Obligation, hobby or vocation?
What is it that makes us shine and do we do with passion?
According to the Merriam-Webster vocation is a summons or strong inclination to a particular state or course of action. Now, it is good that from time to time we ask ourselves if what we do day by day is a strong inclination as a vocation, or simply what we do day by day is to fill the time we have.
So far this year, which is already 4 months and beginning the 5th, we have gone through a thousand things up and down both emotionally and professionally and this is when I ask myself: is what we do enough as a vocation or do we need a change?
Doing what we like
This year so far has been very blessed in being able to help with translations. There is always something that I love when we translate and it’s being able to meet more and more people. We have been working with Healing Nations for a year now and each time is a unique experience. This year we met our American doubles and coinciding in so many similar things was super fun…. To the point of having a possibilities room to make art.
I also had the opportunity to translate for a team of chiropractors who divided into two small groups. One was fixed in Antigua and Jocotenango, and the other with whom I was translating all the time, was in Escuintla, Guazacapán and Jocotenango. A whole new experience to see that with a little bone-thumping, people felt much better. There was a case in which a lady in her 50s had suffered a stroke and half of her face was crooked and had a facial spasm that would not go away. Dr. Pam came to me and said “I can definitely help her” so she checked it over, found the affected area on the spine, prepped her and BOOM! The noise was so loud that a part of me thought “she snapped her waist”. The lady moaned a little and then she got up and the miracle began to emerge. Her spasm stoped, her face settled, and she looked like a different person. We were all very happy because she had been like this for 10 years, Dr. Pam only said “this is the miracle that God wanted for you” and believe me, we could hardly contain the tears.
I translated for another organization and in the program they prepared for the children, they talked about the strength that God gives us. At first, the children did not pay much attention when reading from the Bible because they were very young, so I suggested that we do a mini play, they loved it and even though it was for children, the message touched me in many ways. There was a moment when I wondered if I use this gift to easily connect with children to my full potential or if I only make the minimum effort. I once heard from someone who was a former leader in an organization “you have to take the picture that sells the most” and those words made me think. I do not consider myself someone who discriminates or anything, but I do focus on the work that is done more than showing photos of people at their most vulnerable moment. It made me very sad because I realized that many people are not in missions because it is truly their vocation or calling, but because they either want to have a position, they want to hear people say “how great they do”, or maybe they just see it like a business. I have struggled a lot with this concept of “selling poverty, showing the sad side” or many other ways of how my country is presented to many people from abroad, and at the same time, it encourages me to continue with Semillitas and be that different factor that promotes the education and development of the children of my country more than “a picture that sells more”.
Starting a new project
With Oscar, we love to see different ways in which we can use both our time and talents, and we have started a pilot plan. Cosecha Urbana (Urban Harvest) implements a lot of what agroforestry is and this means that orchards are made but not as monocultures (spaces where the same type is planted) but, with the help of the same plants, whether these plants are edible, ornamental, medicinal or service plants, are placed so that one helps the other and the land is not exploited.
We started this plan in our garden. And why is it a pilot plan? Well, we want to start small and continue big to provide Semillitas families with vegetables and a better diet. Of course it will not always be in our house, but we want to think big. We want to involve families and friends who want to come and help us get this done so we can all harvest and help others as we heal the land. We want to share and create a culture of food freedom.
Improving every day
It’s so nice to see when people help Semillitas little by little and in different ways to make it be something real and good for the children who visit us. We received a donation of encyclopedias and reading books that the kids are really enjoying. We also received an awesome gift: a mega whiteboard where we can now write and write.
And we’re preparing to celebrate Mother’s Day with a unique craft. Since most of the kids we have are girls (we only have one boy) trying to do something that everyone would enjoy was challenging but then my dad gave me some pine cones and we’re transforming them into flowers. To see the final result, stay tuned and visit Semillitas.
Seesaw
We’ve been a bit reserved in our past newsletters regarding our personal struggles because we always feel that this newsletter is to inform about Semillitas rather than what might be happening to us. This time is different and we‘d like to share a little.
Last year, we visited a specialist in infertility. We started the process at APROFAM, which are clinics with different specialties at a lower cost, but the drawbacks we saw is that only one person can come in for a consultation, we have so many doubts, and they are not trained to do in vitro. We didn’t want to take any steps until we had some funds to start any process and for this, we saved what we could, sold one of our vehicles, and for Giving Tuesday we prayed and asked some people if they would like to help us reach the goal of $25 k. Only a few joined to our cause and even though we didn’t put the total together, we were able to raise about $5k to get started. My age does not favor us very much with this process (as the doctor always reminds me) even though I don’t feel the age that I am, it is a factor that we need to consider and not miss any opportunity. We already know that I have to go under the knife, we still don’t know when we will schedule it but we do know it’s not far away. Now, we would very much like each of you to pray and ask God how you would like to support us, either in prayers or financially. If you would like to support us financially to complete the $20k we are still missing, we have several ways you can donate:
1. If you live in Guatemala, you can deposit to the savings account of Banco Industrial 5924896 in the name of Brenda Raquel Roldán Valenzuela.
2. If you live outside of Guatemala:
a. You can do it through PayPal here
b. You can Xoom it using savings account of Banco Industrial 5924896 in the name of Brenda Raquel Roldán Valenzuela
c. If you need it to be tax deductible you can enter here and you must add a note saying that it is for Semillitas.
Always remember to send us an email to semillitasgt@gmail.com to know that your donation is intended for us and not for the ministry.
We fully trust in God that everything will turn out well and each step we take, we do it in faith knowing that He will open the doors and facilitate each process so that our dream of being a family will be completed.
Prayer requests
As always, your prayers are a very important element for our ministry and family. We still believe that God has something for us and if you would like to join in prayer, our requests are:
- Semillitas. We are in need of someone who can help with Semillitas to continue to function without having to suspend work while we go through the entire medical process.
- Our family. We see it coming closer and closer. We ask God for wisdom and peace throughout the process.
- 20 of $20. Both we and Semillitas need to see financial provision to be able to continue with the call that God has given us. Remember if you want to support the ministry go to Semillitas donate and dont forget to add a note stating that it’s for Semillitas.
