|

What I Learned in Antigua

Below you will see what the Lord has shown 22 amazing teenagers in our time in Antigua. 

“We lived in Antigua for 17 days. In those 17 days, I have learned so much. For example, things like the fact that toilet paper can and WILL clog the toilet. And many other hilarious. I have grown in my faith in more ways then I ever thought could be possible. The Lord has opened up my eyes to the beauty of this country, and the joy dwelling in the hearts of the locals. But he has also shown me heartaches and poverty. I am beyond thankful to be living and experiencing both extremes and the in between. I am so excited to see what the Lord will teach me in the last week and a half here in Guatemala” – Anna Priebe 

“Language barriers are so often used as an excuse to not connecting. Trust me, I have been there. But the funny thing is.. words are not the only way to communicate. The other day at ministry, I had a whole conversation with a little boy through coloring pictures. The next day, a stranger became a friend through a hug. I prayed before this trip for my eyes to be open to something new. That he would grow me in certain areas. The Lord has been so faithful in creating a change. I can now say that the word language barriers has been erased from my vocabulary. I now look at people who speak different languages as someone I can color with, someone I can hug, someone that I can share my love that Jesus has showed. All barriers are broken by a God who sacrificed his love for us” – Rachel Kash 

“The adventure that the Lord took us on Antigua was incredible. From ministering to elderly in a home, to loving on HIV positive orphans.. Papa never failed to show up. He taught me my role in the kingdom during my time there.. to love his children, fearlessly and recklessly. He has left me in awe by the way he reveals himself to us through the people we get to serve. I am beyond excited to see his presence show up during our next week in San Pedro. Jesus, you are so welcome here.”  – Paige Duncan 

“Why does God let us suffer? It is a question asked by many people. I have often wondered about it myself. But while I have been on this trip, God showed me a verse about this exact subject. Romans 5: 3-5..” Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.”… So perseverance is a must have. If you have infinite perseverance, you can do it for ever and ever, which is a good thing. And character is awesome, hard to describe but awesome. And then you get hope. Hope is something that when you’re struggling, you can turn to and it will be a brighter future. So in anything you do, know that there is a reason. Even in suffering.” – Joe Underkoffler

” Where am I? When my journey began, I acknowledged how insanely desperate I was for God’s love. I deeply knew that my life was going to be changed for eternity because God began pouring into my soul and transforming my heart. In the past 20 days, God has taught me to listen and then to pour. I have so desperately longed to be a person so powerfully woven together in my faith that I listen in a way that is directly rooted in God. With listening, comes the deep desire to respond in a way filled with God’s overflowing and abundant love. I desire to learn to place God’s plans above my own, to share how beautiful my Savior’s grace is for others. Antigua has graciously grown me so fearlessly in the Holy Spirit. I have a strong passion to experience the goodness of God’s presence. I would have never fathomed how much Guatemala would change my spiritual relationship with God. I am so open to see how God will continue to to pursue me and seek after my spirit.” – Reilly Krawczyk

“Love has no language. It’s a cheesy phrase often found on mission trip t-shirts and inspirational quotes on Pinterest, God has shown me how true this is. I speak minimal Spanish, consisting only of the basic phrases. Our first day of ministry here in Antigua, we went to a nursing home and I was really nervous because I didn’t know what to say to old people, much less people who i can’t speak the same language as. My team and I walked in and after a few minutes, my friend and I saw this old man drawing alone. We sat down and colored in silence for awhile but then started to try and have a conversation. Using my Spanish dictionary and our high school Spanish classes, we sustained a conversation for two hours. We talked about foods and music and families and everything in between. Lino told us about his kids and even showed us a snippet of when he was in the newspaper for his drawings. He laughed at our feeble attempts at Spanish, and we laughed with him. I felt God’s love talking with Lino that day. Not because we had a deep conversation in Spanish.. but because we sat with him and colored and laughed in love” – Meredith Reece 

“I’m learning to enjoy life through the completely unconditional atlas of the Lord. His ways are not my ways and I am starting to see how great that is. Through the love of a little boy and the sound of 39 people singing praises in 2 languages, the Lord has shown me how vast his greatness is” – Mak Creech 

“Guatemala has been the most amazing experience of my life. I have been blessed with an amazing team that has both blessed me and pushed me to grow in my relationship with Christ. My favorite thing about this team is our openness. You could tell us any ministry task and we would do it. My favorite ministry was our first youth group night. We started off the night with games and then ended the night with a couple of testimonies and worship and I have never heard a sweeter sound than that night where voices of Spanish and English blend together. I had never heard anything more beautiful then that.” – Leah Ebens 

“God has truly taught me to be bold these past few weeks. He has taught me not to shy away from the opportunities that present themselves. To turn off the chatterbox in the back of my mind, the one saying that I will just embarrass myself, or mess things up. Because I have been so keen on seizing every opportunity presented to me. Just by simply trusting the holy spirit to guide me in my words and actions. I have had some of the most extraordinary conversations and have been able to reach so many people with the gospel just by being bold, facing my fears, and seizing the opportunities presented to me” – Rhema Mcclure

“When I was first told that I would be going to Grandpa’s house, I was a little hesitant. I typically work with children and this seemed to be the opposite side of the spectrum. Grandpa’s House is in the shape of a square with an open middle so the residents can look out. As my team and I walked around the square, we were waiting for a calling to one of the residents. My calling was a little man named Maximo. Maximo and I talked even though I couldn’t understand half of what he was saying. I knew he was saying amazing things though because of the glimmer in his eyes. I was able to share the gospel with Maximo and he told me that he had Jesus in his heart and was a believer. Maximo taught me to embrace everyday with love and joy and not to be afraid to take risks.” – Sara Mccall 

 

 

More Articles in This Topic