Here At Last (Guatemala 2014, Part 1)

This is part 2 of my Guatemala 2014 blog series.  Click here to read part 1.

It was just over two years ago that God spoke to my heart about child sponsorship for the first time.  Just over two years ago that he led me to sponsor Sulmi (and just over a year since I added her sister, Aura).  Just over two years since this foreign place, Guatemala, became an everyday part of my prayer life.  I dreamed and prayed and longed to be there. 

And after two long years, two other mission trips, and a million God-ordained life events in between, it happened.

On July 5, 2014, my friend and I arrived in Guatemala City with a group of 10 others.  The group was actually working at an orphanage all week and allowed us to come along before venturing off with World Vision for a day to meet my girls.

On our hour-long drive from Guatemala City to the city of Antigua where the group would be working all week, I was mesmerized.  "God", I prayed, "this is the place I've been praying for.  This is what I've been dreaming of for two years.  Now we're here!"  Guatemala was so charming, and SO different than Honduras!  I knew there was danger in both places, but Guatemala felt slightly more westernized.  The roads were paved.  The highways were lined with Walmart and Forever 21 and all of the stores that my small town back home doesn't even have.  I knew not all of Guatemala was like this, but I was so enchanted by what I had seen so far.  Women walked the streets in long handmade Mayan-style skirts and frilly blouses.  They wore their babies in fabric carriers and carried baskets of food on their heads.  It was all exactly how I had pictured it.

In the days leading up to seeing my girls, I just wanted to embrace everything about their country that I had been praying for all this time.

We went to a market and tried on traditional clothing...

 

 

 

We took morning walks every morning, at the base of a volcano...



 

 

We hiked through coffee fields, learning about how the beans are grown and processed...

 

 

 

 

 

And visited the home of a coffee farmer, where we learned to separate, roast, and grind our own coffee beans...

 

 

 

 

Seriously the best cup of coffee I've ever tasted!

 

 

It was all so sweet...so beautiful...so Guatemalan (and all God's people say, "duh!").  I can't say it exactly felt like home the way Honduras did, or the way the United States does.  What it was, though, was an answer to a long-prayed prayer.  It was a beautiful promised land of something I had dreamed of for all this time.  Even though on this trip, I often couldn't see what God was going to do even one step ahead of me, I knew He had a plan.  I knew it was good.  I knew He was the one who had brought me to Guatemala.  And next, I would see my girls!

 

You Are My Sunshine (Honduras 2014, Part 8)

When Estefani didn't show up for the party, despite the fact that the staff at the center had told her and her family to come for one last goodbye, I saw a side of Bella that I had never seen before- crazy determined mom mode.  She went around to all of the staff at the center, the translators, and the leaders of our team, demanding (nicely) somebody find out where Estefani was.  Upon learning that Estefani didn't have a way to get there, Bella said, "Call her family and tell them we'll be right there."  She left the church with one of the men from our team, and returned about 20 minutes later with Estefani.

We all spent the evening dancing with our kids.  It was a great way to end an amazing trip.

After a while, I noticed Bella and Estefani had stopped dancing and gone to sit down.  I found them at a table towards the back of the church.  Estefani was cuddled up in Bella's lap.  She was sad, knowing goodbye wasn't far away.  It was also way past her bed time and she was clearly fighting sleep.  As I got closer, I heard the sound of Bella and one of our other teammates sweetly singing "You Are My Sunshine" to Estefani. 

Admiring Bella's rings

At some point in the evening, Estefani asked if we could come back for her birthday too, which was in only a couple of weeks.  We regretfully told her there wasn't enough time to plan another trip that quickly, but we'd be sending her a gift for her birthday, which a friend of ours will be delivering on her upcoming trip to Honduras.  We also promised to throw a party for her quinceanera some day when she turned 15.

