Grace Mission Team in Guatemala 2014 - Sunday Oct. 19

Man, that's a really boring title... Especially when you consider how great this first full day in Guatemala has been!!

This evening's post comes from Luke Esselman.  Hi everyone.

We started out this Sunday morning, not too early, with a wonderful breakfast made for us by our hosts, Ginny & Kevin.  At that time, Kevin shared with us what all this day would entail.  We would soon leave for church at Manuel's church (Manuel is one of the Guatemalan missionaries).  I knew this worship service would be unlike anything I'd been apart of in the past, but I didn't anticipate how emotional it would be for me personally.  The Guatemalan people were just so "present" in worship... you could just see and feel they're desire to worship & serve the LORD.  It started out with several songs (in America we would consider them fairly contemporary) and their worship band was just as good as most any band I've seen in a church setting in America.  At first it was just enjoyable to listen to the Spanish, clap, and just be there as a part of the service... but a few songs in, I started recognizing the songs & was able to sing along in English.  Of course, it especially helped when the worship leader sang some of a particular song in English.  The LORD'S presence was just so evident & palpable, it was amazing!  There was a message or sermon (not sure how they title it), and most of our group would have been completely lost if it weren't for Sarah & Rebecca Draper.  Oh my goodness!! They were so awesome; listening for a while then translating a section of the sermon for us... I was so incredibly impressed with them.

After worship, we returned to the mission house & had lunch, then the rest of the day has been spent working at the mission house.  We brought A LOT A LOT of stuff (yes, I intentionally said A LOT twice... well, three times now)!  But our group worked so diligently & hard: sorting toothbrushes & soap, boxing up craft supplies, stapling coloring sheets, rubber-banding crayons, and so on.  They may seem like tedious tasks, and quite a bit to take the whole afternoon, but it was great to serve & to grow as a group in this way.

At dinner (which again was fantastic, Ginny is quite the cook), Ginny & Kevin asked us all to share why we were here, why we had come on this Guatemala mission trip.  I'm not going to go through & tell you all the stories... first of all, PERSONAL!!  Secondly, it would take a long time.  However, let me just say... tears were shed!  So many tears!!  But don't worry, it was a wonderful experience.  I feel way closer to this whole group after this dinner & very much more emotionally connected to this trip after this whole day.

I am so thankful to our great, gracious God for granting us the opportunity to be here in Guatemala this week.  I've had so many friends come down to Groundwork Guatemala in the past, and this is looking to be everything they said & so much more.  Very anxious for what is going to come next!!

Hope this wasn't too long....  Blessings all!!  You'll probably hear from someone else tomorrow.
-Luke