Touching down in Guatemala City was an exhilarating, knowing not only that I was thousands of miles from home but that God was preparing to do mighty things in our midst.
We spent a lot of time as a group learning about each other's stories and struggles and victories. And what became so clear to me during this time was the need for vulnerability and intentionality. Vulnerability is a scary place to put yourself; we are so afraid that if people really know who we are, then they won't love us. But that simply isn't true. Once we are vulnerable with others, they see us for who we are, and they are able to come along side us and help us to become who we were designed to be. Then we can become more intentional in our relationships. When our team left Wilmington, we were really just 13 college students who had spent a few meetings together. But when we came back, we were 13 college students who had seen the bare souls of each other and who each of us truly are. And it is a beautiful thing. We had intentional conversations about things that really matter, and we built each other up because we could clearly see what the other needed.
We also spent a lot of time with children in and around Guatemala City. These kids were precious; they were so full of love that I almost couldn't handle it. Who would've thought that people who have nothing would have so much to give? We came to the children with the intention of teaching them about their worth to God (and to us), and we did, but we learned so much ourselves. While listening to each other's stories, we realized that we all had a common thread in our stories– feelings of worthlessness or not understanding our worth. The center of our worth is not in the things we do or what we look like or who we spend time with, The center of our worth is found in the God who created us and thinks that we're worth the death of his Son so that we could come back to him. That's who holds our worth. And in any trial, we can turn to our Creator and know without a doubt that whenever we feel worthless, we can rest in the comfort of what he has already done and what he will continue to do for us.
We knew we would learn from the kids and each other, but I think we all learned a little more than we bargained for, and for that, I am grateful. I learned what love acts like, what patience sounds like, what wisdom speaks, what grace teaches, what joy creates. Every member of the team taught me a little something about what the body of Christ and the nature of God looks like.
Thank you, God, for showing me more of yourself through the team and the people of Guatemala. Thank you, team, for teaching me so much about myself, God, yourselves, and my relationships with others. Thank you, senders, because without you, I wouldn't have been able to learn what I did or to do the things God has laid on my heart to do because of this trip.
We spent a lot of time as a group learning about each other's stories and struggles and victories. And what became so clear to me during this time was the need for vulnerability and intentionality. Vulnerability is a scary place to put yourself; we are so afraid that if people really know who we are, then they won't love us. But that simply isn't true. Once we are vulnerable with others, they see us for who we are, and they are able to come along side us and help us to become who we were designed to be. Then we can become more intentional in our relationships. When our team left Wilmington, we were really just 13 college students who had spent a few meetings together. But when we came back, we were 13 college students who had seen the bare souls of each other and who each of us truly are. And it is a beautiful thing. We had intentional conversations about things that really matter, and we built each other up because we could clearly see what the other needed.
We also spent a lot of time with children in and around Guatemala City. These kids were precious; they were so full of love that I almost couldn't handle it. Who would've thought that people who have nothing would have so much to give? We came to the children with the intention of teaching them about their worth to God (and to us), and we did, but we learned so much ourselves. While listening to each other's stories, we realized that we all had a common thread in our stories– feelings of worthlessness or not understanding our worth. The center of our worth is not in the things we do or what we look like or who we spend time with, The center of our worth is found in the God who created us and thinks that we're worth the death of his Son so that we could come back to him. That's who holds our worth. And in any trial, we can turn to our Creator and know without a doubt that whenever we feel worthless, we can rest in the comfort of what he has already done and what he will continue to do for us.
We knew we would learn from the kids and each other, but I think we all learned a little more than we bargained for, and for that, I am grateful. I learned what love acts like, what patience sounds like, what wisdom speaks, what grace teaches, what joy creates. Every member of the team taught me a little something about what the body of Christ and the nature of God looks like.
Thank you, God, for showing me more of yourself through the team and the people of Guatemala. Thank you, team, for teaching me so much about myself, God, yourselves, and my relationships with others. Thank you, senders, because without you, I wouldn't have been able to learn what I did or to do the things God has laid on my heart to do because of this trip.
Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many. –1 Corinthians 12:12-14, NIV
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