This is my first mission trip out of the states. I tried to not have any expectations going into it, but there are always people telling you what to expect. My past mission trips have always had structure to them and a schedule of the day. Here in Chichicastenango, we’ve been doing a lot of Holy Spirit activation prayer to see where the Lord leads us in ministry. It’s honestly been a frustrating time for me. I’ve never done anything like this before. I know the Holy Spirit dwells inside of me, but when I sit there in prayer, I feel like I don’t get anything from Him during the time of activation. I start to get impatient in prayer and hear what everyone else is experiencing during that time, which makes me compare my relationship to the Lord with others.
One day we were doing listening prayer and I had seen a yellow butterfly. With this being totally new to me, I honestly didn’t know if that was just my thoughts or what the Holy Spirit wanted me to see. Going out on our prayer walk right afterwards I did not see a yellow butterfly and kind of got discouraged, thinking “oh that was just my thoughts again”.
Today, writing this blog, I felt incompetent because I can never get my thoughts together on paper. I closed my eyes and said a prayer on what I should write about. When I opened my eyes, I saw that yellow butterfly. Wow, God is good. He is with my team and I here through our struggles, our praises, and through our ministry in Chichi. I’m so excited to press into the Lord these last two weeks and to be patient with His timing. My prayer is that coming back to the states me and the Holy Spirit will be the best of friends.
“The Spirit’s presence is shown in some way in each person for the good of all” – 1 Corinthians 12:7
