So while I was over in Guatemala, one of the books I happened to find on the shelf of our Mission’s Library was by “Living Among Lions” by David and Jason Benham. It portrayed the Christian walk as one where we’re constantly being persecuted, so in the midst of it why not act like Daniel in the lions den, in his time during Babylon. It was highly convicting, and there’s this counter cultural way of life that we walk through. We may not see it as much in the United States, more of a pressure, but there’s this every growing threat where I do believe we will be heavily persecuted in the years to come. In Guatemala, there’s a pressure for people to believe in the culture! Mayan mixed with Catholicism mixed with some ancestral idols perhaps. When people walk out of this life they do so by rejecting what they’ve been taught and what their family believes in. I got the chance to meet some people who had walked with the Lord when they were younger and then were living in a life filled with the world, it was good to share with them that Jesus would come after them like the 1 sheep out of the 99. There’s a counter cultural movement of Jesus going on in these places and it’s transforming the lives of those who believe in it.
I’ve often felt that the work that I’ve done is just the seed that’s being planted, it’s never been growing the plant out of the ground or consistently watering it (sometimes I’ve never gotten the chance to water after putting the seed down). I often never get to see the fabled turn of the believer into something so promising, the faith given chance, that step to the altar, that baptism from words spoken. I feel like God gets to see those things and that’s been enough for me.
One of the things we had to do in the midst of our time in Guatemala was prep a team that wasn’t fully functioning and surviving in the mission field. With most of our team sick, we had to rely on our hosts and pretty much worship in the Lion’s Den. There were moments where not having a team seemed discouraging, but surely enough these songs that they played the kids for worship in Spanish seemed ever so more encouraging and uplifting, as well as catchy ; ).
One of the most encouraging things we went through on the trip was talking to a family whose son had been having schizophrenic episodes for over ten years, and whose daughter had been battling blood cancer. I was able to share my testimony with mental health issues with them and encourage them in the Lord, as well as our ministry host who’d seen someone healed from blood cancer. When we walked into the room with the son, we could feel the darkness lurking over him. But
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