May winds bring June showers?

    The Lord’s renewal comes like springs showers; which during the rainy season in Guatemala is most of the day, every day. The rain started the last nights of May but was gone through the mostly sunny days; it brought with it renewal and life. However as of the last two days, it has proven to be an obstacle we are still learning to overcome (see photo of our car ride home yesterday).

    Yesterday we decided to prayer walk through Chanco instead of visiting houses as the rainy season had begun. It was challenging as most of the dirt roads and trails that make up this mountainous village had turned to mud, but It was a wonderful day! The rain clouds brought much needed shade and a breeze; the sun even came out for a soccer game between Chanco and Olopa(a nearby town) in the afternoon. After Chanco’s victory, we had enough sunlight leftover to play with the children. After playing for about an hour the sun receded back and the rain clouds rolled back over; the children quickly disappeared (and I mean vanished) as the rain drops began to fall. And we were quickly drenched after we raced to the truck and began the ride down the mountain.

    Although we had encountered rain the day before and narrowly escaped as slightly soaking wet, yesterday we were soaked through and through. Everything is wet; half of the teams shoes are still soaked and some of the roads look more like rivers. So we were not surprised that it rained all night and even on into this morning. When faced with the task of visiting Nearar today and it’s narrow footpaths that are sure to be slip-n-slides for our inexperienced gringo feet, we decided to save ourselves and spend a day resting as the rain falls steadily here at the hotel. 

    The rain is beautiful though and its constant beating on the tin roofs of Jocotan serves as a reminder of God’s unfailing love and mercy. As we prayer walked yesterday we passed two Catholic churches holding mass, and the thought that every week they hear the gospel but never hear of God’s grace broke my heart. Amongst the showers of June there is a drought among these people: they have yet to experience the quenching power of God’s grace. This is what I pray for today as we rest and take shelter from the rain: that the Lord would send a rain of revival into these villages and that this spiritual drought would end. 

“Let us strive to know the Lord. His appearance is as sure as the dawn.

He will come to us like the rain, like the spring showers that water the land.”

Hosea 6:3