Hello everyone! I wanted to update you all about my journey through this update, but I will totally dive into more detail the next time I see you. All I can say is- this trip has been so amazing, so life-changing. I know everyone might say that after a mission trip, but it\'s so crazy how truly life-altering it is. It was such an amazing opportunity to go down there and minister to the people. The culture is very different from that of the US, the Guatemalans are very family and relational people, which only breaks my heart more each time I hear about family issues. There is very little accessible or even sufficient healthcare in Guatemala, so the people were so grateful when we came in to their villages with our clinics. We had a pharmacy and doctors\' stations where the patients would get prescriptions and the runners would take the prescriptions back to the pharmacy. While the patients waited for their medicine, they came to our sharing stations where we would ask about how they were doing, and if there was anything we could do for them. Our hope was to share the gospel and bring healing and joy to these troubled people. And we did just that. The first of the 4 clinic days, I was in childcare, so I got to play with the kids while their parents or caretakers went to the clinic. It was really fun and so cool that we were able to communicate and have fun with these kids despite the language barrier. I started speaking to one of them in Spanish and he asked our translator, \"Why do they talk so weird??\" I guess my Spanish needs a little more work haha. That first day was kind of a warm-up, slowly get into it kind of day. I knew I really wanted to try the sharing stations at least, but I wasn\'t sure how I would do in it, and I didn\'t think I would have much to contribute anyways. But I decided to try it the next day anyways. I was paired up with one of the adults on our team, Ms. Andrea, and we had so many cool moments during that day. The first person I ever had in the sharing stations was a 75 year old woman named Amalia. She was so sweet and she had such pretty hair. She said she was dealing with some hip/lower back pain. We prayed for her, and we laid hands on her hip as we did. I was totally not comfortable with doing that, so I actually asked for Ms. Andrea to jump in. And it was cool because despite my stammering and not knowing what to say, when we finished, she was in tears and said, \"The pain is gone.\" I was so happy for her, but I was every more joyed that God taught me such an important lesson. He doesn\'t care what we say, if it comes from our heart and the Holy Spirit speaking through us then I could be saying \'gobble dee goop\' for all He cares. So I don\'t need to care what other people think about what I\'m saying when I pray. The Holy Spirit will give me the words that I need to say. After that encounter, I still had some nerves when we prayed for the other patients, but I was reminded of how it didn\'t really matter how articulate or eloquently I spoke- I just needed to speak through the Holy Spirit. I learned that when we pray in the name of Jesus, we have power. We do. He gives us authority to use His power because He chose us to be His and we trust and have faith in Him. So all throughout our sharing stations for the rest of that day, Ms. Andrea led mostly, but I was starting to feel more comfortable. One of the things I so appreciated about this trip was that God drew our whole team together so closely. Like I\'m literally so much closer to every single person on the team that I was before. I had so much fun and heartfelt memories spending time with everyone. We sang on the bus on the way and back from our clinic locations, finding harmonies and messing up too haha, and we played tag and manhunt and four square and go fish and other card games every night. We hiked a volcano together and went shopping together. We had play fights and deep conversations. I love the friendships and relationships that were created on this trip-- I like what our trip leader, Ms. Cheryl said, \"We went as a team, we returned as a family.\" That\'s so true and I\'m beyond grateful for that. I guess to sum up Wednesday, I was in the sharing station again, with Ms. Cheryl this time. She took the lead from the beginning, but she slowly handed it off to me by the end, and I was really thankful for that opportunity to kind of grow my self-confidence. I also had a great time learning more about our translators each day. At our debrief on Wednesday, I wasn\'t expecting it, but Ms. Andrea and Ms. Cheryl had commented on how I did a great job with praying for these people while I was thinking how bad I did. I guess God just needed to fill my head with truth. That encouraged me for the next day. For me, Thursday was the most impactful. I was with Ms. Rema, and Ms. Cheryl had asked me to take the lead in our station that day. It took a little getting used to, but I really enjoyed taking the lead on the sharing station. I think on that day, I had the most people I could resonate with. I didn\'t have the same life experiences as some of these women, but it was encouraging to see that God was bringing just the right people to our station that we needed to talk with, and that we could share wisdom about. I was so blessed to be able to witness the one of the greatest miracles on this trip. We encountered this one woman, her name was Juana. Ms. Rema had a curious look on her face when she rolled up to our station in a wheelchair. She asked her, \"Were you sitting by the house down the road?\" Apparently she had been, and Ms. Rema was the ONLY person to see her there on the way to the clinic. From that point, we knew God had something in store for us with this lady. She eventually shared that she had had a stroke 17 years ago. She was paralyzed on her left side. She said she had been praying for healing, but she knew that healing was within God\'s timing, not ours. So as we prayed for her, we spoke in the name of Jesus that this woman would have movement and be able to stand. While I was praying, the story of Jesus healing the paralytic came to mind, and I prayed that we would witness a miracle so great. I could tell Ms. Rema had a heart for this woman. She was really invested in her and prayed as well. When we were finished, we asked this woman to move her arm. Over the course of 17 years, she had regained some movement. She could shake her foot a little maybe move her calf a bit, and she could kind of move her fingers and a little bit of her forearm. But after we prayed, she was able to lift her whole arm above her head and move it in circles. She was able to bend her knee and have walking motions. She could move her whole leg and ankle. We asked if she wanted to try standing. With some help, we got her up. She even took a couple small steps with us holding her. Praise Jesus! The part that touched me most was when she said, \"Thank you. I believe God is healing me now because, well, I used to be a missionary, and I went door to door telling people about Jesus. And I believe God is healing me now because He is calling me to do that again.\" The region of Guatemala is 82.2% Roman Catholic, and the fact that we encountered so many Christians wasn\'t a coincidence. Some other stations had many people who didn\'t believe, but accepted Jesus. Some others had healings and just ministered to the people. God brings and provides you with everything to do what He calls you to do, and He makes your journey fruitful, while teaching you more about Him. One of the biggest things I will remember is that I don\'t need to be ready. I don\'t need to think I\'m ready or equipped to do something. When God calls us, we go, and He does more than we could ever imagine. I never imagined that in a million years I would witness the healing of a paralyzed woman. Never. And yet God chose to show ME that. Out of everyone on our team. Here\'s what\'s important to remember. God doesn\'t send the equipped. He equips the sent. :)
