Visitas

It’s been too long. Sorry, friends. Last week the wifi we use here in Magdalena was down for the majority of the week, in all the locations we can use it, and then we took off for the weekend to a very beautiful place on the Pacific Ocean, but again, without wifi. Eh, there’s worse things in the world than being on a beach with dear friends, and not having access to the interwebs. But now I am back, refreshed, and ready to tackle my last week of ministry sites before going to Antigua for a week of language school. (Wait, what? Last week?? That can’t be right…) (Actually…that’s a lie. The wifi has been out much longer, I wrote this in anticipation of it coming back, and now I’m actually in Antigua. Pretend this is a few weeks ago...)

The last few days and weeks have been busy, but don’t worry. I’m not going to share every single detail of what we’ve done, also because it’s not possible to. We had our second group of the summer over the last two weeks, two groups of mostly high schoolers from California. I had two girls at my site, and while they understood some Spanish, I got to do a lot of interpreting for them! It was fun, and I was encouraged that even though my Spanish is not perfect, I am capable of sharing between two languages. We spent the majority of the last two weeks doing home visits of prestatarios (borrowers from the loan program, remember our last Spanish lesson?). Between the language barrier and the extremely difficult situations many of the prestatarios and their families live in, these home visits can be a challenge for the students, but because of my Spanish and the small connections I’ve already made with the prestatarios, I was able to facilitate the conversation so that my students could understand the majority of a prestatario’s story, and also so that the prestatario could understand the testimonies my students shared with them. It’s been encouraging for me to be able to use the skills and desires to communicate cross culturally that God gave me in college in a very real, and practical way. I don’t know what my future career or life will look like, but I know that it will involve communicating in two languages (at least!), because I know this has come from God.

Speaking of home visits…they are a huge part of what the microfinance site, and SI in general does. One of SI’s core values and a huge part of their mission is relational ministry. Yes, the occupational ministry is important (this being the physical work that is being done. In my site’s case, the loans offered and received, and the work to make businesses grow.), but just as much as SI wants to see a business grow, or a student learn how to make art to support themselves, or a woman learn skills that will help put food on the table, they want to see the people of this community growing and flourishing in a relationship with Christ. This is the relational ministry focus of SI. And for the majority of the sites, this means home visits. Since this is such a big part of what SI and what my site does (and since I spent the last two weeks visiting countless individuals/families) I want to share what home visits look like for my site, specifically, and share a few individual’s stories. Sharing stories of life is really the only way to know someone, and while you all can’t physically be here with me, you can join in praying for these dear individuals and the work that is happening here, because you have learned something about their lives and struggles, but also about their triumphs.

Like I said, home visits can be a struggle. You know that old game show where they have prizes behind different doors, and the contestant gets to pick one to find out what’s behind door #1, to see what they’ll be going home with? Home visits are kind of like that…only the situations behind the doors in Magdalena, El Gorrion, Buena Vista, or wherever we go are not so glamorous as the ones on the game show. But it’s true. You never really know what you will find behind a door, or piece of laminate (like a sheet of metal) that acts as a door, when you knock to be let into someone’s life. I mean this both in the sense that the house may be small, and dirty, and the American part of you wonders how anyone could live in these conditions, but I also mean that you never know the struggles someone is going through until they open the door and invite you in. And there are struggles in this community. Often times, our visits start with something to do with the loan: dropping off their libretas (little books they use to keep track of loan payments), taking pictures of what they’ve invested in (to make sure they are using their loan for what they said they would), or explaining that a prestatario can be making payments on the interest and not the capital until they are able to pay off the full loan (this is often how prestatarios who raise animals choose to repay, because they don’t actually have the money until they sell their animals, when they’re full grown, for food.). The loan talk opens the door for real talk. Sometimes people just need someone to talk to, and so a lot of home visits/relational ministry is listening. Sometimes we hear all the struggles that a family is going through, and sometimes those struggles affect how they are able to pay back their loans. Sometimes a woman will open up and share her whole life with us, struggles and triumphs, and sometimes we hear how that woman is turning to God, but sometimes we don’t hear any mention of God. To incorporate our American students into the conversation, we often ask them to share as much or as little of their testimony as they are willing to share, a Bible verse, or something God has been doing in their lives. Often times, God makes it so they end up sharing something extremely applicable to the prestatarios’ lives, even though they had no idea what’d they would find behind door #2, because He’s cool like that. Sometimes what I heard my students share allowed a prestatario to open up and share a similar struggle that otherwise may not have come up in conversation. And who knows how God will use these words in the future… we can only pray that our words are his words, because we know it is through him seeds grow to harvest. We end every home visit with prayer. We pray for the children, we pray for husbands or wives, we pray for good crops or healthy chickens, we pray for businesses to grow, and we pray, at every home, for each individual in the family to continue to search for and grow in God. Some households are already doing this, and we hope we can encourage them to continue. Other households are not turning to God, but we pray openly with them all the same, and in our hearts we pray they will find Him. Primero Dios (This is a phrase used ALL the time here; it translates to God first, but is used as we would say God willing.). As I said in a previous post, we care that their business is able to grow. But we care so much more that they grow in Christ.

