Ah, a day off

This week was very full. I am very glad to have today off to rest, relax, process, blog, pray, and do laundry (okay, just drop my laundry off at a lavanderia). It is a much needed day to rest for my whole team, I think.

Soccer with the shoeshine boys
Thursday night, we rented out a little soccer field so we could play soccer with the boys. And 6 boys showed up. It was really fun (and I am still sore) but also very difficult to remember that these boys live on the street, make their own living, don't have the love and support of a family. There was one boy we met there named Domingo. He is about a foot smaller than me and 9 years old, I think. He is adorable and an amazing soccer player too. I wanted to just pick him up and hug him and take him home with me to take care of him. Even now, I'm on the verge of tears thinking about him. He is so small, so young, and he is on his own on the street. No kid should have to endure that. Something that really struck me is that I know that people in general do not pay attention to these boys, don't care about them, but just playing soccer and eating pizza with them, I saw no difference between them and any of my students whom I loved so much. They were fun, competetive, respectful boys/young men.

Today Amelia and I ran into one of the guys who played soccer with us, and he was so respectful and friendly. That reminds me of something we read in the book Sub-merge. At the end of the second chapter, he writes something like ¨we do know about poverty, it's the poor we do not know.¨ He talks in the book about how important it is to actually get to know the poor. Yes, it is good to send money to causes, but it is meeting and actually getting to know the poor that changes us, that touches our hearts. Yes, I knew about street kids before I came (from reading the book) but now I know and care about boys who are on the streets. My heart has been touched by them and I know it will continue to be. I honestly hope that I don't see Domingo again-- that next week, we'll ask about him and the other boys will say that he went back home, that everything is going well for him now . . . but I doubt that will be the case. If he is still on the streets, I hope we see him again and that somehow God touches him through us and works to protect him from the influences of the streets, from the dangers, the drugs . . . Oh God, would you bring him to a place where he would not lose his smile and his innocence, where he could know joy and love and provision rather than hunger and insecurity. I don't know the boys' stories, but I hope that as we hang out with them, we will get to know their stories-- why they are on the street, where their families are, what life is like for them-- to get to know these beloved of God more and be broken and changed more into His image because of them.

Escuela De La Calle
On Friday morning, we visited a house where kids who are orphans, former street kids, or kids whose families simply cannot provide for them live. There are 20 kids ages 7-17, I think. Four girls that they just received came from another house where they were supposed to have been taken care of. But recently, it was found out that the kids there were being abused so all the 50 kids who were there were split up and sent to different places. So these four girls are not only without families to care for them, but they either experienced or witnessed abuse at the house where they should have been taken care of. Now they are at this house and for now, by order of a judge, they cannot go to school-- don't fully understand the whole story-- was lost in translation a little. But all that to say, they are now stuck in the house all day, every day. So one of the things Melanie, Kelly, Amelia, and I will be doing is going to that house to spend time with and hopefully plan some academic or musical things to do with the girls since they aren't in school. Also, we hope to get to take all 20 of the kids out of the house to do art projects in a room that we are being allowed to use.

Casa de Imigrantes
This is a house where kids who were trying to get to Mexico or the US and were deported are held until their parents come to get them. One of the women who works there was saying that some of the kids ran away to try to get to the US (because they have an unrealistic idea of what the US is like-- that it's like some sort of paradise), some who adults tried to bring across the border, and then some whose families sent them to work in Mexico because they were so desperate for money! There is one group of kids that arrives on Tuesday and one that arrives on Friday, and they try to have each group gone by the time the next group arrives. I hope to be able to spend some time there, but we're waiting to hear back on that. Time there would only be to talk with the kids as they arrive to be a reassuring presence to them as they have to readjust to being in their own country again after some very difficult, some nearly traumatizing experiences they have had.

Our Battle . . .
Recently, God has impressed on me Ephesians 6:12 . . .

¨For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.¨

We have seen so much this week and in some ways want to jump into everything, but I have been reminded that it is not just about working for these things to change, but that it is about praying for God to change things. Especially as we're only here for 6 weeks, I feel very strongly that one of the things we can do that is very important and will leave lasting change is to pray for the city-- do prayer walks, specifically. I know that may sound silly to some, that taking time to pray could be important enough to replace some time we could be spending with people here. But we know that there are forces which we cannot see that are at work, keeping people blind to needs around them, keeping them in bondage to addictions, keeping them unable to love their family, blinding them to God's love for them. Ultimately for change to take place, God needs to move in the hearts of the people here in this city. No amount of short-term volunteers will cause real change in the city.

One desire of Innerchange is to raise up indigenous leaders to lead in love, compassion, service, devotion to God . . . who know their city and who are known in their city. Jesus says to pray for workers, he says that if we ask, we will receive. So we will be asking on behalf of the city for God to raise up people to care for the poor, to speak up for those who don't have a voice, to be witnesses of God's love and power. And I believe that He will answer. I believe that things happen when we pray because we have a God who is listening and who cares for us, who wants His love and kingdom to reign on earth.

Future Weeks
So after this past week of orientation, we are setting a schedule that we will keep for the rest of our time here. Some things we are doing as a whole team and some 2, 3, or 4 of us are doing. For me, the schedule will hopefully include a large chunk of time on Mondays (starting a week from Monday) with the girls at the Escuela de la Calla house, one or two mornings a week with a woman from the womens' prison (talking and reading with her), one night a week at Casa de Imigrantes, one time each week prayer walking, one evening a week at the house where street kids can sleep (praying for the couple who have opened up their home and spending time with the boys), and one night a week playing soccer with the boys as well as time with our team to pray for each other, get to know each other, help each other think about the future, and help each other process what we're seeing and doing here.

Prayers, update on how I'm doing
Thank you for your prayers! Please continue to pray for health for all of my team especially as some of my teammates have had some stomach issues. Also, please pray for good rest for me. I have been tired, partly from being woken up by things early in the morning. I want to have energy to engage with the people I am with and with what God is doing in me and around me. And I need extra energy to be able to engage in Spanish! When I'm tired, I understand and can speak much less Spanish which makes it very difficult to communicate with people here. Thankfully, I have stayed healthy though and have been mostly headache free. Oh, did I every write that I think I figured out that I was getting headaches because of the altitude? because it's 7,000 feet above sea level here-- definitely not used to that. And also possibly because of the sun-- since we're closer to the equator the sun is definitely stronger. So hopefully I'm getting more used to the altitude and sun now (and I started wearing a hat when we walk around which I think has helped too). I am very thankful to have the opportunity to be here but I definitely still miss home very much at times. I look forward to returning after allowing God to do everything he wants to in and through me here in Guatemala.

Much love and many blessings!