Guatemalan's Visit, Part 4

~November 10 (Sunday)~

Sunday morning we brought all the Guatemalans to church with us! We went to church in a few different waves. I left at 7:00 a.m. for band practice, my family came for first service at 9:00 a.m., and the Guatemalans arrived in time for the second service at 10:45 a.m.

Group picture!

Photo Credit: Our friend, C.

After church, most of us went home while a couple of people stayed behind for the new members class (just to learn more about our church.) Mom really hit it off with M. They had some good conversations in Spanish!

We kids had fun that afternoon. While the boys rested and took naps, we girls took a walk and shared our testimonies with each other. M and S are such wonderful girls, and I’m disappointed that we’re going to be separated! L

Later that afternoon, we piled into the vehicles and headed back to town. In our county, there is a movement to unite about 30 of the churches. Periodically, they have events where all the churches come together. They were having a worship and prayer service that night. Our family had never been to one, and we thought it would be a good experience for the Guatemalans!

We met quite a few people from our church there. It was a *wonderful* service! The time of worship and prayer for our community with fellow believers from so many different congregations was truly a small taste of heaven.

After the service, we met up with more people from church for dinner! We took everyone to one of our favorite taco places. It was such a fun time of fellowship!

This was the “cool table.” J Yes, the girls have stickers on their faces!

Photo Credit: Pastor D.

That evening, we stayed up super late knowing it was our last night together. We all just crashed in the living room and had a big pajama party! The kids played “Life” while some of the grownups chatted.

Pastor D pulled out the guitar and started singing with M. It was such a sweet few hours together!

After the kids finished their game (probably around 11 or 12) we gathered around to pray together one last time. We shared some of our thoughts from the week, and then the Guatemalans prayed over our family. It was such a blessing to host them in our home, and we were so sorry that our time together was ending! L

After that, the adults went to bed. But not us kids. J Ben and I joined all the Guatemalan kids for a few card games up in the boys room. We stayed up until about 1:30 a.m. Crazy I know, but we know it will be many months before we see each other again!

~November 11 (Monday)~

It was difficult getting up this morning. One because we were all so tired, and two, we knew the parting time had come. L Everyone got their showers and breakfast and started packing things up.

Around 11:00 a.m. the dreaded hour came: the time to say goodbye. L We had such a wonderful and rich time of fellowship with the Guatemalans over the 4 days they were with us! They truly felt like family to us by the end of their visit. Saying goodbye was hard, but we trust that God will bring us back together again soon. We look forward to seeing our Guatemala family again, Lord willing!