My prayer request to my friends and family for this mission trip was not to ask for the typical safety and easy travel, but rather to offer my body for whatever it takes for God to be glorified in accordance with Romans 12. Well I’m thinking now that God has a good sense of humor in checking to see if I really meant it. This morning we were told the amazing story of how God led Ivan and Kimberly Tate to establish and develop Casa Angelina. As we were then embarking on a tour of the property, I dashed back into the meeting hall to grab some sunscreen and as I headed out of the building I was amazed to see thousands of pieces of glass flying in front of me.
A moment later as I lay on the ground, my first thoughts were how embarrassing this was as I had just mistaken the window next to the door for the door itself. H0wever, in my usual exuberance for missions in Guatemala, I was not deterred in overcoming the obstacle resulting from my mistake – thus I succeeded in taking out the complete window with various parts of my body. Fortunately, it only resulted in a little loss of blood, one stitch, and a lot of humility. But like I said, whatever it takes to glorify God, right?
In the afternoon, the kids of each of four of the houses presented a program to us, and with each group we were told of some of the horrifying conditions from which the kids were rescued. It was truly shocking to think of the suffering that parents and other adults would inflict on defenseless children. This is not only a witness to man’s depravity, but also to the desperate lives that people lead in places like this. Our hearts and prayers go out to them all and thank God for people like the Tates and their supporters that reach out to mend the broken lives.
