Experiences so far

Hey everyone, its Jon again,

We have been here in Guatemala for a few days now and already experienced a lot. Physically things have been very easy so far for us. We were able to hire a driver to take us around the city in his car, we have an amazing interpreter who has been such a help for our interviews, and we have gotten to know Carlos and his team very well already. Carlos is an incredible man who has given his life to help women trapped in prostitution and people that are living in the streets, and it has been such a blessing to get to see what he does.

However, many of the stories we have heard and the things we have seen have been very hard to handle. Some of the girls we interviewed have gone through things I cannot imagine, and they would be unbearable to hear without their stories of transformation in Christ and a new beginning. I don't think it would be possible to be "prepared" for what we have seen so far, if "being prepared" means to not be shocked and crushed by it. We also saw children living on the streets in a very different way than people that are homeless in the United States. I was so overwhelmed by what we saw that I couldn't do anything, I couldn't even pray while we were there or after we returned to the house.

The thing that struck me the most about the people living in the streets was that it wasn't poverty, it was complete depravity and an image of evil and sin. Not sin as in committing sinful acts, even just being trapped in their sin, but I can imagine that the way we saw them living is the same way that God views us in our sin. He has paid the price for it and offered freedom from it, but yet we still return to filth when He has given us so much more. Money, jobs, and places to live would not solve the problem we saw, it is rooted so much deeper and requires a transformation to fix it.

Today we visited Antigua, which is the old colonial capital and is very beautiful. It was supposed to be a day of rest from the things we have dealt with so far, but they found us there as well. As the city is a place frequented by tourists, there are many beggars there and poverty is prevelent, though it was not as hard on me as some of the other days. Kris had a very difficult time seeing children living this way and was moved to keep giving away the presents she had bought for her own children. It was awesome to see such love pouring out of her for them and to see their joy in return.

There are a lot of things I am still trying to comprehend and figure out about what we have seen so far, but many of these problems are far more complicated than they seem at first glance and I am having a difficult time understanding how I view them and how I should view them. While it has been tough, I am very encouraged by people's acceptance of us here and what a difference we have seen people like Carlos make in some of these girls lives, and that in Christ there is hope for them. Please keep all of us in your prayers and we greatly appreciate them.

Jon.