Guyana Highlights

Post #2 about Guyana.... and only about a week after the first! I wanted to share some specific memories from the trip and highlights.

First, a brief explanation of what we did. Our main goal was to assist with the parish mission of St. Francis Xavier R.C. (Roman Catholic) Church in Charity Guyana. The theme of the mission was "Save your Soul" which I thought was refreshingly bold, because that's actually what we want people to do, but so often we sugarcoat how we say it. Our daily schedule looked a little something like this:
6:30am - Holy Hour
7:30am - Mass
8:30am - Breakfast
9:30am - head out for house visits (go door to door inviting people to the mission)
12pm - Lunch
1pm - Siesta!
2pm - Kids' Activities, Youth Activities, Catechesis, Home Visits
4:30pm - Rosary Walk through the streets
5pm - Main Talk and Kids' Activities
6pm - Fun Event (campfire, pinata, skit, movie)
8pm - Evening Prayer
8:30pm - Supper
9pm - Testimonies, Daily Recap
10:30pm - head to bed

So, now that you have a little of our structure, here are some of my highlights from my time in Guyana:

Turning 24. On our 3rd full day in Charity, I celebrated my 24th birthday! The rest of our group, including some joyful Servidoras and IVE's, sang to me twice, breakfast and supper, and even made me a delicious birthday cake (see picture). While it was a little tough to celebrate this day away from my family, my 24th will be a birthday I will always remember. Word spread because I received more birthday hugs that day than I can remember and even some thoughtful gifts. Perhaps the best was that Fr. Brian offered Mass for me that morning and God gave me the amazing grace of understanding what a gift my life is!

Guyanese tradition of sharing my cake!

House Visits with Rachael. Rachael is a 8-year-old we met at the parish. Her mom helped with cooking and laundry, so Rachael and her 3 siblings spent time with all the missionaries. One day, Rachael came with my group to do house visits. Our first stop was at an elderly man's home. He needed Anointing of the Sick, so we prayed with him and Fr. Brian gave him the sacrament. His 3-year-old granddaughter (Ann Marie) was there and Rachael and I spent some time talking with her. Rachael shared some sweeties (candy) and a Divine Mercy card with a picture of Jesus on it. Later that night, Rachael approached me at the campfire and asked about the little girl we had met! It was so great that she was thinking about her still and I told her to pray for her. Rachael and some of the other kids and youth who came with us on house visits were amazing and it was incredible to begin equipping them at such a young age to share their faith!

Rachael and I on our house visit day

Pinata Nights. We had 2 pinatas while we were there and the 2nd was definitely memorable. All the kids were so excited to fill up on the sweeties. Earlier in the day, Steve and Jeff (2 fellow FOCUS missionaries) had made the pinata and filled it with 7 pounds of candy. While the pinata was being hit, they each brought another bag of candy... to toss out as the kids scrambled for falling sweeties. In fact, as the pinata broke, Fr. Hugo (the priest in Charity) was knocked to the ground by all the kids! That night we distributed 21 pounds of candy.... I hope the parents didn't mind the overly-sugared kids who came home that night. 

Jeff and Steve with their pinata

Fr. Hugo on the ground

Praying in Homes. On several of the house visits, we asked to pray with people. Several times we prayed a decade of the rosary with people who weren't even Catholic! On another day, I was the leader of my group. I tried on every visit to ask if we could pray with them and everyone I asked said yes! It was a simple prayer, but twice the people we visited were praying aloud with me. Some were even Hindu or non-Catholic. I realized that this may have been one of the few or only times when Jesus' name was said in their homes. What a beautiful opportunity to bring His presence right to where the people live! 

our FOCUS Missionary Team

There were many other great experiences throughout our mission trip, and maybe at a later date I'll share some of those. But for now, this about wraps up my Guyana blogging. We just started fall outreach today with the freshmen moving in, so I can't wait to share some graces and stories from fall outreach soon! Thanks for taking the time to read and have a blessed end to the month of August. 

