Chloe Pearson and Miguel Baza

Hi everybody, Chloe Pearson here.  These few days here in Guatemala have been amazing, and I’m beyond excited to continue this adventure.  Today, I had the opportunity to go to El Refugio, the women’s shelter.  We focused on a couple projects in specific, those being putting up a fence, and making a counseling room upstairs.  I got to work on the fence, and it was a lot of hard work!  I got to help mix cement, and carry buckets of cement back and forth between the fence and the cement pile.  It turned out pretty good at the end, but we were slow.  There were a couple workers, Eric, and his dad, Pablo.  They were so patient, and it was very fun to be able to work with them!  If I were them, I would have probably been very frustrated with all of us slow workers.  Despite this, they were happy to let us help, and they tried their best to teach us how to do it.  The toughest part was the communication, considering I speak very, VERY little Spanish, and they speak no English.  When I was working with Eric, it was so awesome to see him try so hard to talk to me, even though I was clueless.  He probably repeated himself about ten times before I just shrugged my shoulders, and told him I didn’t know what he was saying.  I’m sure he got annoyed, but he sure didn’t show it!  Another part of today was being able to hear one of the ladies stories, who lived in the shelter.  Her name is Suzie, and she’s had it rough.  It made me realize even more how fortunate I am.  She’s been through the unthinkable, and yet she’s so grateful, and so strong in her walk with God.  I admire how calm she was through her situation, and yet even with all of her struggling, she is so faithful to our Lord.  Those ladies are amazing, and it’s so great to see them pushing themselves and their kids in the right direction.  The kids are also all bundles of joy, and the smiles that spread across their faces when you interact with them are beautiful.  You can do the simplest thing, like give them a piggy-back ride, or kick a ball around with them, and they will be the happiest kids you’ve ever seen.  It’s inspiring to see how entertained they are, with such simple things for hours, whereas if I were to kick a ball around, I’d get bored in fifteen minutes.  At the end of the day, after all the laughter and fun, a huge rainstorm rolled in, with thunder and lighting and God’s magic working all around us.  It was beautiful, and I couldn’t help but stroll outside and stare at the drops hitting the ground, and listen to the thunder roaring.  The past few weeks, before I came on this trip, I’ve been really struggling with myself and my faith, and it’s tough to talk about.  I really wish I could see God’s work more easily, but it has been very difficult, and I’ve been struggling with it for a long time.  I’m not really saying I have had this yet on the trip, but I’m really hoping that I see something soon.  The second night we were here, our group shared where we wanted God to break us.  I answered with saying how I hoped that God would let me relax.  I try so hard to see God in my life that I feel like I miss it.  I need to let God do his work, and just sit back and watch it happen.  I’m really hoping that at some point on this trip, I get that feeling, that I know its God.  It can’t be anything else.  I’m excited to see what happens within my group, and what we do on this trip.  Thanks everyone, for all the prayers and support. 

Chloe Pearson

Before I start writing of how an awesome adventure that has been for me, how much God has changed my life, how much more I can see his Love and his Magnificence in these people’s lives, I do want to say I have been praying a lot for this trip. My goals for this trip was to put God first before anything. My life is not my life, I was created by God for God. Another was to serve and just do Gods will and to also just to put others before me. In continuation to this trip, I have no words to explain the great feeling it is being over here. It feels like a home to me.  It is so amazing how God has been using me out here. Again, for his work and nothing for me. I am thankful for what God has let me go through when I was a child because I can relate to multiple people out here. There is definitely a beauty in the struggle. It is amazing how God lets one go through horrible situations to make them the person they are. And a wonderful thing he always does is that, God won’t ever give us a plate he knows we can’t handle. Since the day I got here, I have been doing my best to serve everyone. I have felt little tired here in there, but I ask God for strength and he always just gives it to me. He helps me put my own desires, and wants aside and know I am here only for him.  First time I went out to the village to play with the kids, oh how I fell in love with them. I love working with kids and the joy God gave me to be around them was awesome. Like seriously no words can possibly explain it. It has been really fun and challenging for me out here having to translate and also read and write English to Spanish, or Spanish to English. It is a joy to help my team to speak Spanish because I can see a passion in my team of really wanting to help and understand these people. And God always finds a way to make it work. When we got to the middle/high school I felt a huge weight land in my shoulders and I knew I at that moment God wanted to use me. The Pastor we were following asked me to share my life story with the kids, at first I really didn’t even want to do it because the people I came to this trip with, don’t know it yet. So I had to break those chains and let God work. I felt his presence every moment I spoke to them about my life. I cried, but many of the kids cried with me, even the crew that was with me was crying. And you could just tell God’s presence was flowing. I had multiple little girls come up to me and tell me about their lives, and that they are currently going through some things I was  some situations that some have not even shared with their own best friends. And I was just so happy they could share that with me and seek for help. Although I did not have the answers, God spoke through me and I know many of those kids were impacted. I did my best to motivate them, make them happier, and just be able to see the light in the darkness they face in their everyday life. That same night, we had a chat with the group and we were told to go out and pray for 10 minutes. The moment I walked outside, I found a corner and I just kept telling God how good he was, and thanking him for everything he is letting me see and do and be able to be a part of this. I cried like a baby, I felt the Holy Ghost come in me and just took over me that time. I ended up in my knees speaking in tongues and really deeply worshiping God. We came to this trip so that God could break us and help us see all what he’s about. But the thing about me is that I came to this trip really broken already. But every day that I have been here, God has just been lifting me up every day and repairing me. It is just funny how some of the greatest things God will do in your life happen when you are in the transition or struggle. He has set me to be a Thermostat not a Thermometer, he has set an anointing upon my life no earthly success can remove me from.  God has definitely given me a call in my life that I will never be able to get away from. I am very happy to take it and to just keep searching God, spreading his love with people and let them know it is all about him. I am happy God has let me create awesome relationships with people out here I will never forget. Thank you all for your prayers and support I highly appreciate it, for those who might not know, this is my first time traveling to Guatemala and it is just awesome the things God is doing out here. I hope I can keep motivating this crew I came along with, and the people out there because with God, life is so much easier and better. May God bless you all.

Miguel Baza