Daily Devotion: 4 Days til Guatemala

I have been reading Terry's devotions quite faithfully this past month.  And when I typed "4 days til Guatemala, I felt butterflies in my stomach."  I said to a friend today, that maybe I'm making too big of a deal about preparing for this trip and the anxiety I feel.  I just finished reading the book titled "Re-entry" about how to emotionally "return" to life after mission work.  And then, I started reading "A Hole in the Gospel" written by Richard Stearns, who is the former CEO of Lenox China, a luxury goods company and now the CEO of World Vision, focused on eradicating hunger, aids, and orphans worldwide.  Four years ago I experienced an event in the life of my family that has changed me forever.  It's made me into a new person that I'm still trying to understand!  And I know, based on this post from Terry that this experience is already at work changing me in similar ways.  It IS a big deal....and if you read "A Hole in the Gospel", you will see why!!!

Thank you, Terry, for sharing your wisdom, experience, and vulnerability.  This devotion brought tears to my eyes and made me realize what a "big deal" this trip really is...because of its significance to the people we will serve.

With Gratitude,
Sondra

Terry's Devotion for today:

May 30 - What's in a Name?

Isaiah 9:6 "For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."

Until now, most of your daily devotionals haven't been too personal about our ministry and what we have experienced over the last few years, but I want to dig a little deeper into our ministry and your hearts as we walk through the final days of preparation. As your team leader, you should know a little of my heart before you join me in Guatemala and you should know that sometimes, even leaders on the mission field have too little faith and don't know what to do. We are not any more spiritual than most that will travel and we certainly aren't super Christians. We are human, too. Sometimes we have doubts that we wish we didn't have and we make plenty of mistakes along the way. Here is just one example of my lack of faith and how big our God is.

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I love names. During our time in Guatemala, you will see that it is very important for me to learn names of those we serve quickly and use their names frequently when speaking to them. For so many, "the poor" and "the orphan" is just part of a statistic, but to me, each one is a child of God that is deserving of all that we have to give. To me, each is deserving of all that I am. I try to steer clear of statistics and bring real lives to light. The same goes for Jesus. I love His name(s) and I certainly call on Him often. This is just one of the times in our ministry that the Lord came through in an unbelievable way:

During a mission trip to Guatemala several years ago, my small team had prepared for months for a Christmas outreach in the village. After spending a few days working on several things with families, we hosted a Christmas party for the children. All of the children in the village were invited. While we still did not know the exact number of children in the village, we knew that no more than 80 had ever attended any thing the children's ministry had ever hosted. We prepared for 100 children, just in case. It was believed that there were hundreds in the village (now we know there are about 400), but most never participated in anything. We prepared all day for the Christmas party. The tiny tin church was decorated with green and red balloons and streamers and table cloths were draped over tables that could not be cleaned well. Feliz Navidad signs hung every where. The pinata was high overhead. Craft supplies were sorted and waiting for tiny hands to begin their work. The food was prepared. The time had finally come to open the gate and let the children in. When we opened the gate, a flood of children poured through and overfilled the area. Instantly I was overwhelmed knowing that we had not prepared for enough. A quick count revealed that more than 240 children were crowded into every part of the church and the small area outside. 140 children more than we had prepared for. And many of them also brought their parents.

Craft time was canceled. There simply was no room to move or enough supplies to go around. Cut the sandwiches and split the chips in half. It wouldn't be enough, but what else were we to do? There is no where else to buy more food there and not enough time to go all the way back to Antigua for more. As the team worked to divide the food, I walked outside the gate and half way down the road and knelt in the dirt. Could I trust that my prayer was heard by the One whose name I love? Could I trust that He would handle what I could not? That these children would not go home hungry? That their parents would not be disappointed in our ministry because we failed to do what we said we were going to do....feed their children and have a fun afternoon? Would this be the beginning of the end of our work their? If we lost their trust now, before fully gaining it, our ministry could harm the effectiveness of our local church partners.

The Bible is full of names for God. Elohim means that He is total power and might. El El-yon means Most High God. Adonai means Sovereign Lord. El Roi - the God who sees. El Shaddai - He is all sufficient. Surely He was seeing this. But would He meet the need? I knew that if He wanted, He could, but would He, according to my desire, sufficiently meet this need? There was nothing that I could do. Nothing. I got up, brushed the dirt off of my knees and walked back through the gate just in time to hear the pastor beginning the Christmas story.

So many children and adults were there that had never heard. And many others had heard, but did not yet believe. They did know of the hope that Jesus brings. At the end of the story and a good explanation of what it means to accept Christ, I watched as more than 100 children gave their hearts to Jesus and I cried as I prayed for them knowing that it did not matter what else did or did not happen that day. That moment, when more than 100 eternities were changed, was all that mattered.

Still, God saw the need and in a way that I will never be able to explain because it does not make sense, every child ate that evening and we had enough left over to feed the adults that had come with them. Somehow, 100 split in half (that's 200 halves) fed more than 240 children AND many of their parents. No, we did not miscount and not one person turned down food. We just kept handing it out and did not run out. Fish and loaves on a much smaller scale...it still happens. I wouldn't believe it myself if I had not seen it with my own eyes. God is so, so good. Lives of people in Guatemala were changed that day, but so were the lives of every one on our team. Not one of us returned to the U.S. the same as when we left and each one still talks about the amazing way God revealed Himself in a small, unknown village in Guatemala.

For almost a month you have read about what is important on the mission field and what is not. You have read about the importance of team unity and embracing the culture and fighting spiritual warfare and trusting that God is with us, but there have not been many examples of His awesome power revealed. I do not know what your trip holds, but I do know that El Shaddai, our God that is all sufficient, is moving in Guatemala. He is making His presence known in amazing ways. You get to be a part of that in just a few days. Trust Him for things that are bigger than us because when there is nothing we can do, He comes through in miraculous ways.

God, thank you for all that you are and for all that we will experience during our time in Guatemala. We long to see an outpouring of yourself in ways that we have never experienced before. May you use us to reach the lost and hurting, to shine light into darkness, to bring hope to those that have no hope. Help us to trust you in every situation and to surrender every moment into your hands.

Terry Carr Bracey
Co-Founder and Executive Director
Across All Borders