International Partnerships

A week ago, I was in Guatemala City, Guatemala. I was being overwhelmed by the mountains, the cool weather, the development-look of the place, the slum houses built into the hills, all of it. Still Central America, but very different from what I've been living in Nicaragua. Hot water was normal. Drinking water from the tap was not. For the first time in months, I wasn't sweating all the time, and I got to put on a sweatshirt and feel comfortably cold. It was lovely.

In our four days in Guatemala City visiting our fellow Cohort group hosted by Center for Transforming Mission, we accompanied our Guatemalan counterparts in their ministries and exploration of Guatemalan history and culture. They tried to show Mark, Guissel, Gordon, Peggy, and me what it meant to live in the capital city and experience it as classroom, parish, and playground. The Guatemalan arm of the network that is called the Cohort of Missioners seeks to listen to and learn from their cultural context with this in mind: the world is classroom, parish, and playground.

After Guissel's first flight ever (if you thought flying was fun, it's even better to sit next to someone who has never flown before and likes it!), we arrived at the airport, went to lunch at a place that seemed fancy to me and normal to the chapines (nickname of Guatemalans). In the afternoon we visited a ministry called Ciudad Esperanza (City Hope). They provide an after-school program and food to kids in Zone 18 of the city, where gangs are an active problem.

(The Guate Cohort members minus one, plus a kid from Sonrisas)

Saturday we went to a ministry in a park for kids and their mothers who work in the cemetery. It's called Sonrisas (smiles) because it was founded in a place of tears. We joined them for a snack and learning Bible verses.

(Walking around in the center plaza)

 In the afternoon we went on a historical, cultural tour of the center plaza. We visited the place where a bishop was murdered and talked about Guatemala's armed conflict (really a civil war, but terminology matters) and need for reconciliation. It was humbling to stand on the pavement, looking at a park, and realizing that a man's blood had been wiped up where my feet were.


(The site of the bishop's murder and the plaque commemorating his life and death)

Sunday was a day of church services. We visited a mega-church, the largest in Central America with a building that seemed more like an airport and capacity for 10,000 people at least. Then we went to a small church pastored by the family of the Cohort participants. We got to see Andrés leading the singing and meet his family. After lunch, we visited Ciudad de Refugio (City of Refuge), a community house and church with 30 people living as part of a big, extended family of God. Talk about city as parish!

(The megachurch Casa de Dios, during and after the service)

Monday we went to Limonada, a slum area with gang violence and poverty alongside hope and a school network. We visited houses as part of a group, praying for people and reading the Bible with them as well as hearing their stories. We spent the morning in La Limonada, trailing our Guate cohorts as they connected with the people around them. In the afternoon, we returned to the ministry offices to have a debrief meeting and talk about how we can work together in the future.

(We ordered a pizza that measured 1 meter!)

It was a good trip of getting to know each other over 4 days. Our fellow Cohort members gave us suggestions for where to spend our three free days, and we enjoyed a night and day with the Bacon-Avila family in Quetzaltenango/Xela, a night in Panajachel on Lago Atitlán, and an afternoon walking around Antigua before we flew back to Nicaragua early Friday morning.

(Enjoying fruit smoothies by Lago Atitlán)

León welcomed us back with suffocating heat, cold showers, and drinkable water. It was good to be back with my family, in my own room, knowing my own schedule after two weeks of being away (I'MPACT Club training in Managua and then the Cohort trip to Guatemala). I spent Sunday afternoon chatting with my parents on the phone, giving myself a pedicure, and slicing fresh mangos.

(Exploring ruins of an old convent in Antigua)

It feels good to be back, but it's also good to know we're not alone in this Cohort endeavor. Now we know people trying to carry out the same vision of community development, spiritual formation, and intentional living among North Americans and Central Americans. We are more aware of their situation, and they know more about ours. We can support each other as we walk alongside the least, the last, and the lost in Nicaragua and Guatemala.