ALABANZA

I can hardly believe my first week in Guatemala has already gone by!

Casa Alabanza is AMAZING. My schedule is kinda subject to change from day to day. But except for the fact that I sleep next door, my life here looks like an adopted older sister for the 11 little ones that live in
Casa Alabanza. I've been so impressed with the house parents Laura y Hector, they are some pretty incredible people. They are full of joy, generous but firm with the children, and so patient with my Spanish. I've been in the house for a few of the daily family devotions that they have and Hector expresses his thoughts with such passion and yet in a way that the kids understand even though they are young. Even when it is not necessarily devo time, he and Laura are always pointing the children to the Lord. One night they were practicing for a Despedida which is a sort of good-bye ceremony to help the kids understand that a short-term group that has been at Casa Bernabe is leaving. Four of the children were learning a short dance to preform in the show. They had practiced it a couple of times in front of the rest of the family, with various children calling various instructions about how to to it better, when Hector stops them and says something to the effect of, 'We aren't doing this dance to make people think good things about us, we don't preform to make people think we are talented or pretty, when we dance, we are dancing for God, we are dancing because He has made us glad! So let's try it one more time.' And they did, full of energy and with lots of smiles.

I've learned so much this week, but it's crazy that the more I learn, the more that I realize that I don't know. I think that goes for most things in life, but Spanish has definitely brought that to the forefront of my mind right now. Another thing I'm learning is patience. I've had lots of practice being patience with little ones so that part isn't usually too hard for me, but learning patience with some of the other short-term teams that are here has definitely been challenging. But I have already seen God's faithfulness both in prompting me to be a patient and encouraging presence and then in showing me the awesome things that can come from following those promptings. God has even helped me see these short term groups as an encouragement to me of the Spanish that I do know. Lots of them don't really know any Spanish so I have been an unofficial, but by the grace of God a sufficiently effective translator all this week in Casa Alabanza. Who would've guessed, but what an awesome experience to feel totally inadequate and then realize that God just used me to help people communicate and be unified!

My prayer requests are still for discernment to know how best to serve Hector and Laura and the children of Alabanza, for continued patience with the other teams here, for confidence to start conversations in Spanish, and to praise my Lord for every single one of the abundant blessings that He pours out on me!!