A new journey is just beginning...

Well, ten days ago we arrived in Guatemala City, Guatemala. We spent five days just across the border of Tennessee at our training camp. Everyone arrived to training camp in Tennessee that Friday and we separated into our groups depending on where we were going. My team is called Puerto Barrios and consists of FIFTEEN other girls. At first I wasn’t sure how this would pan out, and I was a little worried… but now I’m not. There is a special quality about a group of women of faith that is so special. 

 We started bonding quickly the first day when they told us to go grab three things from our luggage and the other stuff we wouldn’t see till morning. We immediately started to plan who would bring what, and if someone only had two things, they volunteered to grab something for someone else. That night we sat around a camp fire eating banana boats. Let me just explain those quickly… You take a banana, split it down the middle, and then without taking the peel actually off you open it a little and stuff it with chocolate chips, marshmallows… and whatever else you want! You then wrap it in tinfoil and stick it by the fire so that the marshmallows and chocolate chips melt, and when it’s cooked you take it out and scoop out the insides with a spoon! I know it might sound a little strange, but it’s actually not that bad :). When we went to sleep last night we laid out on tarps with a beautiful starry night above us.

Throughout the last few days we have all become closer as a team and have often gathered together and talked about the Lord, or just chatted together. One thing that stuck out the most to me was how often someone said, “Oh, let’s pray about that.” This has really been encouraging to me because whenever something happened to a person we prayed for them about it. It really has opened my eyes to how to incorporate prayer not only into our daily lives, but also the conversations that happen throughout the day. It’s been so amazing to pray with this group of girls that I’ve been placed with, and I’m hoping that I will be able to bring that back home to my group of friends. There’s just something about gathering together in prayer with a group of sisters in Christ that can’t be found elsewhere. 

Phillippians 4:4-6 says, “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”

Already I feel so close to my teammates and I pray that God will only bring us closer, using us to strengthen and encourage each other. I am so thankful for everyone that has helped to get me here to Tennessee (and tomorrow Guatemala!!) and also for all the prayers you have sent my way. I pray that God will continue to partner us together on this journey so that I can share what God has been doing in our lives, and hopefully impact yours. Once again, thank you so much!! God bless all of you, and know that I love you so much! –Laura Bane