Mercer University in Guatemala

If you are reading this, we’ve landed safely in Guatemala (I’m actually writing this on the plane). Today begins just short of three weeks with a group from Mercer University who will be serving in Huehuetenango. The group will be teaching ESL classes and just generally loving on the kids. I’m excited that we get to spend so long in one place, and I’m especially excited to see how this group will be transformed by what they experience.

Usually about this time on the plane ride an unspeakable weight settles on my spirit. Not a burden, but a solemn, soul-stirring weight – as C.S. Lewis would call it, “the weight of glory.” I posted on my personal blog just last week something along these same lines. There is something of such significance at hand here…eternity is so thick in the air you can see it. Just now as I am writing this I’m listening to Brooke Fraser, who is one of my favorite artists, and one of her songs begins the chorus by saying, “Oh can you feel the gravity falling, calling us home?” Perhaps that’s the best way to describe it: the draw of Christ wooing His children unto Himself, calling them to Himself. ..it’s like gravity. But the enemy is not going to let those children go without a fight – a present reality that is equally as tangible.

As we step foot off the plane, we step into an other-worldly battle. But in this case our weapons are far from traditional: compassion, kindness, gentleness, tears, laughter…in a word, love.

Christ is here, because we are here, and He is in us. Not that I, or any other team member, have anything to offer. But Christ in me is actively fulfilling His promise to the orphan and the widow. In His Sovereignty He has allowed the situations these precious children find themselves in – and in an equally Sovereign act He is redeeming them for His great glory and their great good. What an honor that He would use us in the process.

I am fully convinced that the heart of God beats for the orphan and the widow…after all, we all fit into that category. Thanks for your prayers over the next few weeks as we seek to serve the kiddos in Huehuetenango. We will do our best to keep you updated on what’s going on!

John Adams