All too soon, the party had ended and it was time to say goodbye.  I went and found Melania, and a translator, because I still had one very important thing to say to her.  We told each other how much we loved and would miss each other.  We promised to pray for each other and our families, and to write letters often.  That was when I said to her, with every ounce of love I had in me, the words God had impressed on my heart days earlier- you are a masterpiece.  A few days before leaving for Honduras, God had led one of my best friends to speak those very words to me when I needed it most.  I knew He then wanted to send me to Honduras with that very message for every girl I encountered.  We hugged countless times, and held hands until we got outside to my team's van.  As Melania disappeared into the distance, her cousin, Luz, came to me and wiped my tears.  It was such a sweet exchange that I will cherish forever.

As I stood outside of the van with Bella and Estefani, I played with Estefani's hair and prayed within myself.  "God," I said, "I'm not brave enough to leave her.  Not yet."  After a moment, I changed my prayer- there was nothing brave about this decision.  Nothing brave about leaving this beauty and returning back to the states- to comfort.  I decided I was a coward, and on we went. Don't worry, I now understand that I had to come home, at least for a while.

When we got to Estefani's house to drop her off, Bella and I got out of the van and walked her to the door.  As we walked up to the house, Bella and I both fought back tears.  It wasn't until we were on the porch, that I noticed Estefani too was crying and clinging to Bella.

I helped to translate as Bella repeatedly said, "I love you" and "see you soon."  Estefani said nothing, but continued to cry.  At one point, she pulled away from Bella for a moment and came to me.  She stretched out her arms and wrapped them around me.  "See you soon, yes?" I said.  She nodded through her tears.  I then muttered off some words in Spanish, in no particular structural order.  I remember saying "precious" and "princess", but I'm pretty sure I didn't actually form any full sentences. 

After the longest and hardest goodbye in history, Bella finally knocked on the door.  Estefani's uncle answered.  After a few more hugs, Estefani went into the house, and we returned to the van.

Sometimes it doesn't feel like there was any glorious ending to this story.  And I guess in part, that's because it's not the end.  We cried the whole way back to our hotel.  We then laid in bed and cried ourselves to sleep.  We left the country a day later, without Estefani.  When we got home, we both lived with the guilt of leaving and anxiousness to return (we know those feelings were not of God, although we also believe He does want us to return.)  But this story is glorious.  This wasn't a one time visit.  God willing, Estefani will have a long term support system for the rest of her childhood.  There will be letters and visit and needs fulfilled and prayers prayed.  She will be told again and again and again that God is the Heavenly Father who is with her when no one else is.  From now until forever, Estefani's story will be different.  Her story will be one of love, not rejection.  Of beauty, not tragedy.  Six months ago when God called us to sponsor her, He knew.  And one thing I know for sure, He is only beginning.

Dreams Come True (Honduras 2014, Part 7)

Back at the sponsorship center, the staff was busy preparing for Melania's quinceanera party.  For those of you who are just now joining us- the main reason I returned to Honduras when I did was to have a 15th birthday (quinceanera) party for Melania.  It is a huge deal for girls in Central America, often bigger than their wedding day!

It was awesome to arrive at the project and see all of these women gathered around, excitedly planning Melania's party.  It helped me to know that when we said goodbye later that night, our girls would have a whole army of people to look after them.

Guests began to arrive, and it was time for us to get ourselves ready.  While we got dressed and did our hair and makeup, the amazing staff at the project decorated the church.



Oh, did I mention that right before the party, the church got swarmed by thousands of flying termites?  They were all over us and the church; even in our dresses!

Just like a wedding here in America, a big part of a quinceanera is the father-daughter dance.  Unfortunately, Melania's father passed away 3 years ago.  Before the party, one of my team members, Jonathan, pulled me aside.  He said, "Megan, I'm not fluent in Spanish, but I think your girl just asked me to dance with her at the party."  It was such a sweet moment to once again see how much of an impact not just I, but my whole group, was able to have on my girls.  I loved that they have such a strong support system behind them. 



Practicing





Melania's family and friends started arriving, along with the children who are sponsored by our team.  The party began and Melania made her stunning entrance.  She was so nervous, but handled it with such grace.



Melania, her brother, and I all gave speeches at the party.  Through her brother's speech, I learned that it had been Melania's dream to celebrate her birthday this year. 

