A lot has happened since my last blog. I’m actually in another country now lol
The last few weeks in Jaco consisted of doing Business as Missions (BAM) and some super sweet, intentional team times. For BAM, we had a team of four of us creating short video tutorials over social media marketing, photography, and videography. Each video provided practical business advice, yet also gently included the Gospel.
During the last couple weeks, we divided up in pairs to plan out team times. One night we did a photo scavenger hunt around the town, another night we had pizza and went around the circle telling each other where/how we saw Christ in them, and another night was spent praying over each other on the beach in the rain. I’m so thankful for my team, Surrendered Seven, and love them all so so much!
Fast forward to debrief. Everyone in Jaco and Los Chiles met up in San Jose, the capital of Costa Rica, at a hostel for a week. Our coaches flew out to meet us as well. This was a week of rest, fun, reflection, growth, and lots of good food. It was cool to have the whole squad together before flying out to Guatemala and separating by teams. I spent lots of time with God, played games with the squad, got thrown in the pool, went to a board game café, and explored some fun restaurants around the city.
After debriefing, our coaches and two SQLs flew home and the rest of us flew to Guatemala City. When we arrived in Guatemala, we all hopped on a couple buses and went to a hostel in Antigua. We had dinner as a squad, then watched volcanoes and shooting stars from the roof. The net morning, majority of us woke up at 5:30am to watch the sunrise. After breakfast, myself and a few others went into the city to withdraw money, buy SIM cards for leaders, and grab a quick lunch. Immediately upon returning to the hostel, I grabbed my bags and loaded up with my team and one other team to head to our ministry host in Chichicastenango. It was so sad to watch each team head their separate ways, but I can’t wait till we are reunited in two months and get to share all the amazing things God has done in each of our lives.
Chichicastenango. We drove through the mountains and eventually turned onto a dirt road. We all glanced around at each other and moments later arrived at our home for the next two months. To give you a feel for our living conditions… we have limited water, take bucket showers, sleep on mats on the floor, and there’s dirt everywhere. Which is exactly what we all expected when we signed up for the World Race. Of course, this isn’t your typical Americanized living situation, but we all have everything we need. We have a roof over our head (more than the last team here had), spectacular food on the table at every meal, and clean water to drink (most of the time). What more could you ask for? So far, ministry has been constant prayer over our host family as they navigate family hardships, shoveling dirt into bags, and building doors. God has been moving a lot through our hosts and their ministry over the past year and its incredible to get to partner with them in that.
It seems like I’ll have plenty of down time to write more blogs, but WiFi is very limited, so who knows when they’ll actually get posted.
Thank you for following along on this journey with me! I still can’t believe this is real life haha
Oh my goodness!!! I am amazed at the physical and spiritual journey you on! Your strength is astounding as you deal with each change that is all around you. Your team members sound so loving and full of grace. Blessings as you experience Chichicastenango, Guatemala. Love you so much and praying for you every day!
How amazing!!! Thank you for sharing Jamey. I love you Beautiful Daughter!