Beauty for Ashes

Volcanoes and mountains are all around us. The wind-painted with white and yellow butterflies. The trees-speckled with vibrant orange, pink or blue flowers. The buildings-unique and burst with color. No two things look the same. It sounds like an Instagram filter, right? Though it’s beautiful here, life here may not be as flawless as Instagram pictures show. 

Ephesians 1:18    

“having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints.” 

    What gets you out of bed in the morning? What drives you? There was a chunk of time in 2019 where I was working as a maid, a waitress, and serving anywhere I could at my home church. Most nights, I wouldn’t get home until 2am and then wake up for work again the next morning at 6am. I was going and going. The funny thing is that I didn’t need to do all these things to pay my bills; I just wanted to feel like I was doing something that  had some kind of purpose. Yet with each day that went by, I saw less and less purpose in it all. 

During that time in 2019, I went to Japan for a couple of weeks. It was a short amount of time, but it changed my life. There, I felt God speak to me on the call on my life to be a missionary. When I went back home to my busy, everyday life in America, I was at my maid job when I thought of dancing in worship with my new Japanese friends, and my heart exploded. I finally had a purpose to look forward to, a calling that gave me hope for more than my day to day tasks. I’m sure you have that thing too, dear reader, a calling that gives you hope. Something that motivates you in the small moments in life. 

A lot of women here do not have that. Most women in Guatemala wake up in the morning with nothing more to look forward to than making food, doing laundry, and taking care of kids. Although those things are blessings in themselves, many are persuaded to believe they are not made for anything more. Our team is determined to change that. We are doing all kinds of different ministries here in Guatemala, but one the Lord has laid super heavy on our hearts is Beauty for Ashes, women’s ministry. 

My team and I were praying for this ministry up on our rooftop before our first service Tuesday. No matter how hot it was on the roof, the word God spoke to me still gave me chills. He said, “The women here are just like the volcanoes you see before you, mighty forces of nature that leave people in awe, yet dormant. There’s a fire inside of them. It just needs to be awakened.” This requires a mighty move. Dormant volcanoes can become active again if there is an earthquake, a mighty shifting. Our vision is to tell these women about their worth, purpose, and love God has for them. Equipping anyone with these things is a mighty move. Mighty enough to set off an eruption.

    That evening at our first service, we had 28 women come, mingle, break bread together, laugh together, and receive what God says about their worth. When it was time for them to leave, we gave each of them a white rose with scarlet red tips. These represented unity, so each time they saw them in their homes throughout the week, they would be reminded of their unity with Christ. 

    Our next service will be on February 9th, and I can’t wait to see what God wants to speak to these women. If you’d like to be a part, we are accepting $10 donations to sponsor each woman. We also would appreciate prayer at any given time. Thank you to all who have already donated or have been praying. We couldn’t have done all of this without your generosity.