My teammate, Judy, doubled as my translator during the party

They also had a ceremony where Melania's mother replaced her flat shoes with heals- a symbol of becoming an adult.



 And then, the father-daughter dance



Seeing Melania twirl around in her gorgeous pink ball gown and tiara, hair and makeup all done, was a clothed in garlands moment if there ever was one.  After the father-daughter dance, the dj (a project worker with a computer) played some dance music and everyone danced.  Everything was beautiful.  There was just one very important thing missing. 

That thing was Estefani. 

The Funnest, Longest, Happiest Blog Post Ever (Honduras 2014, Part 6)

Unlike the majority of my posts, this one is going to be a lot of pictures, a lot of light-hearted fun, and not a lot of depth.  This day did have purpose, as you will read about.  More than anything, though, it had joy.  This joy transformed each of our hearts in ways that will stick with us forever.

On the ride to the water park, Estefani and Dayana entertained us with some adorable clapping games.  We talked about My Little Pony and jewelry and whatever else 7-year-old girls talk about.  Melania and I sat together and had great conversation.

We arrived at the water park and excitedly gave the girls the swimsuits we had brought for them. While shopping for the trip, we had carefully prayed and debated over clothing sizes for our girls.  By the grace of God, they were all perfect fits.  They always are.

The water park we went to was really just a few pools with 2 slides.  Our group members were the only people in the whole place that Wednesday afternoon.  We all got in the pool, and quickly realized that the two youngest girls could not swim.  Bella helped Estefani.  Melania's older sister, who had tagged along with us, volunteered to help Dayana. 

We went down the big slide, which was quite hilarious.  The slide goes half way, then flattens out.  You have to push yourself for a while.  Then, at the bottom, it picks up speed again to the point where you think you're going to fly off of the side.  It is a beautiful view through some trees.  We went down a few times, and then caught the younger girls as they came down.



At the top.  Aren't they precious?

The entirety of my heart

Then there were the swimming contests...



And the time we just sat like this and talked about our favorite bible stories...

It was a great afternoon of swimming, sliding, bonding, and joking around with our translators.  At one point, Melania took my hand and pulled me away from the group (again), to go walk with her on this sheltered dock that was nearby.



We had left our translator behind, so we were on our own for communication.  Somehow, though, we made it work.  Of all things, we talked about fish!  And we actually understood each other!  Our alone time only lasted a few minutes, but it is one of my favorite memories from the trip.

Everyone else eventually got out of the pool.  We told the girls to go and change, and that we had gifts for each of them.  We decided to take each child aside individually to give them their gifts.  I took Melania to sit under a shelter.  Bella took Estefani. 

In addition to clothes, jewelry, art supplies, and journals, I gave Melania some artificial flowers, which I told her were a symbol of our friendship.  I explained that when I visited one of my best friends who lives far from me, she gave me flowers as a gift, and they just made me feel special.  I wanted her to feel that too.



Meanwhile, at a nearby table, Bella was giving Estefani toys, clothes, plastic jewelry, a bible, devotional books, art supplies, and everything else under the sun...

Bubbles :)

Estefani's tutor, who had come along as a chaperone, was overwhelmed with gratefulness.  "She doesn't have a mother or a father," she began, "so it means so much for you to care for her."  Meanwhile, Estefani was mesmerized by a plastic ring with a heart on it, that could not have cost more than 10 cents.  "What a beautiful ring!", she said, "I am going to sleep with it tonight." 

And then there was Dayana :)

A few minutes later, I looked over and saw Dayana and Estefani all decked out in their new treasures.  I thought about Isaiah 61:3.  Beauty from ashes.  Estefani was sporting a beautiful dress, sparkly jewelry, pink sunglasses, and a flower in her hair.  Meanwhile, Dayana clung to love in the form of a doll and a frilly pink headband.



It was such a beautiful day, and it was now time to take the girls home.  Not for long, though.  They would return to the sponsorship center later for Melania's quinceanera party and our final goodbyes of the week.  None of us were ready.