Let's Go to the Beach!
Now that home visits and English classes have started in Bola, every six weeks we take off from being in Bola to give Josefina a break from hosting so much and offering so much of her time within the week. It’s also a nice break for us. Life is different here, things are a bit harder. Driving to Bola three days a week is an hour commute each way and it’s only 12 miles away from my house. The roads are winding up into mountains, there are many speed bumps, and the max speed is about 35 mph when we’re really giving it a go. Traveling here is exhausting on your body, it’s not something I understood until I moved here, but the break is good for us as well. Since it was my first week “off” since I got here I booked a trip for two nights with a couple of friends to the beach of El Peradon. Y’all, I went to the beach! It was amazing! This beach girl has always lived by the ocean. I have to share that the beach here is a force of nature; the waves are mighty, the sun is on a mission to meet you personally through a humidity that rivals Virginia, and sitting on the beach in that black sand is easily one of the hottest places I’ve ever been. We were on the beach before 8 a.m. and back at the pool by 10! We stayed at a surfers hotel and had a great two nights laughing, reading, playing games, and eating great seafood. It was so refreshing to get away and not having to be in charge of any of the logistics. I literally just made sure I was ready to go when they told me to be ready.
My first time swimming in the Pacific Ocean and by swim, I mean stood because this current!
I’ve been seeking God about what else I can contribute in Bola. I've been spending more and more time with Josefina. I realized I’m the closest to her age and I may have something I can do a bit more easily by being close to her personally. Plus, she’s wonderful and anytime with her is so rich and full of so many things. I was thinking about things that I could “start” in Bola but I don’t know enough. I really know less now in life than I ever have. I thought about how soup kitchen is her idea and all we do is empower her to do it...what else does she have in her heart that all she needs is to be empowered? I hope we can come up with something to do together. I’d ask for your prayers on that.
My friends.
I am working with my Spanish conversational tutor, who comes to the house for two hours a week. She’s actually well known as a cooking teacher, many people have told me what an amazing cook she is. She cooked Pepian for me for my first try, Pepian is one of the main traditional dishes in Guatemala and it is delicious! She hasn’t been working since the pandemic because schools are still closed here and they won’t be opening for sometime, sadly. She also cooked for short-term missions teams who visited the area, but alas, same issue. So, being the little idea machine that I am, I started talking to her about making single-serve meals for pre-order. Many a gringa here has discussed with me our need for easier at home meals for the single people. She was hesitant at first until I asked her directly if she was scared, she broke down into tears and admitted she was. Together, we wrote out a business plan and came up with a manageable, low-startup cost menu to get started next month. I also made sure to talk to some of the women I know here and I was able to get her seven women lined up to pre-order some meals once a week! I do feel like this is God-breathed, that I’m to help empower her in doing this because she’s smart, driven, hard-working, and the woman can COOK! Please pray for that, what a blessing it would be to help this woman get back on her feet and start making some money again.
Oh ya know, riding a horse up an erupting volcano, no big deal.
Maybe that’s part of what I’m supposed to be doing here, empowering women to push beyond the lies of their culture and themselves to do something brave to make change for their families. I’m just staying open, even this week I was able to really share the gospel to people who came across my path. Just shared things that were simple and true and left them contemplating how much they wanted to seek out this great relationship with Jesus. I spend time with so many unique people with interesting stories and experiences, as much as I’m learning from them, I also want to remember that I am here on purpose carrying the greatest hope to life within me so I certainly bring unique things to the table myself. It’s just so interesting the things I’m learning here, so many things I didn’t know were options for a life, a career, a passion…
Do something, my friend Anna always tells people on her social media the worst thing you can do is not take control of the things you want. The thing is sometimes those things are hard to obtain, but they are worth it. Losing weight has been hard to obtain, but worth it. Moving to Guatemala in faith that there was something worth a great risk, it’s not been easy but I don’t think I’ll ever say it wasn’t worth it. So, do something. Step outside yourself, take a risk, say a prayer, and see your world expand. It’s amazing what it will communicate to others. As always, thanks for coming along on the journey. I can’t do this without you!
Pacaya, one of three active volcanos in my area. This was a rare event.
Oh If you missed my post online, I got to hike Pacaya last Sunday, which was erupting like crazy. I actually hired a horse half way, because the ash in the air and the altitude my asthma wasn’t having it, but it was really an incredible experience because honestly, I NEVER would have thought to dream to ride a horse up a volcano to watch it erupt...didn’t want to not share this nugget of adventure!
Couple of highlights to mention:
Last week marked four months here! WOW!
I’m supposed to get my car on Saturday, please pray this actually happens!
I needed to raise support outside of my normal salary funding needs for Ubers to Bola as I mentioned last time. I raised more than I needed and in three days. I’m so grateful to those people who are so generous and that I have a contingency of those who I know I can ask. THANK YOU
I’d love to chat, I’m missing people. Let’s schedule a call!
I’ll be home the first week of July for about a week and I’m so pumped for a visit home.