Let’s go back to Guatemala for a moment

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Let’s go back to Guatemala for a moment

My sister, Gailey, who is trained as a Presbyterian minister, led us in our worship every evening while we were in Guatemala on the mission trip. The group in Philadelphia is working on a DVD of our mission trip. Gailey submitted the following daily scriptures and short descriptions. I was very moved by her contributions and want to share it with those who read my Guatemala blog. I’ll get back to China shortly.
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#1 Matthew 6:34
So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own.
Today's trouble is enough for today.

We headed out early in the morning with lots of excitement! Yet we worried: did we remember to pack this or that, would our flights go well, would we have any troubles with security, would our luggage arrive safely - all the hundreds of pounds of it, would anything go wrong with our ground transportation, would our accommodations work out, would we be able to do the shows and physical work well, would our families at home be okay while we were gone? Despite our faith and our prayers, our human worries were present. Yet, we did arrive, safe and sound and with all the luggage!
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#2 I Corinthians 13: 4-7
Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Here we are, a group of people wanting to serve God in Christ. People with visions and yet also human beings with all the strengths and weaknesses that make us who we are. How would our personal interactions with one another go? Would we be able to travel and work together so closely for many days, from before dawn to beyond dusk? Here we are, wanting, trying to serve God and here we are with all our human frailties. "Love is patient; love is kind..." With grace, with God's love, together we worked, we laughed, we cried, we sang, we prayed, we talked, we worshipped - together, with God's love and grace.
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#3 John 15:12 and 16-17
This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name. I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another.

Our first puppet show was at the Official Rural Community Mixed School that is really a lean-to made of corrugated tin and available wood. It is located in the courtyard of a family who allows the teachers and children to meet there. There is no running water and supplies are few. However, the love and joy, the smiles and laughter are great. We went to bear fruit, and we did, but we also feasted on the abundance of faith and courage and perseverance that we witnessed in the director, the teacher and the children at this school.
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#4 Isaiah 61:1-3a
The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me; he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners; to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; to provide for those who mourn in Zion - to give them a garland instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of a faint spirit.

We went to Guatemala on a mission trip to give--and yet we received. We did scrape and sand and paint and perform, but we were given welcomes that warmed our hearts, we grew in knowledge and understanding that at times brought tears to our eyes, and we experienced abounding signs of God's love in the most unexpected places and in the most unexpected ways.
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#5 James 2:14-17
What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you? If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, "Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill," and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.

We saw so many works of faith in the communities we visited. At the Utatlan church and school, works of faith are evident in the very presence of the church and school, in the development of the buildings and the programs offered, in the gifts of learning given and received, in the witnessing to God's love in Christ in the school and in the community, in the work of Pam and Jose Munoz and Grace Par and so many others. Faith is alive and its works are active.
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#6 Psalm 73:1-2 and 26
Truly God is good to the upright, to those who are pure in heart. But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled; my steps had nearly slipped. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

On one of the days we visited the Utatlan School, Grace Par spoke to us of her experience and her faith in staying the course in Guatemala during the Civil War. She spoke of the oppression of the Mayan people and the destruction of human against human and she spoke of her faith that God wanted her and her family to remain and continue God's work despite the danger. On another day spent with Marible Smith and Betty Carrera Paz at CEDEPCA, we learned of the cultural oppression of women in the country and the power of the Holy Spirit to work with and through Marible, Betty and several others to educate and strengthen many in the face of "the way it has always been." Truly God is the strength of their hearts.
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#7 Philippians 4:4-7
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God which passes all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

While in Guatemala, we did have time for some site seeing. In Guatemala City we walked by the Catedral Metropolitano that bears witness to all who were killed or "disappeared" during the Civil War. The names of the dead and the mission are engraved on all sides of the many columns surrounding the entrance courtyard, lists of names that go on and on, hundreds of names. That evening we sang "Rejoice in the Lord always" and though it may not have shown on our faces or have been heard in our voices, we knew in our hearts and minds that God's loving kindness and faithfulness to all generations was present there during the Civil War even as it is present here and everywhere now. "The Lord is near."
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#8 Romans 15:13
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

In Guatemala City, we performed and worked at the Francisco Coll, an elementary school built on land that used to be a city dump, a school that serves the children of that neighborhood. There we met Alta Gracia, a woman who with her husband and many others had lived on the Guatemala City dump. They, with the others, made their living by picking through the dump for things to sell for recycling or reuse. No longer allowed by city law to live on the dump, Alta Gracia and the others now live in shelters they have put together on land across from the dump, the land surrounding Francisco Coll. Many who live in these shelters continue to work and live by scavenging through the garbage at the dump. Alta Gracia, however, now works in the kitchen at Francisco Coll. With grace, Alta Gracia walked us through a neighborhood of these shelters, the squatters' homes. Our walk ended at Alta Gracia's own home. There, in the midst of the squalor, Alta Gracia had planted and tended a most beautiful garden, an Eden of hope in the midst of poverty and despair. Alta Gracia blessed our lives with her gifts of openness, courage and strength.
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#9 Micah 6:6 and 8
With what shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before God on high? He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

The principal of Francisco Coll is Sister Alba Mendez, a woman of deep faith and commitment. Welcomed by the children who were filled with excitement by our visit and welcomed by the teachers who invited us into their classrooms, we were struck by the hunger and drive of the adults and the children for education. We noted with thanksgiving the peace and calm assurance of Sister Alba, the patience and perseverance of the teachers, and the active service in Christ of Emilio, our work supervisor, and Alta Gracia, our helper and guide.
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#10 Ephesians 5:8-9
For once you were darkness, but now in the Lord you are light. Live as children of light - for the fruit of the light is found in all that is good and right and true.

Our experiences in Guatemala have expanded our knowledge of God's creation, opened our minds to deeper understanding of our world, and enabled us to give greater witness to God's love. In thanksgiving to God, may we "live as children of light."

The end of our 10 days in Guatemala. Thank you, Gailey, for your spiritual leadership.

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Comments

[Ruth]

Wonderful Testimony
Thanks for helping us all remember why we are here and what our focus should be.