Saying Goodbye to Chimachoy

Written on November 17th, 2022!!

I am sitting here on our second flight of the day, UA1429 from Houston to Newark, and I am at a loss for words that express my gratitude and emotions about all that the Lord has done in the past two months. It is so hard to believe that we’ve spent the last two months living in Chimachoy, Guatemala and doing ministry with Dar Para Dar, and now we’re on our way to Romania. With plenty of time for reflection and writing, I will attempt to sum up the past few weeks of ministry! I’ll be posting another blog that will solely focus on our first P-Squad debrief and training in the next couple of days!

There are three relationships that I’ve got to tell you about!!! The first is Mari and her daughter Jacqueline. Mari is the first woman I met in Chimachoy, and she quickly took me under her wing and made me feel like family. Each time I visited her house (usually once, sometimes twice a week!), I brought a different member of team 247 with me, and she showed us radical hospitality. Mari taught us how to make tortillas, asked to see pictures of our families, and always had a seat ready for us at her table. I was so honored by her love and hospitality. One of the last weeks in Chimachoy, she invited our whole team over for dinner, and we spent nearly 4 hours cooking, laughing, making tortillas, and enjoying the meal. Mari and her family are believers, and it encouraged me so much to get to experience the real unity and bond that believers all over the world share with one another because the Spirit of the Living God is in each of us! What a gift!!! Mari and her daughter and I will stay in touch through WhatsApp, so I am excited to intercede for them in prayer and continue to love them from afar. It was more difficult to say goodbye than I had anticipated. My heart melted when we said goodbye. When we were leaving her house for the last time, she and Jacqueline pulled me backwards to share a moment alone. They had bought me a beautiful, embroidered blouse as a gift and a memory of our friendship. They showed me the love of Christ through their hospitality, generosity, and genuine care for me. Yep, I was a puddle of tears.

The second woman is named Maria and her granddaughter Dulce. Maria and Dulce are a part of the Catholic church in Chimachoy. My teammates met this family about halfway into our time in the village. One Friday, we decided to drop in for a house visit. Her house is down a few steps, so we stood at the top of the street and called down to her. She came out of her house and when we said hello, she began to sob. A few of us quickly ran down the steps to console her, while the others waited in the street and interceded for the conversation. She explained that her head has been hurting her for 3 years, her husband passed away a few years ago, she’s concerned for her sons who work in the field, and she has a big pile of dirt at the entry of her home that she can not move on her own. We prayed over her pain, her sorrow, and her sons. We got to share the gospel and pray over Dulce in Spanish, and I told her that I would return on Monday to spend more time with her. We also promised to return with tools to help her with the dirt. So, on Monday we found a wheelbarrow and made our way to her house with a team of guys from Gap J. The boys spent hours and hours that day moving dirt from one pile to another, with a smile on their faces and willing hearts. I got to spend about 3 hours with Maria and Dulce that afternoon harvesting beans and talking in Spanish. The Lord has gifted me with some really sweet opportunities for fruitful conversations in Spanish, and it encourages me and challenges me to press in to learn more! After the boys finished with the dirt and we finished harvesting beans, we asked to pray over her. Maria’s requests were the same as they were on Friday. Led by the Spirit, we asked to anoint her house with oil (that morning, Justin had gotten a word, “anoint with joy”, for the day… how fitting!). We prayed over her house and her family, praying for joy, anointing, heaven’s perspective, protection, holiness, and more. We are really excited about this relationship and though team 247 is leaving Chimachoy, the Gap J boys will continue to do ministry there until January!

The third woman is a Janet. She lives with many sisters and women of her family, and no men. My teammates had visited her house a few times already because God had orchestrated a beautiful story of blessing and healing. The story is too good not to share, but I’ll save the full details for another time (or ask me about it!). In short, Cheeka had broken her ankle at training camp and came to Guatemala in a boot and with crutches, but the Lord gave her miraculous speedy recovery. Then she met Noemi’s grandmother. Cheeka learned that Noemi’s ankle was broken, and when she prayed over Noemi and gave her the boots and crutches, they were a perfect fit! Praise the Lord! So, I went with the girls to visit this family one day, and I got to sit with Janet for an hour and a half as she worked on her güipiles. The whole time, we spoke in Spanish and shared really sweet conversations. I returned the next week, and she taught me how to make the güipiles. Then they bought Coca Cola and chips for us to enjoy with them. I was so impacted by the way that they graciously welcomed us into their home and showed gratitude for the ways that God had blessed Noemi and their family through us. I was so honored by the patience and grace that Janet showed me by spending time with me, practicing Spanish with me, and teaching me how to make güipiles.

All three women made an impact on me, and I will not soon forget the kindness, humility, hospitality, and grace that they showed me. It’s truly a privilege to get to know people whom the Lord carefully and intentionally created. My heart is knit with theirs and the goodbyes were hard. I am grateful for how the Holy Spirit led us throughout our time in Chimachoy and organized such detailed encounters with the Guatemalan people there. A piece of my heart is left with each of these families in Chimachoy, and I am confident that there is so much more to come for them. They will look upon the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living, and one day we’ll be reunited because we are alive together in Christ! Thank you, God! My team, 247, is committed to continuing to intercede for our people in Chimachoy. We are bringing our sticky-note prayer wall with us to Romania and will be diligent to continue ministry through prayer.

As we head into an ALL SQUAD (YES, LORD!!) month in Craiova, Romania, I look forward to posting blogs more frequently because we will have access to wifi! Thank you for being fervent in prayer for my team and for your patience when I couldn’t update you with consistency like I had hoped (one hard part about living in a village & on an avocado farm without wifi!). I am grateful for you. The texts, comments, and voice memos that you send mean so much to me, seriously!! I am beside myself with thankfulness in my heart to God for the gift of community and the body of Christ.

You matter to God, so you matter to me!

Kara Grace <3