I think God is using the relational ministry of SI to do some big things in this community. I’m not saying every prestatario is or will be a Christian because of our actions, but every one of them is exposed to the love of Christ. We hope and pray that our actions reflect His good and perfect love, that we can plant seeds of hope in people’s lives, and that as the work continues, God would cause those seeds to grow. It is a blessing to be a part of this ministry, for the short time that I am here. It is encouraging to know that the work will continue when I am no longer here, because God is infinite, and He is here, and He is at work.

I was going to share some specific stories, but I think that will have to wait for a different post, because this one is already getting long. Hang tight, dear friends.

This is really not the greatest picture of this family, but I have so few from home visits that I still wanted to share!

Cows, Carpenters, Peas, and Avocado Trees

It's been awhile. I apologize. We changed houses and are farther away from wifi, I got a bacterial infection and was out of commission for a few days (doing much better, Gracias a Dios!), and we've been busy. These are my excuses. :)

Anyways. It has been a busy few...days? weeks? How long has it been even? Regardless, it's been busy. But I have some stories to share.

Cows and Carpenters
Last week we did several home visits to three men who have had loans with SI for much longer than many of the people we had previously visited. We visited two men with carpentry businesses who have been able to significantly grow their businesses, largely because of the loans they received. Now they are not only employing and providing for themselves, but also are able to provide for several employees. We also were able to visit with a man who keeps dairy cows, and who has grown that business with an SI loan. I know all you Wisco peeps may think that dairy cows are common place ;) but here it is not very common to keep cows for milk and cheese, and rather more cows are kept only to be sold for their meat later on. This is still a good business, but keeping dairy cows allows for this man to have a sustainable business. He currently is raising a bull, that when he sells he'll be able to pay off his loan completely. In a site where I'm told of so many people who are struggling to make payments, I came away greatly encouraged by this man who not only has income from the dairy cows, but who will also be able to completely pay off his current loan with the bull he is raising.

This one is his favorite cow.

Peas
On a different day I spent the morning helping a woman shell peas. She's received a loan from SI, and her job, or business, is to shell peas. She works for a co-op. One person plants the peas (like snap peas), others harvest, and she shells the peas before taking them to a factory where they are disinfected, packaged and exported. For several hours we sat and shared with this woman while we opened the pods and scraped out the peas. It's not necessarily physically demanding, though your back does hurt after, but it's long work. And not overly rewarding. We helped her with one large bag of peas, which resulted in 20 some odd pounds of shelled peas. For this she will receive Q1 a pound. It takes roughly Q7.5 to equal a dollar, so you do the math. Q1 for the peas and Q.25 for the pods, which she sells to farmers for feed for their animals. Not very much. But you will not find anyone more grateful for any job. She is able to stay at home to work, which means her kids get better care. Her family works with her, so they grow together. She can put food on the table, money in a savings account. Her children are healthy. She was incredibly open and vulnerable, and shared her whole life story with virtual strangers. She does not have much, but knows that all she has is from God, and thanks him daily for saving her entire family from alcoholism. God provides. He rescues and he provides. I may have not done a whole lot to help her business grow, but being there, working with alongside her allowed for us to share life, and share Christ.

