abbygawinski - the beauty of saying "yes!"

Hello!

Today I am writing from a coffee shop in Antigua, Guatemala! What a blessing it is to finally be here! This week is a slower transition week for most of our Squad, as the 15^th is Guate Independence Day, and our ministries are closed! This free time has been such a blessing to spend extra time with Jesus, asking Him to prepare our hearts for starting ministry on Friday! My team of 5 girls, named the Chameleons, will be in San Antonio working with Ministries called Worship Room and Hope! I do not know all of the details, but God has been growing my heart to say “yes” to anything and everything that He calls us to do there!

This week I was asked by our leadership to be one of the 3 worship coordinators within our squad, where our role is to facilitate weekly within our teams. When I was first asked to accept this role, I did not really see myself in this position, but I felt God calling me into another “yes!” A few hours later I remembered a word God had spoken to me over a year ago, where I felt Him asking me to step into a worship role! I talked to my worship leader at church about trying out for the worship team on violin but ended up stepping into a leadership position over our kid’s ministry and did not have time. I feel like that word was for now which is so exciting!!

On Monday we arrived in Guate we were warmly greeted by Guatemalan students studying to become missionaries to the nations! We have loved getting to know them and practice our Spanish, and they are also eager to learn English from us!

Yesterday afternoon we had the opportunity to celebrate Guate Independence by running in the streets with torches alongside a local children’s soccer team! The kids were such a joy to be around! I had the sweetest girl holding my hand until she got tired, and I ran carrying her the rest of the way! Praise the Lord for giving me the strength because I am not a runner!!

Today we had an ATL day (Ask the Lord) and God has shown up!! We started the day a little nervous to evangelize, but God really has given us the boldness we asked for! We decided to start walking the streets of Antigua, and every time we came to a street corner, we asked Him which way, and He always brought us to someone who needed prayer! God has grown our dependency and faith in Him exponentially, even just over the course of the last few hours! He has directed our paths and given us the words that transcends language barriers! God gave us extra tortillas at lunch to share with a man we met on the streets. Join us in praying over him because I believe God was showing me he has circulation issues and felt lead to pray for healing for him! We also prayed with a family who ended up laying hands on us and praying the Lord’s Prayer! We are so thankful to see how God has been moving in the hearts of his people here in Guate and cannot wait to join Him further!

Another blessing—Three years ago God put my friend Mikayla into my life! She led a woman’s Bible study and went to my home church. The way she lived her life was so inspiring to me, and I have always looked up to her and her walk with Holy Spirit. She went on the race in 2017 and told me so much about her experiences and how God grew her heart for furthering His kingdom to the ends of the earth. Last October I had the privilege of coming to Guatemala for her wedding and meeting so many of her friends that work for Adventures in Missions Guatemala. They prayed over me and over the course of my visit, I felt God confirming the calling on my heart to also go on the race. This week I found out that He placed me with an organization that meets 2 doors down from Mikayla, and He has blessed me with 6 weeks with her! It is crazy to think that even before we met each other, God knew that we would be back together in another country! Please join me in prayers for her and her husband as they are also support raising through Adventures in missions as they are ministering here in Guatemala! Find her here :) Aderkee and Mikayla Lopez (myadventures.org)

Praise report!! I am now a little over 60% funded!! My goal is to reach $13,000 by the end of this month! I can not wait to see how God brings in the next $1,764!!!

Thank you all for reading this! Please share my blog with your friends and family and anyone else God brings to your mind! I am so thankful God is allowing me to see what He is doing here, and I cannot wait to continue to share everything with all of you!!

Dios es amor,

Abigail