Today I received the link to my personal fundraising account for my mission trip to Guatemala, which means I can officially start raising financial support! If you'd like to donate to my fund (and make my WEEK!), you can visit this link: https://www.adventures.org/give/donate.asp?giveto=partFund&selected=Ambassador&desc=Rebecca%20McGlothlin&appeal_id=MCGLOTHLINHOPE.
Also, in an effort to hopefully answer some questions some of you have asked me (or have wondered about in your head!), I wanted to make a little informational post with some FAQs. So here goes! (And if you have any more questions that I didn't answer here, please feel free to ask; I would be happy to talk with you more about this!)
Where will you be going? I will be going to Guatemala! Specifically the town of San Pedro. We might spend some time in surrounding cities and go to Antigua one day, but most of our ministry will take place in San Pedro. It is a small community around Lake Atitlan, which is basically a volcanic crater. The area is absolutely beautiful. (Look up pictures and you'll see what I mean!)
Who will you be going with? I will be going with an organization called Ambassadors, the high school department of Adventures in Missions (which is the same company that runs the World Race, if you know what that is!). AIM does mission trips for people of all ages and to places all around the globe. From what I've learned over the past year of knowing about AIM, I can tell you it's an incredible organization.
When will you be going? I will leave June 30 and arrive back July 14. My first three days will be spent at the Adventures in Missions headquarters in Gainesville, Georgia, where my team will have a small training camp to prepare us physically, emotionally, and spiritually for our mission. After training camp, we will fly to Guatemala, spend about ten days serving there, then come back to Georgia for one more night to debrief, and then I'll be back home with plenty of stories to share!
What will you be doing there? While I don't know a ton of specifics yet, I know that most of our work will be outreach to the community. This will probably look like running Vacation Bible Schools, praying for and with others, and working alongside the local church.
One of the biggest practices AIM uses in ministry is "ATL" or "Ask the Lord." Often times, participants on AIM trips will spend time in listening prayer, simply asking God to show them what to do next. This means that we won't always know exactly what to expect on certain days, but that's a beautiful thing! We get to fully listen to, trust, obey, and rely on Jesus for our ministry opportunities.
Will you ever get a chance to contact home? Yes! Depending on our Internet access/availability, I will have at least a few times to contact family at home and (hopefully!) post pictures and blog posts while I'm there! I will do my best to keep y'all updated, as I would love love love to share this adventure with you!
Why did you decide to go on a mission? Short answer: because I truly feel that God has called me "for such a time as this" (Esther 4:14). Long answer: about eight months ago, after reading a World Race missionary's blog post, I felt I heard God whisper in my heart, "You're going on a mission." I had been reading and learning about AIM for a while by this time, and I had just found out about Ambassadors. I was hesitant to accept this whisper as a calling, afraid it was my own voice. But as I kept praying and researching and learning about missions in general, the Lord grew my desire and kept assuring me that this what He wanted me to do. I felt His guidance in prayer, as verses (Esther 4:14, which I mentioned above, was one of them, in fact!) came to my mind, I felt His nudge on my heart with every photo of mission work I saw from AIM, and eventually I felt His assurance in the depths of my heart that He indeed was calling me. Through the guidance of the Lord and the encouragement of others, I decided that now was the time I was called to pursue this dream.
Amidst calling me to this mission specifically, the Lord has also done some amazing things just stirring my heart for missions and justice in general. He has shown me through through blogs, stories, photos, videos, people, and countless other outlets His call for His followers to participate in missions, whether that is by supporting those on the mission field or going out as oneself. I believe I am beginning to really understand what His heart for the nations looks like, and it's beautiful. While I am still very unsure about my future, I have begun seeing little ways He might be potentially calling me into missions full time someday, and this trip is also an opportunity to discern that dream.
I am so glad the Lord has been so faithful from the very beginning up till now, guiding my every step. I still can't believe He has called me to this, but I am so thankful!
Why Guatemala? When I first started looking at the options for Ambassador trips, there was something about Guatemala that just stuck out to me. I can't quite put my finger on it, and I know it might sound crazy to say you feel you are called to a country just because of a certain feeling, but I have heard plenty of cases of the Lord gently nudging people and moving their hearts to care for a certain nation, and I believe that might be what He's doing with me for Guatemala.
There were also several other factors that pointed me to Guat, like the distance from home, the cost of the trip, and the fact that I'm semi-familiar with the language and culture, which is always a plus! It felt like a good place to take my first step in missions.
Ultimately, I have felt the Lord tugging my heart to this place. I have learned about the deep, deep need and the immense poverty, but I have also learned about the hope Jesus is providing to my Guatemalan brothers and sisters. It will be my joy and honor to walk alongside them in knowing Him and His love better!
How can we help? Any support you can give is SO appreciated! You can give to my mission financially by visiting the link given at the beginning of this post, and I would always, always love your prayers! Please be praying specifically for my team for health, safety, opportunities from the Lord, and that overall His name would be glorified on this mission! And please, please pray for the people of Guatemala. Many of them have been struck by intense poverty, but more importantly, not all of them know about the hope that is found in Jesus. Pray for their hearts and minds to be open to Him and for His blessings to cover all their needs.
If you've read this far, wow, thank you! I seriously cannot tell you how much it means to me even just to have the emotional support and encouragement of friends and family. There's no one else I'd rather do this with, and I hope you know that each of you, even just by caring or reading this post, are joining in on this mission with me.
Lots of love!
Hope
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