to go and to be the love in action that our God has asked us to be. We anxiously await your return when we will be able to hear more about Guatemala and your mission there. God's blessings to you all and the people there. Persevere Team Guatemala! Love, Dad and Mom Swihart

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  2. Each days journal/blog gives me chills. I can only imagine how your lives have changed and how you are changing the lives of others. Continue to be who you are and do what you do and we will continue our prayers for all from here. Our God is an awesome God.
    Love to all,
    Jason's family

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  3. Henry Ford called, he said to pass along the message of "You are welcome, Addie Josephine Swihart. Good thing I am genius. The world will be a better place becuase of the invention I began using on my Model A. Keep it real girl!" Ya, I'm not sure what he meant by all that, but i did my job and passed it along. Anyways, Thanks for the updates. I really enjoy following the blog, and sharing in the day to day excitment of your trip. Team Guacamole is constantly in my prayers. DO WORK!

    Seth Swi

    P.S. Addie Rosa Ray sold her farm and left the country. Toppinish Tom is doing work! Miss you!

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