Three Big Takeaways from Guatemala

Guatemala was an incredible first month of ministry! My team was so blessed to be working with Worship Room and all of their incredible staff and I couldn’t be more thankful that God gave us the honor of serving His Kingdom with such an amazing group of men and women who have devoted their lives to the call to make disciples and help those in need.

This month has been a good time to grow and learn from the Lord, whether that’s been through what He showed me through alone time or through others speaking life and wisdom into me. Here are the big takeaways that I believe the Lord has given me from this first month of ministry.

1. Life is ministry; ministry is life. This is something that Adventures in Missions (the organization that the World Race operates under) made very clear at training camp. Missions is not about just going on a Missions Trip and then returning to your normal life having nothing changed. Missions is about impacting people for the Kingdom every single day in every opportunity. Ministry does not stop after you get back home; your life is a ministry opportunity.
2. Just because I can’t “feel” the Holy Spirit’s presence doesn’t mean that there is something wrong with my relationship with the Lord. I’ve been going to a charismatic church back home in Minnesota, and although I am very grateful for how they try to connect with the presence of the Holy Spirit, I think something that I’ve taken away from going there is that I always need to be feeling the Holy Spirit’s presence. This is not something that the church has taught, but something that I’ve come to believe despite them not preaching this. Regardless, I’ve learned this month that the Lord gives and takes as He pleases and that you don’t need to constantly be feeling the Lord’s presence to have a relationship with Him.
3. I need to stop trying to separate the Church from Christianity. I’ve been hurt by the Church in the past, most specifically by the culture of the students (not the faculty) at the university I went to and how I felt they were hypocritical, judgmental, and hateful towards those they deemed sinners. Those four years were very impactful on me in such a negative way, but it opened my eyes to the idea that the Church is filled with flawed people who sometimes preach things about Christianity that are not true. There was a reason that Jesus ate with tax collectors and others that Jewish society deemed unworthy. Something I’ve been passionate about is showing others that who Jesus is – a loving, caring, Son of God who wants the spiritually sick to be healed – is not what the church sometimes preaches. Since I had these harmful experiences, I have been passionate about showing myself and others that the Church is often wrong and hurtful. But something that has been made apparent to me this month is that instead of trying to take people away from the Church and its misguided notions, I should focus on being a solution within the Church. The Church is extremely important, for it is the body of God, and sometimes the body of God is sick. I think I need to have the mentality of helping the Church to heal instead of trying to drive people away from it.

Those are the three big takeaways I had from Guatemala. Next month, my entire squad of 29 people will be spending time on a mountain in Honduras doing manual labor. I hope you all have a great week; I’m excited to talk again soon!

God bless,

Colton

These pictures are just for fun. Last weekend we hiked Volcán Acatenango; the third highest point in Central America with an elevation of 13,045 ft. Here is a picture of Volcán de Fuego; an active volcano adjacent to Acatenango. Below that is a picture from the summit of Acatenango