Change.

The valley before the hospital was built. Before the town exploded. Twenty years ago.

As I reflect on my last time in the valley, this is the word that continues to resonate with me.  Change often finds resistance within us, but it is also the very thing that brings about redemption, growth and new life. 

I have been coming to this valley now for 25 years and watched as roads were built, clinics were started and phased out, the hospital was built, homes were built, schools were birthed, thousands of visitors came and went and change.  Change was inevitable.  Painful at times, but inevitable.

As I arrived this year I was hit with the realization that my prayer spot above the valley had been taken over by a new road.  Nooooooooooooooo was my reaction.  Just one word.  It was as if the bulldozer that plowed through the mountain also plowed through my reality that nothing is certain.  I was in disbelief that this part of what I’d always known had changed.  Over the years there were numerous wildfires that swept through this part of the mountain.  There were fences built, cows that came and went.  But it was a place that was always tranquil, undisturbed and unknown by others.  Twenty five years ago the wildlife was scare in the area and I watched as birds, snakes and small animals came back to this place.  I watched the valley build up around it, come to life.  But the mountain still remained untouched.  Till now.  This new road symbolized the change that has happened within the ministry over the last 25 years.  Change that was the normal part of life.

I climbed the mountain to pray and say goodbye to a place that I have seen so many answers to prayer, a place where I watched the valley come to life and grow, a place where God met me in so many ways.  And now, it too would change.   I know that the next time I return, there’s a good chance that a house will stand there.  My heart poured out prayers for the people who will inhabit this sacred space.  The countryside will be lotted off and people will now have access to town.  Isn’t this what we wanted for the valley?  For the people to prosper.  So I walked the entirety of the road, blessing the ground, the new families, the opportunities, prosperity.  I let my heart reflect on the 25 years of change that this place has held.

The inevitable change.  New pavers being placed.  New faces in the street.  New items at Mega Mundo. New staff in the hospital. New houses.   It isn’t the same Guatemala that I first came to.  But I am also not the same person.  This land, these people, my encounters with God in these spaces has changed me too.  The witness of miracles and experience of daily dependence on God has changed me from the inside out as well.  And without this change I would not be who I am today.

 Needs are greater than the supply here, requiring a daily dependence on the Lord to provide.  That is something that hasn’t changed.  The ministry has and always will continue to serve the least of these.  A ministry that is fueled by prayer, another thing that has not ceased to change.  And so in my life I embrace these truths as well.  What I learned on that mountain has been core to my being. The life verse that brought me to Guatemala remains one I live by still today.  “My food is to do the will of Him who sent me and to accomplish His work.” John 4:34. 

Change is real as I looked over the valley. And it will continue to grow.

Change has been a theme of the last year of my life.  Well, being honest many years of my life.  Chasing after obedience to God and surrender leaves change inevitable. And I hope to continue to do the same things with the changes in my life as I did with the road on this mountain.  Pray through the changes, adapt as needed and see the hope for the future as God gives and takes away.