Antigua, Guatemala: God Is On The Move

Hannah Kraus here coming at you live from Antigua, Guatemala!!

Okay where to begin, wow what a crazy awesome week it has been here and to think I have two whole months here!! Wow thank you Jesus. 

This past week I have had the honor to step into the homes of many Guatemalans. God has shown me how loving the people here truly are. They are so hospitable, they have no agenda, they are interruptible. All things I am guilty of not always being great at. We knock on the doors of people who aren’t expecting us and they invite us in for hours and never rush us out. They desire to love incredibly well here. It is a true blessing to be welcomed with open arms into a strangers home. I’ve gotten to walk into homes and ask they Lord what he wants to speak to the people living in these homes. Occasionally I get to sit on the side and pray silently for someone else that is speaking to the family.

 I had the honor to meet a woman named Rosa. Rosa is a mother of 2 children with one on the way. The Lord was so kind to allow me to pray over this woman and her children and place my hand on her stomach as I did so. I was reminded of this “My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.” Psalm? ?139:15-16?. God was just reminding me one how BEAUTIFUL it is that life is grown within a woman but not only that but that this mother was once a child too. I got to just remind this woman that she was a good mother. 

As I write this, God is just really showing me where my heart is in Guatemala. It is for the mothers. These mothers work incredibly hard. An observation I have made is that almost every home I’ve stepped into, a father was not present. Most children are being raised by a single mother or a mother and a decently absent father. This to me is heartbreaking. I see the desperation in these women to be told they are doing a good job. Their eyes cry out “do you see me?” And I do. I see these women doing their absolute best they can with what they have. They love their kids so well. And their kids love each other so well. 

Another woman I met was Gabi. Gabi has five children and one of her children is wheelchair bound. She lives in a small home and I actually first spotted her son when I was standing above her roofless living room. I then saw her other kids poking their heads out saying “Hola!” And it was not until then that Gabi had poked her head out waiting for me to notice her. God was moving my heart to go find how I could get to her door. We got to her home and we began just talking to her and her kids. She had told us how her husband is mostly drunk and not helping her out with the kids. I saw so much desperation on her face. Desperation to be seen and heard and we just got to love on her and her family during this time. At the end of our time at her house, our team felt lead to pray over her wheelchair bound son, so we did. As we were ready to head out and began to say our thank yous and goodbyes, I heard the Lord tell me to pray for this beautiful mother. I got to just pray blessing over her as well as just remind her how her hard work as a mother does not go unnoticed. It was a very tender moment with this woman. The Lord was speaking to her and touching her heart in that moment. I was blessed to be apart of what God is doing in her home. 

Needless to say, I am loving every bit of what God is doing here. This is just a tiny capsule of all that is happening here. God is moving and he is teaching me so much not only about how to hear his voice more but also how to lead in his strength and not my own. He is reminding me that this squad is my ministry and it is an honor to serve them as well. I am getting to watch the growth he is producing in this squad and it is absolutely beautiful! It is a true blessing to be here on Gods behalf, declaring his goodness. 

Lastly, thank you all for your support. Thank you for your prayers, donations and encouragement. If you would like to support me in my monthly expenses that are not covered by my donations, feel free to Venmo me or cash app me at hannahkraus12. I ask y’all to join me in prayer for the women of Guatemala and also for my squad as we enter into the next two months here in Guatemala. Pray that this Squad would focus on one thing only and that is God is good and he deserves all the glory. 

With deep love, 

Hannah