Posted in Culture by Lindsey McDonald on 7/22/2009
Hi, I'm back from Guatemala. It was a wonderful experience. I've put together a photo blog of some highlights. Please enjoy...
The first part of the trip found us visiting different churches in the villages around Lake Atitlan. Here is a view of the lake from one of the villages, San Antonio
This is a picture of the village of San Juan. The Mountain is known as Face Mountain. If you look closely it is the face of a mayan man according to the villagers. The highest part is his nose and the dent on the left is his eye.
This is a photo overlooking San Pedro. This was the main village we stayed in.
The main ministry of the team was putting on VBS type children's programs for both churches and schools. The programs involved songs/skits/crafts/dramas/games. They are singing a song here for a school in San Pedro.
while the team was busy working, the leaders (Maggie, Gary, myself) were busy being silly with local children and eating frozen chocolate bananas. Guatemalans love their chocobananos. I dedicate this picture to my lovely friend Sarah B.
Maggie and I also found an amazing restaurant in San Pedro owned by Israeli people. It served awesome Fallafal(sp?) and Hummus. I'm craving some even mentioning it right now.
There were some lovely views around the lake
a local fisherman. the boats they use are so unique.
After 2 and 1/2 weeks of ministering and children's programs, we decided to head across the lake to Panajachel. While there I got to meet up with my friend and former World Race squadmate, Caitlin. She was leading another team through Guatemala, and they decided to join us for a zipline experience. It was such a blessing to see her and spend some time together.
hey look what I found... Hotel Shalom. I know isn't this a lovely picture? This is the hostel Team LESS stayed at in Panajachel last year. Caitlin told me I should hug the air, I guess so it's like I'm hugging my team. If I were good at photoshop I'd just photoshop my team in. oh well...
After Panajachel, we left the area of Lake Atitlan and headed to Antigua
While in Antigua we visited the Cappucinas ruins, an old convent. Some of the team also spent a day hiking the Pacaya volcano.
the team eating at Pollo Campero one of our last nights.
Overall the trip was amazing. The eagerness of this team to share God's love, and the boldness they exhibited in prayer was such an encouragement. Through their songs and prayers and joy and love for the children and people in Guatemala, I know many lives were blessed including their own and God was glorified. Thank you to all of you who supported us prayerfully and financially.
Late Saturday night, we flew into Atlanta, Ga from Guatemala for a short debrief and a couple of days later I found myself on a Greyhound bus to Chattanooga, TN to visit my friend and college roommate, Julianna. The Greyhound was quite an experience, but I'm thankful to have some time to catch up with Juli and relax before I head back to Houston. She is a wonderful hostess. Pray for me as I might have to brave another Greyhound to get to Houston if airline tickets continue to stay so expensive.
An update from Guatemala written by Brennan and Peter.
This is what we did for the Fourth of July:
As a team we woke up very early and packed our things because we were moving hotels. We moved from Casa Lola to Hotel Paraiso before going to breakfast at a local restaurant. Even though it's not paradise (the showers shock you, fireworks are constantly exploding nearby, and most nights we are lulled to sleep by the mewing of alley cats), this hotel is a lot better than we all expected we were going to be staying in. It even has a coconut tree where young men may entertain themselves by knocking coconuts off of it, and later spend hours trying to figure out how to crack open the coconut.
Eating is always an adventure, not just because of the usual pleasantries it provides, but also because we never know for certain what we are going to get. After an enjoyable breakfast we all hopped in the back of a truck and headed to Lucas' church. Riding in the back of a truck is one of the most enjoyable experiences I've had in Guatemala so far. While one may think that a car ride can get rather dull, that is not the case here in Guatemala. The rides usually consist of singing, windblown hair, bumpy cobblestone roads, speed bumps every fifteen feet, and ample honking of the horn.
We arrived at Lucas' church and immediately started our program for the kids. We sung many children's songs, preformed a mini-drama about Shadrack, Meshach and Abednego, performed a couple of meaningful and entertaining skits, and the ‘Set Me Free' drime. We also played a few games with the kids. That day we also were privileged to visit many of the children's houses who came to the program. We prayed over their houses and their families. They were very eager to receive prayer and glad to have us there.
Later that afternoon, after eating at a local pandaria, we ministered with teenagers. We attempted to teach them our drime, which didn't work out as well as we hoped due to the language barrier which brought some confusion. In spite of some communication difficulties, I believe that we made an impact on their lives, and know they made one on ours. Sometimes it's just nice to talk with people who are close to our age. We left Lucas' church and picked up some supplies for our fun-filled evening.
