Day 2

Reflection from Lisa Hill

Today was filled with faces.  Faces of children on the streets asking for quetzals, faces students smiling and welcoming us to their class, the face of the principal as he showed us his school and shared his passion with our group.

We spent the morning traveling from our hotel in Panajachel across Lago de Atlitlan to the town of Santiago, Atitlan and the afternoon working with ADISA, a school for individuals with different abilities, both developmental and physical.  While crossing the lake, the views of mountains and volcanoes were refreshing and consuming.  I quickly became lost in the scenery and forget about the individuals that live in the mountains and drink from the lake.

While reflecting on the day, I am working to keep a balance in my mind, a balance between beauty and pain, a balance between God and humanity.  There is beauty all around us in both the scenery and the people but there are still the imperfections and pains of humanity.  There is beauty to be found in each individual we pass on the street as well as hardships and inequality.  The balance comes with recognizing the shortcomings and having faith in the possibility of a better future and finding your calling to make the changes.

ADISA has already begun to transform the minds and hearts of the communities they work in.  By integrating students who have different abilities into the community, they are now viewed as assets and are valued as humans instead of seen as a burden.  There is a balance between understanding that an individual has a physical or mental disability and pitying them.  There is a difference and a balance to be found between seeing the beauty of Guatemala without acknowledging the problems and becoming consumed by need without faith and hope.

I go forward in our experience working to keep my eyes open for both God's love and for the work that he is calling me to do in the world.

Reflection by Sarah Gobble

 "Faith is believing in spite of the evidence and watching the evidence change."

Today, we learned about a lot of  "evidence" and a lot of "change".

Many times, the evidence can be in the form of inevitable hardships of life, political corruption, violence, poverty, or abilities not deemed useful by the majority of society.

Today, we met people who believe regardless.

Here are a few of those people with an often unspoken faith that spoke volumes beyond anything we believers often hear.

In Santiago, we stopped by the edge of el Lago de Atitlan where several women were washing their clothes. They were knee deep in the lake, scrubbing their clothes on the rocks with children playing at their feet. These women looked like some of the strongest women I've ever seen. Some young, some old, they carried their baskets full of heavy laundry on their heads and pressed the clothes on the rocks until the muscles in their arms were visibly bulging. It was hot, they had children to keep an eye on, their skirts were soaked, they were surely exhausted by the trek up and down hills to the lake while carrying such a load, many of them with grey in their hair and many laundry loads ahead of them, but they didn't stop. The Holy Spirit's presence was overwhelmingly present in the perseverance of these women and their strength be rooted in the amazing strength of our God.

In el Parque de Paz, or the Park of Peace, we learned about 13 martyrs, including children, who were killed in 1990 as a result of military brutality and corruption during the country's civil war. As our leader, Emerson, told us, they were tired of soldiers terrorizing the people when they should be protecting them. These people had enough faith to stand up for peace and the possibilities of their homeland. They believed in a better way even though it was dangerous to believe. Though they were killed, their legacy radiates through the people of Santiago and this belief of restoring peace and love in their home is extremely evident despite all the historical evidence telling them otherwise.

At the top of nearly 20 feet of steep, shallow, cobblestone steps, I saw a crippled man with two crutches under his arms stand before the alter of Santiago's cathedral and bow his head in prayer. He showed me that God's house of worship and God's unifying love should never be exclusive to those healthy enough to climb to the top of the steps or who have the money to place in an offering. God's love is for all. His faith changed the evidence of the reality of his disability...and I think it changed me as well. Quiet, humble, devotion. Miraculous faith.

Through the unreserved hugs, smiles, and enthusiasm from the children with special needs and young adults at a public school for special education, there seemed to be no evidence of reasons not to believe in a life of acceptance towards the unique people they were created to be. Through the passionate leadership of the school's principal, the reasons to believe in a better future for these individuals shined through the challenges they face due to lack of government funding, small salaries, a society hesitant to integrate these individuals. This passion came from his calling to love God's people, regardless of their abilities. By following his calling, along with the other teachers and volunteers, faith and belief are actively reforming lives and future generations.

Behind the beautifully crafted jewelry and baskets within the small rooms of ADISA, were people with stories of tragedy, hardship, victory, and redemption. These people with various disabilities took the evidence of their limitations and turned it into art to earn an honest salary in a society which would typically tell them it's impossible. One a victim of the massacre in el Parque de Paz, others with stories unknown, they found something to believe in the midst of their hardships and work diligently daily to fulfill their goals and to reform exclusive, limiting attitudes of society.

Today, I was reminded that faith is not dependent on life's circumstances. However, faith can change how we live in the midst of these circumstances. Thank you, God, for the capacity to believe in spite of all evidence.