She'd have 10 done by the time I had done 2. She's a pro...

Avocado Trees
Yesterday we moved some 2600 avocado trees. Baby trees...but hard work. We moved them, assembly line style, from a nursery to a semi, and from the semi to Magda. Farmers in the area are starting to participate in a program with these trees, a different micro-loan type program, and will receive them, plant and care for them, and will work with people in the states to sell the avocados and pay off their loan. Hard work. But it's part of the much larger picture we find ourselves in, and will bring blessing to many men in this area. Like with the loan programs I participate in, the men who receive these trees will have to attend weekly Bible studies. Spiritual growth through community growth. Both are good. Both are needed.

bien sucio. 

On every home visit I've done, every business I've seen, there has been one constant. My site leader summed it up well when we were with the man who keeps the cows. We were able to give his family a Spanish Bible, because of a donation from the group who was here, and share why our Bibles were so important in our own lives. As we were leaving she simply told him, "We care about your cows. We care about your business, and want it to grow. But so much more than that, we want you to know this word (pointing to his Bible) and to come to grow in Christ." That's it, folks. That's why we're here. 

Sometimes on Sundays

Sometimes on Sundays:

-you talk sports with your host dad. And you both agree that Michael Yordin (that's how he says it) is the best basketball player. You also tell him that, no, you haven't seen Michael Yordin in person. 

-your host mom puts out bananitos and choco panqueques on the same day, and so you combine them, because obviously. Delicious.

-your littlest host sister is chosen to be the princess of the coming soccer tournament, and she gets to wear a pretty dress and walk out onto the field carrying flowers to start the tournament.

-you're reminded that church in Guatemala is way different than church in the U.S. But you're also reminded that preference in worship styles aside, you are worshiping and serving the same God. And you are reminded that God is able to transcend cultural differences.

-you're reminded that in Guatemala any noise made unto the Lord is a joyful noise, and so when any noise is made unto the Lord, it is made as loud as possible. Go big or go home, right?

-you're super impressed by the musicians at church, specifically the marimba players. Because 2/3 of them double as saxophone players, and switch freely between the two. During songs, no less. 

-you can't understand any of the words to the worship songs because the speakers are turned up so loud (joyful noises made to the Lord...) and so you just clap. For close to an hour.

-you're reminded that your service here is part of a much larger picture of the work God is doing in Guatemala, and around the world

-you're proud that you understood the Spanish message and didn't have to rely on the translation. And you're also nervous because you know sometime this summer you'll have to provide the translation.

-you remembered to bring offering money, but then since it's the first day of the month they don't pass around the offering plate as usual, but rather you have to get up and march around the barrel and you were not prepared for this. So you hand your money to someone else as they're on their way up.

-you do, however, get up to hug the people who celebrated birthdays this week. And you hug them, even though you have never met. (Birthdays are a BIG deal in Guate)

-you spend time fellowshipping with the other interns on the roof of your house before lunch at the community center.

-your heart is full when you see your sponsor kid and he waves and shouts ¡HOLA SEÑO! (seño being short for señora or, in my case, señorita. They used it all the time when I was at the Monroy school)

-you come home from the community center with a full belly and a full heart, and are thankful for those who prepared the food, and for a group that is willing to share struggles and triumphs from the past week.

-you get time to rest and recharge for another week in Guatemala.

host sister ready to be the princess of the soccer games

by the way...sorry the font was so small on previous posts! Hope this is easier to read.