We left on a boat ride to a nearby beach, which was actually pretty exciting. The lake was a little rough and our boat didn't have windows. In order to keep water out, we attempted to hold up a large tarp all the way around the boat. We arrived at the beach where I attempted to light a fire and many went swimming. We ate roasted hot dogs along with chips, sodas, and roasted marshmallows for dessert. The food was satisfying and the experience was enjoyable.
We came back to the hotel as the sun was setting, all of us with red, white, or blue glowsticks to celebrate the Fourth of July. Inevitably, I thought of home on that day, wondering how my family would be celebrating their independence. That night we shared about how God was working in our lives. God is doing so many amazing things here! All of us are growing in Him and advancing our relationships. Please pray that we would continue to work well together as a team and that sickness would be broken among us.
This is a blog from Stacey, one of the amazing girls on the Guatemala Team. It paints a beautiful picture of the place we are at and what we have been doing the last few days.
"The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,
because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor, he has
sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the
captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound" Isaiah
61:1
Guatemala is a place of contrasts. The lake and mountains surrounding
us are gloriously beautiful, but the concrete houses and trash-lined
streets that make up everyday life here in San Pedro present a very
different view. Even though many of the people here live in what
Americans would consider extreme poverty they still have smiles on
their faces and words of welcome on their lips. The mornings and
afternoons present opposites as well. We wake up to warm sunlight, but
by the afternoon the sun has usually been replaced by rolling clouds
and steady rain.
We've been in Guatemala for a week now, and God
has been working in us and through us everyday. He's been teaching us
all patience, especially during meal times because the Latin American
pace of life is not as hurried as we are used to. During the mornings
we usually lead kids programs at local churches and we have time for
ministry preparation in the afternoons. We have had lots of
opportunities to spend time with the kids who live near the churches,
lead them in both Spanish and English songs, perform dramas for them,
and also read through Spanish tracts with them which explain how people
receive the gift of eternal life.
The children we're interacting with either speak
the native Mayan language or Spanish so there is a language barrier
present. However, there are team members who know enough Spanish to
help the rest of us communicate with the kids. Even if we don't always
know the right words to say or we end up pronouncing something terribly
wrong we have all been able to communicate God's love to the kids
through hugs, smiles, and laughter.
Please pray for our team and also for the people
we're meeting and interacting with here in Guatemala. Many members of
the team have been fighting off illness and especially upset stomachs,
but everyone who is sick is looking forward to being healthy so they
can have more energy to do ministry. God is truly blessing each one of
us on this trip and is teaching us so much as we work together as a
team and experience a new culture as well as challenges and trials.
Thank you to everyone who supported us financially and through prayer
on this trip!
Posted in Culture by Lindsey McDonald on 6/29/2009
We have
been in San Pedro for only a few days, but for as much as we have done it feels
longer. Some might use the phrase "hit the ground running" to describe our last
few days in Guatemala.
Everyone for the most part has been adjusting well. A couple of people have
been fighting sickness and most of us are worn out from adjusting to a new
environment.
Since
training camp, I have been constantly amazed by this team. They have shown
themselves to be very intuitive, creative, intelligent, driven, and fun. Most
of the time they are laughing and joking and playing with each other; they are
very energetic. They are also very gracious with each other and their leaders.
I don't think I could have asked for a better team of students or co-leaders to
go to Guatemala
with.
We arrived
in Guatemala
on Wednesday and stayed the night in Panajachel. Then Thursday we took a boat
over to San Pedro, the town we will be staying the next couple of weeks. We found our amazing hotel complete with
hammocks, purified drinking water, and sometimes even hot water for your shower
which is nice because it is actually pretty cool here. Most days the warmest it gets is about 80
degrees Fahrenheit, but it usually rains around 2 p.m. and cools down to the low
70's. It's nice not to be sweating, but I think we all wish we had brought more
long pants and sweatshirts though.
Since
arriving in San Pedro, we have been meeting up with various contacts and the
team has been creating and improving on a children's program, which right now
includes; skits, songs, a bible story, a memory verse, crafts, games, and even
a drime (my World Race friends should be proud). For those unfamiliar with a
drime, it is an unspoken drama done to music. The team continues to add
different elements to the program each time, and is doing very well. They have
been working really hard the last few days and they have been allowed to take
their programs into two different churches.
