The Exposé of a First Time Gimp

From Recovery to Hyper Drive

How are we already in September? 2018

Here I am again trying to update you all about my life with some semblance of frequency. We are part way through August and it is starting to rain again down here after an abnormally long period of dryness, which is giving everyone a bit of relief. I am sitting in a cafe and it’s raining outside, Seattle has never felt as close as it does right now. Things at work are ramping up as we prepare for Freedom Sunday and our team continues to grow. But let’s just skip to the juicy part; my knee.

So the last time you heard from me I was on medical house arrest and going slightly stir crazy. I am proud to announce that around a month ago I was able to return to the office and to my work on the condition of attending physical therapy. After a day long ordeal of trying to pick a physical therapist and having conversations with everyone in my office who, either them, or their loved ones have had a knee injury, I prayed, made an appointment and went.

I walked, well crutched, into the office and was met by the smiling faces of a man and a woman both sporting the Guatemalan national soccer team shirt. I sat down slowly into the chair just wanting to hear that I would be back to normal soon and told them what had happened. In an odd way their faces lit up when I told them how I had gotten the injury, the same as many of the uber drivers I have had since being on crutches, and the man told me he would get me back on the pitch in no time.

Because I played soccer they asked me where in Europe I was from and how long I had been here in Guatemala. I laughed and politely told them I was from the states and why I was here. He apologized and said he was surprised someone from the US was playing soccer, but I quickly made my love for the sport apparent to him via rambling about the World Cup and the European club season that is just starting up. He smiled and proudly told me “well did you know that I am the physical therapist for the Guatemalan Mens National Team? Just you wait and see, we will be in the World Cup soon.” Needless to say, I did not know that. And I can say that I have seen young men in the uniforms coming in and out of the office from time to time.   

Now back to my knee. After a month of exercises, electric therapy, massages, and ultra sounds I can finally say that I am off my crutches and I went on my first run today since the injury. My knee has gained a lot of its flexibility back and I am working daily to strengthen it. I am so grateful to God that after two months I feel normal again and that I didn’t need surgery to fix the problem in my knee. I can’t wait to go back to seeing more of this beautiful country and to continue the fight to end an atrocity that children in this country face in massive numbers.

In the office we are continuing to spread our influence and a system reform team and to streamline the coordination between the police and public prosecutor’s office with the goal of shortening the time to trial. As an office, we work in the four districts of Guatemala that have the highest incidence rates of child sexual violence. As of this week we can finally say that we have mentors working directly in the police and public prosecutors offices in all four of these regions. They are vital because they have a direct influence on the work being done in the system. Through this we have already seen an increase in the arrest rate for these types of crimes in all four districts in the past couple of months and hope for even more to come.

We are currently ramping up for Freedom Sunday (which I hope you all are also participating in) which comes at the end of this month. We have seen major progress working inside the Catholic Church here. They have chosen to make September the month of child sexual violence awareness and are having a special mass on Freedom Sunday the spread awareness of what the church can be doing! Catholicism is big down here so this will spread awareness and support on a massive level here in the country and we have already seen big things coming from this partnership.

Another major update in the office has to do with the gathering that is coming up at the end of this month. For the first time in IJM history they are paying to send all of their employees around the world to Dallas for a massive conference. This will be the first time that all of IJM will be under one roof. We, the interns, aren’t going, but three Visas of some of my Guatemalan co-workers, including my best friend in the office, were rejected three times by immigration here. They were rejected due to a lack of family ties here or their lower economic status, essentially the US questioned that they would come back down here after the conference. We thought there was no way they would be allowed to go. We prayed for months, but they continued to get rejected.

BUT a week ago we received word that an IJM employee in Washington DC asked a favor from powerful senator, who happened to be his friend. He asked him why these vital members of IJM were being rejected from entering the country and if he could do something about it. These Guatemalan employees are all administration people. The bottom of the hypothetical totem pole. But what he said was spot on, they are vital and precious to our team here. Now, thanks to a letter from this unnamed senator they have visas and will be able to go take part in this important event. This was a HUGE answer to prayer for us and something we are VERY grateful for!

Lastly, some context before I get to my prayer requests. I am personally feeling stretched emotionally with the impending reality of leaving this beautiful country and all of the family that I have made down here. On top of this my partner in the office is leaving for three weeks to focus on her final exams leaving the work we typically do together on me. I know that I am capable of taking on more, but prayer in this season is definitely appreciated.

That being said, here are some ways you all can continue to be praying for me and the office!

• Prayer for safety for my upcoming trips to Honduras next weekend, and Belize at the end of September.
• Prayer for what’s next, and that I can have my hands open to receive whatever opportunities God puts in front of me, including possibly continuing on with IJM.
• Prayer for my next couple of weeks that will be saturated with work that I can take time to breathe and that I will lean on God when I feel overwhelmed.  
• Prayer for the new mentors that we are sending out into their respective districts. That they can mold the offices that they are working in with the police and the public prosecutors and set a precedent of hard work and can move towards cutting the time it takes for cases to move through the system.
• Prayer for the legal team as they continue to close down their operation here and transfer onto other things that they will feel appreciated and supported.
• Prayer that I will not begin to emotionally detach from relationships here in the knowledge that I am in the final stretch of my time here, but that I will instead invest more of myself.

 “True faith means holding nothing back; it bets everything on the hope of eternity.”

– Francis Chan