Christmas in Guatemala!!

Being away from your family during the Christmas season can be so tough, trust me I know. Even though this has been such a hard time for everyone on my squad, as well as myself, the Lord has been so gracious to me through it all. This Christmas season has been one of the most fruitful seasons of my whole life. My team and I have been staying at La Casa Del Reindom (our ministry hosts house) for the past few days. On Wednesday we hosted our Christmas dinner for the Kingdom Table attendees. Kingdom table is the program we do with the homeless children and adults of Sumpango, Guatemala. Most of the attendees consist of alcoholics and drug addicts that have no support other than us. At the event we had professional hairdressers come and give out free haircuts to whoever wanted one. We also had multiple tables full of donated clothes that we let everyone choose a few items from. Not only did we have donated clothes, but we also had a bunch of donated toys that we wrapped and handed out to each child. The dinner consisted of worship and a quick sermon followed by hot apple cider, tamales, and cake. It warmed my heart to see the community of Sumpango come together and celebrate the birth of our savior Jesus Christ, not letting our pasts get in the way of the future the Lord has for us. That was the last time we will see those people so please keep interceding for them and their walk with the Lord. Please pray that they will no longer rely on drugs and alcohol, but instead they would turn to Jesus in their times of trouble and in their times of happiness.
On Friday we hosted our Christmas dinner and celebration for the children and families of Santa Marta, Guatemala. We arrived at the village at 11:30am and started setting up for the long day ahead of us. When we had finished setting up all of the stations we had hundreds of kids lined up throughout the whole village to get in. We had a dentist station where the children would get fluoride put on all of their teeth, which was so necessary for them considering most of their teeth were rotting. We also had a clothing station where we let the children pick out a few items of donated clothes. I have never seen more children with the need of new clothes in my life. These children are so poor that they continuously wear the free shirt that Reindom (our ministry) gave them at the beginning of the year. The smile on those kids’ faces when they received a few new items of clothing will be something I remember forever. The other stations consisted of face paint and a bounce house. When it got dark out we started the dinner for all of the children’s families. We had over 600 Guatemalans from the village of Santa Marta attend our free Christmas dinner. The celebration consisted of starting with prayer, then a play, a dance, and a quick sermon on the birth of Jesus Christ. We handed out tamales, hot chocolate, and cinnamon rolls to each person. After everyone finished eating we handed out the presents to each child. Reindom had received sponsors from all over to donate Christmas presents for the kids. Each present consisted of a backpack, toiletries, a fun toy, candy/snacks, and school supplies. It was my honor to be able to sponsor a teenage girl named Patricia this year. Seeing each child get called up to receive their present and their reaction after they got their present will forever be a core memory for me. Seeing them screaming of joy and jumping up and down made me tear up. These presents are potentially the only presents they will receive this Christmas. Once all of the presents were passed out we had a huge firework show to end the night and we handed out cakes for the families to take home with them. Saying goodbye to these children for the last time is one of the hardest things I have ever had to do. These kids have taught me more about the Lord, myself, and life in the past 2 months than I could ever learn in the United States. Santa Marta, Guatemala will always hold a special place in my heart and I cannot wait to come back and visit one day. In the meantime, please pray that the Lord will continue to protect and provide for these special families. Please pray that the seeds we planted over the last 2 months will sprout into something amazing.
I pray that you all have an amazing Christmas this year and that you spend it with your family. Please don’t forget the true meaning of Christmas. It isn’t about the presents or the food or the traditions, it’s about the pure joy we are given because of the precious birth of our savior Jesus Christ. Merry Christmas!!