Tonight
they are performing songs and the drime for a church service. We have some amazing musical talent on this
team; pianist, violinist, vocalist. I don't know if I have ever been on such a
talented team. Hopefully they will be provided with a variety ways to use their
gifts and will take advantage of the opportunities as they arise throughout our
time in Guatemala.
Tomorrow (Monday)
is San Pedro Day, a huge festival/holiday in the town of San Pedro. I am not exactly sure the purpose
except an excuse to shoot off as many fireworks as possible. Since Thursday,
the town has been shooting off fireworks. Someone commented the other day it
seems like they go off every hour during the day, even in the daylight when you
can't see them. Thankfully I don't jump anymore when I hear them, in fact most
of the time I don't even notice them anymore. We will see if this continues to
stay true tonight when they apparently will start shooting them off at 4 a.m.
and basically continue throughout the day tomorrow.
The team
has discussed going out onto the streets tomorrow during the festival and doing
ministry; performing the drime and telling people about Jesus. I seem to be on a team of evangelist, which
is a different experience for me and one I am enjoying and challenged by. I do not have much experience with drime
ministry or ministering with tracts, but the last few days I have seen Christ
glorified in both.
Pray for us
as we go out into the streets Monday. Pray for open hearts. Pray for us as we
struggle with the language barrier. Many of us struggle to understand and
communicate Spanish let alone Tzutanil (sp?), the native language of this area.
Pray that we would be teachable. Pray that we would be accepting and loving,
compassionate, patient, gentle, kind toward all we come in contact with whether
they are children in the villages, local street vendors, beggars, tourists.
Also, pray that the above is true in the way we address each other. Pray that
as a team we continue to have fun together and enjoy being around each other.
Pray for boldness and confidence. Pray for health. Pray for energy as our days
are long and most of us are tired. Pray that as we walk the streets we are seen
as different than the other tourist. Pray that we reflect Christ well and bring
glory to his name. Lastly, pray that our Father's will and his kingdom
continues to be our focus. Not our will, but his will be done.
Sorry for the lack of pictures... hope to post some soon
Posted in Culture by Lindsey McDonald on 6/22/2009
Among other things team building is a goal of Training Camp. The last couple of days Team Guatemala has successfully completed many team excercises. Through these excercises we are learning to encourage and listen to each other, in order to prepare us to minister together in Guatemala. We are discovering our strengths and weaknesses and finding out what each of us brings to the team. It has been fun to watch the bond that is developing between the team.
Here is an inside look at a couple of the excercises we did yesterday.
The Toothpick
Object: to figure out the correct random number order of the tires and place them on the wooden pole (toothpick)
We ran out of time before we could complete the project, but we stayed positive and encouraging and still managed to have fun.
The Wilderness Experience
After a difficult morning excercise, we ended the day successfully by being one of the few teams to complete the Wilderness Experience. This involved our team being divided into 3 groups and separated. We had to find each other and our assigned guide to complete the exercise. Once we found each other our guide handed us different clues which led us to the Promised Land. These included picking out three Laws, building a Tabernacle, sending out two spies and choosing the right spy to listen to and follow into the Promised Land. As we struggled to reach final decisions, we decided as a team to pray and trust God in all of our decisions.
Team Guatemala praying under our Tabernacle
This exercise showed our team our many gifts and a couple of things we could improve on as a team, and as we found ourselves in the Promised Land we were greeted with cold Flavored Ice, almost as precious as milk and honey in this hot Georgia heat.
We live Wednesday morning for Guatemala. Please continue to keep us in your prayers.
Posted in Culture by Lindsey McDonald on 6/17/2009
After an amazing week in Jacksonville with the First Pres-Kingwood high school students, I am now in Gainesville, Ga. preparing for Guatemala. I think the highlight of Jacksonville for me was volunteering at a L'Arche community and meeting an Indian man named Walson, who had previously worked with Mother Teresa and the Missionaries of Charity. It was really encouraging listening to his stories and his passion for God.
As Guatemala grows closer, I am becoming more and more excited. I am fully financially supported and am so thankful to each of you that gave. I know God has blessed me with a wonderful community of people who encourage and pray and offer grace and truth to me. So thank you.
