First week: culture immersion

We have spent this whole week experiencing the culture of the three cities we've seen, Guatemala City, Antigua, and Quetzaltenango. We got to shake hands with a small coop coffee farmer and walk along enormous

 rows of a corporate farm that supplies big name buyers such as Starbucks and Stumptown. Hearing the insane amount of time and work they both put into the product makes me so glad that I have the opportunity to be the finally step in their work and process. By paying attention to detail when presenting their product, I pay them respect. They warm my heart. 

The next few days were emotionally taxing. We heard the stories of the civil war survivors, and those whose family had been slaughtered and kidnapped by their own government. We talked to women who had been raped and tortured for asking what had happened to their husbands and why they had been taken. The students there talked about how the bodies of their colleagues would be dumped on the school grounds as a scare tactic. Some, as recently as ten years ago. 

We talked to women of mining farms who had their homes burned by mining companies because they refused to abandon their ancestral land. This is a population abused, with little advocate or political voice and corruption infiltrates every modicum of government entity.

We hand spent much time with the people, who welcome us into their homes. Yesterday we killed a chicken for a traditional soup... On that note, I think I'm a vegetarian now. 

This trip has been fulfilling and I am so excited to start the more intensive volunteer work after language classes.

So far several in our group have gotten sick but by the grace of God I am in good health despite a wicked sunburn after hours in the coffee farm. 

The pace here is breakneck so downtime is rare... I'll try to update as much as I can. Some specific prayer requests I have are:

1. Health

2. Eyes focused on the cross. Time alone  with God is hard to come by here, and distractions are a constant.

3. To see the pain and need of people the way God sees it, to have my heart burdened.

Please let me know which you're praying for in comments, I would love that! Be well, friends