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These past few months have been interesting as we prepared mentally and spiritually for our trip to Ukraine to work with Hope For Orphans. Many of us felt called to Ukraine for the first time, or called back to serve the same kids a second time. As the unrest in Ukraine began to build, we began to truly pray that God would still allow us to go and that Ukraine would have peace. We did not realize that God had a different plan for our team.
As many of you know by now, our team is no longer going to Ukraine, and instead we are going to Guatemala. This was an extremely difficult decision. Our hearts will always be with Ukraine, but through this all, there is one huge thing we need to remember: we were never going to “bring God to Ukraine.” God is already in Ukraine! God is working in the lives of each and every child we would have served and throughout the country! While personally we wanted to badly to be a part of God’s work there, through intense prayer and discussion, we have realized that God had another plan for us. While we are heartbroken over not being able to go to Ukraine, we are also excited for this new adventure placed before us! Even though we are no longer going to Ukraine, God still has chosen to use us in another country He is working in: Guatemala!
We will be going to Guatemala through Students International (the same organization as Costa Rica). We are excited that we will be able to use our individual talents as we serve our brothers and sisters in Guatemala. There is a wide range of needs that we can help with, from health care to carpentry and more! God is doing some amazing work in Guatemala and we are eager to learn more about His plans for us and for the country!
Please continue to pray for Ukraine. Pray that the country will have peace and for our brothers & sisters there still serving God and His children. Ukraine will always weigh heavily on our hearts. Also, please pray for our team as we try to wrap our heads around this huge change and as we start over in our preparations. And lastly, pray for those we will be serving in Guatemala; that God would prepare their hearts, work through them and in our team. Thank you so much for your prayer and support! We are truly in awe of how many people have supported our team through this confusion, nervousness, and excitement! We love you!
-Team Guatemala