BACK TO MY ROOTS.

Friday. February 2, 2024. Chimachoy, Chimaltenango. Prayer Mountain. I’m FRUSTRATED.

-“It’s so sweet! I pray for a sweet growing and fruitful time in Guatemala!” -A

-“You guys are gonna absolutely love Guatemala !! It is my favorite place on earth !!” -E

-“You are going to love it!!!” -K

(Comments of racers who spent a time in Guatemala on their races.)

Tuesday, January 30, 2024. Parramos, Guatemala Adventures in Missions Base. I woke up in Guatemala. GUATEMALA. I remember being here when I was a little girl with my dad’s family. The smells, the houses, the “tiendas” on every corner, stray dogs, etc. It brought back all the childhood memories I thought I had forgotten. My roots…

“I love it here.” I considered for even the slightest moment moving here to live and do ministry for the Lord. IMAGINE THAT. Two days and I was ready to commit. LOL. 

Days before this I received the news of which ministry my team would partner with for the next two months. Dar para Dar. A faith based organization to help strengthen families for the Kingdom. Amazing right? however, I was not the fondest of where exactly this was. The mountains. Ok. Great. No.

My thoughts:

• I KNOW there will not be service so how will I stay in contact with my family/friends/supporters back home?
• I am team F.R.O.Gs storyteller! I can’t even do my part/job because how do we even blog or post? 
• I don’t know a THING about camping!?
• How am I gonna shower? What am I gonna eat? I’m gonna get eatin by the mosquitoes!
• I know not a single thing about manual labor, I’m useless at this point. 
• Why does the other team get to be in the city? 
• THIS IS SO UNFAIR.

These thoughts CLOUDED my mind. & the best part was that I kept it to myself. 

I wish that I would have received the news after we arrived in Guatemala because the enemy did not hold back in trying to keep me in the states. I thought to myself that it wasn’t too late to stay and go back home. Some people desire to know ahead of time so they can prepare but I did NOT. I wish I never knew about my ministry until I was here and had no escape. I struggled with these thoughts and yet I still made it to Guatemala. I refused to let the enemy succeed. 

Wednesday. January 31, 2024. Today is the day. The view is absolutely stunning. A beauty that can only be captivated with one’s own eyes. A picture does this piece of creation NO justice. Prayer mountain.

A project given to our host by the Lord. A vision that is so easy to jump on. It’s a mountain. So as you and I would have thought theres not much. No service. On the way up there are near by villages and distant laughters of children playing. I can see it. I can see what this place will become and why it is so important to the Lord. A place where families can just … get away. Away from distractions, life, work, etc. and just BE with the Lord. I can see it. & I. Me. JOSEPHINE HERRARTE gets to be a part of the uproot of this place. Thank you Jesus.

Friday. February 2, 2024. Today is sabbath. Day of rest. It’s the third day up here. I’m frustrated. Angry. Why am I being punished? What did I do to deserve being stranded up on this mountain? Did I make you angry Lord? WHY US?! Why does the other team get to explore the city and make relationships with people and do what we all thought we were coming to do? There is absolutely NOBODY on this mountain but 2-3 people. Everyone uses me as a translator because I know Spanish. I am MORE than happy to be of some sort of use because like I said before, life skills? Not on my resume. LOL. I try to make relationships with the few here but truly I feel like I will only be the translator. Of course they want to engage with the Americans more! I’m frustrated. Hurting. Missing my family and friends more than ever before… Tomorrow we go into Antigua, Guatemala.

I am here because the Lord is so jealous for my attention and sadly this is what it took to get me to spend time with Him. How sweet is that? The Lord loves me so much that he literally had to strand me on a mountain for my attention. LOL. No sarcasm intended.  I lived a “busy life” back home in Texas. Always working, serving, repeating. Prayer mountain is not even close to being finished. Yet it has the full capacity to do what it is intended to do. I am here because I believe in this place. I believe in the restoration & transformation within families that will happen here. I am here because I believe that for my family. I am here because I want to grow and know His voice. I am here because I love Him. 

(Please pray for physical and mental rest! I am still struggling and dying to my flesh every single day. I have also still been recovering from my sickness back in Georgia and the cold weather up here in the mountains has not been of much help!)

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