Right now in Gainesville, we are preparing for the arrival of our teams this Friday. Please keep our team in your prayers. There are thirteen of us: Gary, Maggie, Amber, Arianna, Brennan, Hannah, Peter, Julianna, Hannah, Heather, Kacie, Stacey, and myself. Pray that we will be a community of grace and love and joy. Already just having spent the last couple of days with Gary and Maggie, the other leaders, I know that our team will be fun and filled with a lot of laughter. I am so excited to be serving with them.
The last couple of weeks I have been meditating on Hosea 6:1-2 and Psalm 40. God has revealed Himself as Healer and Protector and Enough and it is Good.
Thank you so much to those of you who have already partnered
financially and prayerfully with me as I return to Guatemala. I am half
way to my support raising goal, Yay! If you are still interested in
financially partnering with me please click here. I need to be fully raised by June 19. Only $725 left to go :) and any amount helps. Thank you.
It has been a crazy month and a half as I have been preparing for
this trip. I still have no lead for a teaching job in the Fall, but as of
tomorrow I will be leaving Houston until the end of July. My emotions
have been crazy. One minute I allow the negativity to embrace me and
the anxiety to kill my joy as I become Debbie Downer viewing the glass
half-empty. The next minute I will be viewing the glass half-full,
confident that God will Provide. Confident that even when my plans fail
or don't exist for that matter, he is still God and he is still working and inviting me to join in anytime I'm willing.
I have also been dealing with emotions that come with a return to
familiar, significant places. Tomorrow (Saturday) I leave to take the
students of First Pres-Kingwood down to Jacksonville, Florida. It was
here, I made my very first U.S. landing after The World Race. Even
though, I am pretty sure I will not be retracing any steps I placed
there, it is still a little weird for me to return there a little less
than 11-months later. It was a great time with friends as we prepared
to return to our families after the Race, but even so there is pain and grief mixed in
with the joy as I remember what was. A couple of days after returning from Jacksonville, I will be
flying into the Atlanta airport, again remembering my World Race family. Our first meeting at the airport and our World Race departure will be fresh on my mind. A few hours after my arrival to the airport I will find myself at AIM's Training Camp in Gainesville, Georgia,
where I first met my World Race squad two years ago in April 2007 and again in
September 2007. In Gainesville, I will meet up with the rest of the
Guatemala team for some training before we are sent out. One of the last places I traveled
to on the World Race was Guatemala. Being one of the most recent, it is
one place where the memories are some of the most vivid, the bright
colors and beautiful people, along with some very interesting people,
met along the way. I bet I could even still guide you down the streets
of Antigua and introduce you to the eccentric Chocolate man.
Most of this trip, though, will be spent in San Juan de Laguna around Lake
Atitlan. I have heard that we will spend a couple of days in Antigua which I am thrilled about and hoping for an opportunity to visit some of the people I met there last year.
This has also been a season of endings or ask me on another day and
I might tell you beginnings. The Jacksonville trip marks my final week
with First-Pres. Kingwood on staff. Before I took the job, I told
myself it was not permanent, a year at the most. Over these past
couple of months, I have felt the need to let go of a few things. Some of
these things, I had no choice, as they chose to let go of me. In the
case of First-Pres, I have felt myself clinging to the safety and
comfort it gave me. At the same time, I felt myself becoming
complacent and numb to previous passions, as I became too comfortable.
I believe I held fast to that place out of fear. I am not sure exactly? I have also recently been challenged by the fact that maybe I don't know
God's voice as well as I thought I did, or worse maybe it is an issue of
selective hearing. Only hearing what I want to hear out of fear of where I might end up. I know you'd think I'd have learned to trust God by now. Even so,
I find myself just as confused and unknowing as when I first returned
from The World Race, if not more so.
Today as I was pouring my
frustration, pain, and confusion out to the Lord, I was reminded of an idea
that I had on The World Race, but out of fear have yet to step forward
in it. Maybe this is the next step. I pray this next month and a half
will be one of clarity and a reigniting of forgotten passion. I ask you to pray for me and with me in this matter. Please, also pray for our team
as we travel to and around Guatemala. Pray for love and joy and
kindness as we seek to know each other, as well as those around us.
Pray that we may be an encouraging presence to the community and offer
hope as we seek his kingdom and the manifestation of its presence in us
and around us.
Thank you all so much for your prayers, and please feel free to contact me with any prayer request.
