Hey friends!
Sorry for the silence, I wanted to let you know that I am currently in Costa Rica. My squad has been here for about a month now. I wanted to wrap up my stories from Guatemala before I started sharing about here in Costa. We have about a month left here so there should be plenty of time to do that before we leave!
Hope you enjoy this blog!
During our time in Chichicastenango, also known as Chichi, one of our ministries was to serve the local tourism police.
I love how this ministry started. When Pastor Juan first arrived in Chichi, he heard about the poor reputation that the police had so he decided to do something about it. His response was to start building relationships with them and through his actions and service, share the love and gospel of Jesus Christ. Pastor Juan had wonderful stories about the men and women that he got to share with and the life changes he saw. It also opened many doors for ministry because of his friendship with them.
Since COVID started, his ministry with the police has been on hold. But after a couple weeks of us being there, Juan let us know that it had been approved for a few of the police officers to come to our location for a church service and a meal. This was really exciting because this was the first time someone was allowed to come to the property where we were staying.
Our time together looked like a group of 10 or so officers arriving before lunch and we would have a mini-church service for them. Our worship team would lead in Spanish, followed by a teaching or testimony in Spanish or with a translator. Then we would share a meal together along with good conversation in broken English and Spanish (shoutout to my bro, Google Translate) and we would end our time with prayer.
Over the few weeks that we were able to do this, there were mostly returning faces and it was so much fun getting to know them and becoming friends. Something really fun that came from this was that we started playing soccer with them in town. We would rent an indoor soccer space and play for an hour or two. It was a fun time, and I’m proud to say that we won quite a bit (shoutout to Lynneal + Tito, our MVPs).
One of my favorite times together with the police was when we went to pass out meals with them and to prayer walk the city. We met at a local restaurant, each one of us got two meals to pass out, and then we spread across the city, along with the police. The plan was to prayer walk and ask God who to give one of the meals to and pray over them.
I ended up in a small group with Victoria, Kevin and our police friend D. By then we had hung out with D a couple times and it had been fun getting to know his journey becoming a police officer and getting to see pictures of his adorable daughter. As we walked, I would use my phone to ask him questions in Spanish and he would answer back in his broken English. It’s funny how these simple moments are the ones that stick in your head.
My group ended up in an upper part of the city. Chichi is SUPER hilly, as you would expect from a mountain city. At one point we found our way into a literal hole-in-the-wall bar, and my teammate Kevin gave his last meal to an older gentleman sitting outside. D actually knew who this gentleman was and after we prayed for him, D led us to the gentleman’s home. D gave his last meal to the gentleman’s wife, who only spoke the native language. As we were about to pray for her, the gentleman came walking up, having just returned from the bar. We got to pray for both of them and before we left, I gave my last meal to two teenage boys who might have been their grandsons.
After that, D showed us the incredible view of the valley and the city cemetery from the hilltop that their tiny community was built on. Getting to spend this time with D, and knowing that the other officers were walking with our group and serving their city, was a really sweet experience.
It was a bittersweet moment at our last soccer game together. It was hard saying goodbye to the men and women that we had spent the last few weeks getting to know, hearing their stories, and learning about their families. Our ministry with the police was one I had been excited about but it ended up being a whole lot sweeter than I could have ever hoped.
Hey! Thanks for making it to the end!
I am still fundraising to stay on the mission field. If you would like to partner with me, you can donate here on the blog, or scroll up to the orange donate button. Otherwise through Venmo/Cash App at jackieivarsson or PayPal at [email protected].
Thanks!
Jackie, this is a great article of what you wrote. This is amazing what God can do especially as everyone is dealing with COVID-19. God has been with you and everyone during this adventure. This is cool about D and the police. May God continue to watch over you and has his loving arms around you.
Thank you so much Diane! The fruit has been amazing in this season of COVID.