I knew being a missionary in Guatemala was going to be hard, but in the last day I have been hit with the realization that it is going to be harder than I thought. Yesterday when we went to the work site to pay our workers. Don Chepe, our block mason, told us about how his wife was very sick. She has diabetes and is no longer reacting to insulin. Her blood sugar is staying at about 550. On top of the diabetes, she also has a lung infection as well as a urinary tract infection. In the last few weeks she has been having a series of strokes. She is beyond sick, and Don Chepe is still at work, making our vision come to life. We prayed for Don Chepe, his wife, and the rest of his family as a team and then we all went back to work. Just another heart breaking day in the life... but it wasn't over.
At dinner we were listening to a CD that our church had given us and one of the pastors voice came on and Juan Carlos solemnly said, that's pastor (I forgot his name, but we will call him Alberto), their pastor and close friend. At that moment the entire table became silent. I sat there quietly knowing something was wrong and soon Eric, the other intern who also lives with us, told me the story of how Alberto died. He had gone with a friend to pick up a car in one of the more dangerous neighborhoods. The gang members captured him, shot him and put him in the back of the car. They then called the Police and told them they had "left a present for them in the back of the car". This was two months ago. Everyone started crying. Sandra, my Guatemalan mom, said that they hadn't had the chance to cry about it until now. My heart continued to break.
I love these people like they are my own, and can't imagine the struggles they go through. Every day I'm here the hardships become more real. A lot of the time I think about the problems of Guatemala being so removed from me, but in all reality, they aren't at all. In that case, they are removed by two degrees. Their troubles aren't so distant anymore. I'm not so distant anymore.
That's why I'm here.
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We are instructed to: 'bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep. Be of the same mind toward one another; do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly'. Romans12:14-16 I would say you are on the road and I am the one distant...Sometimes life gets up in your face in ways you cannot imagine. Press on.
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