the ladies of our group

Learning the Reality of God's Love... in a Beautiful, Challenging Way

Well, it's been a whole summer and I haven't blogged once. So much has been happening, it is hard to believe I haven't taken the time to sit back and just reflect on what has been one of the craziest, most grace-filled summers of my life. After a couple weeks at home following Team Director training in May, I flew off to FOCUS New Staff Training for 5 weeks in Florida. After returning home in early July, I spent 4 weeks soaking in time with family, catching up with friends and supporters, and spending some wonderful weekends at the lake and weddings with Devin. When August began, so did the next chapter of my summer. On the 2nd, it was off to NYC, to meet up with the rest of the Guyana mission trip crew. After returning to the States on the 14th, I had just 5 short days to catch up with loved ones, pack up, and get back to Duluth. Now, I'm almost a week in to my first on-campus semester as a team director.

As I mentioned, it has been a summer with many graces, and I could probably blog about any one of those "chapters" listed above for several pages. But, I want to share probably the experience that was the most unique and life-changing: mission trip in Guyana.

They say when you go on mission, to be ready for surprises. While I was certainly ready for some surprises (new foods, crazy God-filled moments, etc), I didn't expect the biggest surprise of them all: how tough it was to be on mission. I have wanted to go on a mission trip for several years now, and figured my time with FOCUS was a great time to do a trip. I was a little nervous about going to a foreign country and being outside my comfort zone, but never really gave much thought to how much room it would give me to experience God's love.

Outside my comfort zone. That describes the difficulty of the trip pretty well. Not only was I somewhere new, but everything was so different. Hot, humid days with no break from the heat because there's no air conditioning. Constantly being sticky due to sunscreen and bug spray, sleeping with a mosquito net, showering with rain water, and having to be cautious about drinking water sources. Not to mention super early mornings and late nights (even though the sun set at 6:30pm) and a totally different environment. Perhaps the icing on this whole scenerio was no cell phone, no way to connect with those I love most and share my experience with them day by day.

While I was in Guyana, these discomforts took over and were huge distractions. I struggled with being homesick, yet at the same time longing deep in my heart to share God's love with the people of Charity, the town we were in. So, I showed up each morning at holy hour and went to bed each night surrendering everything to Jesus as best I could.

As we flew home, I felt like I hadn't made the impact I could have or pushed myself enough. As I got back in touch with friends and family, everyone asked "How was Guyana?" I didn't know how to answer.... did I tell them the truth of how much I longed to be home, how hard it was? Or should I put on a brave face and pretend like it was amazing every second? Well, as I'm sharing the difficulties online, you probably realize I'm ok now with sharing that it was hard. However, in this first full week home, I've realized something. Guyana was amazing. My life was changed. And through my presence, others' lives were changed too.

I'll write another post soon (yes I promise) with lives I think I helped change. Before this post gets incredibly long, I just want to share the biggest impact the trip had on me: a better understanding of what it means to truly trust God's love for me. When I needed some sleep, He provided a siesta. When I was exhausted, He provided ways to serve that didn't involve running around with 50 4-11 year olds. When I turned 24 away from home, He gave me an incredible understanding of the best gift ever: the gift of life. And at the end of it all, He brought me home. Home to a family I love and appreciate so much more, a boyfriend who supports every step of my walk of faith, and a job that I truly love. Yes, being on mission in Guyana was great and there is truly a need for missionaries there. But, that missionary isn't me outside of those 2 weeks. My mission field right now is right here, on the campus of UMD, as team director of a truly wonderful team. And that grace of seeing how I really do desire every role God has invited me to right now is truly an incredible gift as I begin my second year on campus.

So, essentially I learned that when God says He will take care of me, He really means it. When He says He loves me, that's a very deep truth. And it's true all the time, when I'm at my best or worst. His love is real.

Until my stories.... here are some pictures!

playing Duck, Duck, Goose

Arts and Crafts

drinking the water from a coconut

our walk one day for house visits

kids' camp at the primary school

speedboat back to Georgetown