A Season of Restoration

As we start the 2019 year, we hear from Julianna, our Executive Director of Global Shore Opportunities in Guatemala. Calling our staff to unity and focus, she invites us all to pray together for the ministry that the Lord has given us in Guatemala.

“I still remember when we first learned this Christian Education method from Impact Ministries. Karina, our principal, said: ‘I’ve  worked in Christian education for eight years… but if we can fulfill this vision? It’s going to transform Guatemala.’

“Our vision is that our students would form a relationship with the Lord, and that everything they do would come out of that. We want them to succeed academically, but we want to build a foundation of love so they can walk out the calling the Lord has for them. It requires sacrifice and living differently from those around them, and they can’t do that without a relationship with the Lord.

“It starts small: if our young students learn to clean up and listen to their teacher because it’s an act of worship, because it pleases the Lord, when they grow up they’re going to be the best employees there are. They’re going to work as if they’re doing it for the Lord, and He can trust them with a greater calling.

“The vision that the Lord has given us isn’t a formula, though. We can get into a routine. Schools need routine. They’re built on routine. The Spirit, though, isn’t always interested in routine. So, we need to listen to  the Lord, hearing how we should implement the vision that day, that month, that year. We can’t afford to coast through a day.

“We know that it’s not because of us that the vision is being fulfilled. We’re dependent on the Lord. If we just get into a routine and rely on our own resources and abilities, we’re not that great. We can’t do it on our own.

“The Lord spoke to us at the end of last year and said that this would be a year of changes, that he was restoring a number of things in our ministry. There are big things, like unity and relationships, but there are small things, too, like taking care of our facilities. He said that this is His building, where He dwells, so we want to take care of it.

“During the start of our year, I challenged our staff to recommit to our vision, to their responsibilities. This isn’t just any job. This is the Lord’s work, and we need to be alert. We need to be committed to the vision of the Lord bringing restoration in the lives of these students. There are other jobs out there, but this is a calling.

“This vision is what we’ve committed to. I know it’s a lot to ask, but we need to get this right. Several staff members have already told me that the atmosphere feels different this year, now that we’ve recommitted to the vision, and I would say that the Lord is walking us through that restoration process.

“If you pray for us this year, pray that we would be faithful in this season of restoration. Pray that we would be able to see clearly what the Lord is calling us to. We don’t want to lose focus. Pray that we would be unified, too, because that’s the key to it all: that we would have unity through the Spirit.” //

Since 2004, Julianna has lived in Guatemala and led the work of Global Shore Opportunities on the ground, while also drinking good coffee, eating good food, riding horses and enjoying life with her husband, Jacobo, and their children.