We are here in Guatemala! I can’t believe it! It’s SO exciting!!
After spending the night in the airport (about 2 hours of sleep) and having 3 ish hours of smooth travel, we landed and were picked up by Philip! Philip is a missionary who works at the Adventure In Missions (AIM) base in Guatemala. We made a pit stop at Wendy’s, actually pretty delicious, and then had about a 4 hour drive to the base.
This weekend is Guatemala’s 204 years of independence from Mexico and so it’s a big thing! I’ll share more about that in a bit 🙂
Guatemala base (Paramos)
The Guatemala Adventures In Missions (AIM) base is so beautiful! Their heart for the community is also so beautiful! The mission at Guatemala AIM is to Serve, Disciple, Send.
Serve: feeding and building houses for those in the community.
Disciple: Bible studies with families and pouring into missionary teams that come in.
Send: Networking, mobilizing (18 Guatemalans sent to Middle East- Turkey, Jourdan)
The land of eternal spring has a spring of life flowing from it. Movement is happening in Guatemala! The AIM base is partnering with and walking in the fullness of a Guatemalans calling!
Prayer: Churches to be sending from Guatemala to the nations!
My team
Our team of 15 has split off into 3 groups of 5.
One group of 5 (Faithful Footsteps) is partnering with a ministry called Hope. They will be digging deep into prayer and intercession and working with a kids ministry.
Another group (The Good Sheep) is headed to prayer mountain. This is a private mountain bought to serve as a get away and place of prayer for the people of Guatemala. They will be building homes and sleeping in tents!
My team (Yada Yada, meaning ‘fully known’) is Shania, Sarah, Grace, and Alicia and we are serving alongside a ministry called Reindom. After walking 2 blocks with our packs we were welcomed so sweetly! They are all so kind!
REINDOM
-Their goal is to Connect Hearts, Create spaces, Manifest Reindom (kingdom) on earth.
-3 pillars are Intimacy, Kingdom, and Maranatha. Maranatha is a cry for the Lord to come. A reminder of Christs promised return.
We will help run feeding programs. One of these programs is the kings table. It invites the poor, widows, orphans and alcoholics to a table to dine together and experience God’s love for them. There will also be a time to lead Bible, English and leadership classes for 8-14 year olds.
Our first day of ministry went so well and it was so fun. We got introduced to all the kiddos and went on a really pretty hike with them in San Lucas.
After our hike we participated in the Guatemalan independence torch marathon. We lit a torch in San Lucas and ran from there to Sumpango. It was about 5 miles. I’ve never done anything like that. There was so much joy in running with +30 kids on the streets of Guatemala. It was a wild time though. There were horns tooting and people honking. As we were running, people on the side of the street threw bags of water on us. It’s to cool the runner down but honestly didn’t feel quite like a cool down as we were being pelted and running haha. After we completed our run we celebrated by singing “Praise the Lord” with all the kids!
If you want to follow Reindom on social media or support them here’s a link!
https://www.instagram.com/reindom.social?igsh=MTF4ZGYyMGNyZnVleA==
Prayer
-For unity within our teams. That we would connect and serve well together.
-For discernment and wisdom as we come alongside so many different people! That we would love well.
-Protection against spiritual warfare. To have our minds set on Christ. Philippians 4:8
-For safety and health. That we would all feel ok as we adapt to the environment and the food.
-For those on our team who are still raising support. 3 on my team are still raising support. If you feel led to give thank you!
Shania Amber Salas-
Some more pictures
“For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.”
2 Corinthians 5:14-15
Thank you for reading!
Blessing in Christ,
Sydney <3
Great post! I am so happy to hear all about the ministries you’re working with and the kids and the time in this country! Thank you for having a heart to serve, you are such a blessing! Be encouraged, run the race! I love you so much! Mama