Peace,
Lindsey
May God bless us with enough foolishness to believe that we really can
make a difference in this world, so that we are able, with God's grace,
to do what others claim cannot be done. - Four-fold Franciscan
Blessing
Posted in Culture by Lindsey McDonald on 5/17/2009
I am so thankful for good writing. The kind of writing that makes you want to read aloud, because you want to hear the words not just see them. You want to experience them, taste them. They are so beautiful and meaningful and alive. Words that awaken your soul and make you feel as though God has created those words solely for you; for your ears to hear, for your mouth to speak, for your eyes to see. Writing that offers hope and peace, that leaves you praying the book will continue because you don't want it to end. Writing where you find yourself inspired to pick up a pen hoping that your writing could one day impact someone on that same level.
Shauna Niequist, author of Cold Tangerines: Celebrating the extraordinary nature of everyday life and hopefully soon a number of other books, inspires me in such a way that I find myself eager to pick up a pen and tell my stories. If only I could tell them as beautifully as she does. She is honest and raw and wise and funny and has often times left me thinking, "Me, too." As she described my heart, my thoughts, and even at some points my life with her words. Tonight, it was such a blessing and surprise for me to show up at Ecclesia and find that she was speaking, and as always God used her words to offer me hope and healing and joy and ignite my love for Him. I encourage you to read Cold Tangerines, as you will be doing yourself a favor. Below is an excerpt, and trust me it only gets better.
I have always, essentially, been waiting. Waiting to become something else, waiting to be that person I always thought I was on the verge of becoming, waiting for that life I thought I would have. In my head, I was always one step away. In high school, I was biding my time until I could become the college version of myself, the one my mind could see so clearly. In college, the post-college "adult" person was always looming in front of me, smarter, stronger, more organized. Then the married person, then the person I'd become when we have kids. For twenty years, literally, I have waited to become the thin version of myself, because that's when life will really begin.
And through all that waiting, here I am. My life is passing, day by day, and I am waiting for it to start. I am waiting for that time, that person, that event when my life will finally begin.
...
But this is what I'm finding, in glimpses and flashes: this is it. This is it, in the best possible way. That thing I'm waiting for, that adventure, that movie-score-worthy experience unfolding gracefully. This is it. Normal, daily life ticking by on our streets and sidewalks, in our houses and apartments, in our beds and at our dinner tables, in our dreams and prayers and fights and secrets - this pedestrian life is the most precious thing any of us will ever experience.
I believe that this way of living, this focus on the present, the daily, the tangible, this intense concentration not on the news headlines but on the flowers growing in your own garden, the children growing in your own home, this way of living has the potential to open up the heavens, to yield a glittering handful of diamonds where a second ago there was coal. This way of living and noticing and building and crafting can crack through the movie sets and soundtracks that keep us waiting for our own life stories to begin, and set us free to observe the lives we have been creating all along without even realizing it.
I don't want to wait anymore. I choose to believe that there is nothing more sacred and profound than this day. I choose to believe that there may be a thousand big moments embedded in this day, waiting to be discovered like tiny shards of gold. The big moments are the daily, tiny moments of courage and forgiveness and hope that we grab on to and extend to one another. That's the drama of life, swirling all around us, and generally I don't even see it, because I'm too busy waiting to become whatever it is I think I am about to become. The big moments are in every hour, every conversation, every meal, every meeting.
...
Today is your big moment. Moments, really. The life you've been waiting for is happening all around you. The scene unfolding right outside your window is worth more than the most beautiful painting, and the crackers and peanut butter that you're having for lunch on the coffee table are as profound, in their own way, as the Last Supper. This is it. This is life in all its glory, swirling and unfolding around us, disguised as pedantic, pedestrian non-events. But pull off the mask and you will find your life, waiting to be made, chosen, woven, crafted.
Your life, right now, today, is exploding with energy and power and detail and dimension, better than the best movie you have ever seen. You and your family and your friends and your house and your dinner table and your garage have all the making of a life of epic proportions, a story for the ages. Because they all are. Every life is.
You have stories worth telling, memories worth remembering, dreams worth working toward, a body worth feeding, a soul worth tending, and beyond that, the God of the universe dwells within you, the true culmination of super and natural.
You are more than dust and bones.
You are spirit and power and image of God.
And you have been given Today.
I've recently been introduced to this amazing website The Work of the People: Visual Media for Worship and Mission. Here is a video I found there of Peter Rollins, author of How Not To Speak of God, discussing how GOD is beyond our definitions and imaginations.
