Hey blog! It’s been a minute!
Seriously so much has happened in the past month, so it’s about time for an update.
Samaritans Purse:
Two weeks of this past month were spent in Hammond, Louisiana where me and my squad served in hurricane relief. Hurricane Ida hit shore in August and devastated many homes and family’s belongings. Packing up all of our things and taking the 9 hour van drive to serve these people was such an honor.
These two weeks taught me so much. First off, it was so incredible to play a part in bringing the gospel to the states before going international. America needs the love of Jesus just as much as anywhere else, we are in desperate need for revival in the states.
Our days consisted of hauling trees, chainsawing and pole sawing, tearing out moldy sheet rock, spraying for mold, and mudding out homes for about 8 hours. Each morning was a 4:50 am wakeup for me except for Sunday. With that said, this was HARD! I was stretched physically, mentally, and spiritually in new ways. I ultimately see now how the Lord was preparing me for where I am now.
One of the homes we served at was one of the most spiritually dark places I have ever been. The walls were coated with mold, and the homeowners had experienced some extremely dark things in their lives that affected their current way of living. The room me and some of the others were working in was such a heavy place to walk into, I was nearly brought to tears each moment I walked in. We put on our Tyvek suits and N95 masks, circled up, radically prayed over this space, sang worship, and started to work. Moments where I couldn’t tell if it was sweat or tears under my mask, wheelbarrowing countless pieces of moldy sheetrock to the end of the road, and looking into the eyes of these broken hearted homeowners desiring for them to know just how much hope there is on the other side. After three and a half days of working on this one house, I remember looking back at that mold free room and feeling peace. A sense of lightness. As we circled up to pray over the homeowners, one was an elderly woman who wrestled with mental illness and was wheelchair bound. This woman immediately started praising the Lord and praying blessings over us. We drove away from that house fully aware of the amount of healing to be done in those hearts, but knowing the peace that was instilled there. After experiencing it for three days, we knew that where we are incapable, He steps in.
Debrief
Post Louisiana, we made that same 9 hour drive back to Gainesville, where we spent our last 5 days in America! These days were spent processing, resting, and preparing for our upcoming seven months out of the US.
Thursday November 4th we packed up our bags yet again and headed to the Atlanta airport!
H Squad’s First Travel Day
We made it to the airport at about midnight, spent the night there on the airport floor, and flew out of the states at 10am on November 5th! Before we knew it, we were looking out of the plane window at endless trees and volcanos!
Guatemala Living!
We FINALLY made it to Guate!! The land of many trees!! And let me just say, this place feels like home. I share a room with my 6 other teammates on the Adventures in Missions Guatemala base. Our time at base is spent practicing our spanish, endless card games, soccer practice (gotta get trained up for soccer ministry if you know what I mean), reading in hammocks, sitting with the Lord and watching Fuego erupt, and so much more.
Monday-Friday our ministry looks like home visits, playing soccer with kids, teaching english, and walking through the villages asking the Lord who we can share hope with and pray over.
So much more to come about Guatemala! But this place speaks to my soul <3
BIG! NEWS!
Soooo covid is crazy! Due to covid related reasons in Asia, H Squad got a ROUTE CHANGE! In January instead of Cambodia me and my squadmates will be travelling to:
Johannesburg, South Africa!!!
And! Due to political unrest in Eswatini, we got another country change and in March we will be travelling to:
Romania!!!
It blows my mind how the Lord knew this whole time these were the countries we would be planting our feet in 2022. I find so much peace in the fact that He is in control even when the world can often be a crazy place. I am STOKED to experience all that the Lord is doing in South Africa and Eastern Europe.
Bye for now!
-MG