I have now been back in the USA for nine
months since completing The World Race. While I can't say it has been an easy
adjustment, God has been faithful. Since September, I have returned to
work with First Presbyterian - Kingwood as a student minister to middle
and high school students. Alongside this, as of February, I have
started on a career path to becoming a middle school teacher starting
in the Fall of 2009. My desire is to work with at-risk students in
the lower income schools, and empower students and challenge them to
use their education to not only improve their lives but the lives of
those in their city, state, country, and world. While I do not have a
job lined up yet for the Fall, I hope to have one within the next
month. If I do not, the job search will have to continue long-distance.
As of a couple of weeks ago, I have decided to sign on with Adventures
in Missions, yet again, for another adventure. This time it is for one
month and I will be leading one of their Ambassador Mission Trips.
These trips are designed to give high school students the ability to
share God's love with those outside of their normal community, and
hopefully gain a greater understanding of God's love for them and all
people as they seek God's will in their life. As a leader, my
responsibility will be to disciple, encourage, serve, and simply or
not-so-simply 'be there' for the students as we seek God's voice and
join in alongside with what He is doing in the community. We will be
located in the city of San Juan de Laguna, Guatemala from June 19 -
July 19, 2009. I am very excited to be returning to Guatemala, as I
have so many fond memories of the country and its culture from The
World Race. It will be great to be there as those on the team explore
the country and discover the beauty of the culture themselves.
As with all AIM trips, the cost of the trip must be raised. I am
needing to raise $1,500 for the month, and as of right now I have
nothing. I have calculated that if 6 people would give $25, 10 people
would give $50, and 5 people would give $150, I will reach my goal!
Please, prayerfully consider being a part of this ministry either by becoming a prayer partner or by making a
one-time, tax-deductible donation. You can click here, Support Me!, and donate on-line right now or you may mail a check to Adventures In Missions. If writing a check, please make check payable to Adventures in Missions and write on the memo line, Appealed by: Lindsey McDonald
Mail checks to:
Adventures in Missions
P.O. Box 534470 Atlanta, Ga 30353-4470
Thank
you for your time and prayers. Please be praying for our team as we prepare to
leave this next month. Also, please be praying for the people we will
meet while in Guatemala and pray for God's will to be done and His
kingdom to come.
w (Saturday) I leave to take the
students of First Pres-Kingwood down to Jacksonville, Florida. It was
here, I made my very first U.S. landing after The World Race. Even
though, I am pretty sure I will not be retracing any steps I placed
there, it is still a little weird for me to return there a little less
than 11-months later. It was a great time with friends as we prepared
to return to our families after the Race, but even so there is pain and grief mixed in
with the joy as I remember what was. A couple of days after returning from Jacksonville, I will be
flying into the Atlanta airport, again remembering my World Race family. Our first meeting at the airport and our World Race departure will be fresh on my mind. A few hours after my arrival to the airport I will find myself at AIM's Training Camp in Gainesville, Georgia,
where I first met my World Race squad two years ago in April 2007 and again in
September 2007. In Gainesville, I will meet up with the rest of the
Guatemala team for some training before we are sent out. One of the last places I traveled
to on the World Race was Guatemala. Being one of the most recent, it is
one place where the memories are some of the most vivid, the bright
colors and beautiful people, along with some very interesting people,
met along the way. I bet I could even still guide you down the streets
of Antigua and introduce you to the 
that awaken your soul and make you feel as though God has created those words solely for you; for your ears to hear, for your mouth to speak, for your eyes to see. Writing that offers hope and peace, that leaves you praying the book will continue because you don't want it to end. Writing where you find yourself inspired to pick up a pen hoping that your writing could one day impact someone on that same level. 
for another adventure. This time it is for one
month and I will be leading one of their Ambassador Mission Trips.
These trips are designed to give high school students the ability to
share God's love with those outside of their normal community, and
hopefully gain a greater understanding of God's love for them and all
people as they seek God's will in their life. As a leader, my
responsibility will be to disciple, encourage, serve, and simply or
not-so-simply 'be there' for the students as we seek God's voice and
join in alongside with what He is doing in the community. We will be
located in the city of San Juan de Laguna, Guatemala from June 19 -
July 19, 2009. I am very excited to be returning to Guatemala, as I
have so many fond memories of the country and its culture from The
World Race. It will be great to be there as those on the team explore
the country and discover the beauty of the culture themselves.