Lorena

One of my favorite relationships we have at our base is with a Guatemalan named Lorena.

 

 

                          (Kristin Rene, Lorena, and I)

 

Our base first met Lorena at the café that she ran, “café urbano”.  It quickly became a regular hangout and Lorena became a friend that we would stop by to say hello to.  At different times members of our base had it placed on their hearts to go evangelize to Lorena, but the Lord did not open the timing for it.

 

One particular day, as a housemate of mine (Kristin Rene) was preparing to go home for Thanksgiving, we decided to stop by to talk to Lorena.  That day, everything changed.

 

As we conversed with Lorena, she told us that earlier that week she had been robbed at gunpoint and that since then she has had no peace.  I shared with Lorena about Matthew 6:19-21, storing our treasures in heaven and not on earth.  And for the first time in our relationship she allowed us to pray for her.

 

In the next few meetings, Lorena confessed that our group was different, that there was a peace we had that she could not describe but that she wanted.  It was then that Lorena put her faith in Jesus, such a holy moment.

 

In the following months, I moved to Lake Atitlan and briefly went to the States while Lorena closed her café and opened a new restaurant in Antigua.  Due to the distance we only saw each other briefly over those 6 months.

 

 

 

Lorena was one of the first people I connected with when I got back.

 

She was open about having ups and downs in her relationship with the Lord, but believes in a new season now that I am back to help her.

 

Lorena was a bit down on herself in her inconsistency with God over the last couple of months, however she told me about the changes in her lifestyle she has made since she said “yes” to the Lord.

 

She was eating healthier, being more conscious of her social decisions (friends, hangout spots, etc.), and was working out regularly.

 

Lorena also said, “My friends see me now and say, ‘there is something different about you, a joy that you have and we want it’.” 

 

I looked at Lorena and told her, “That was you a few months ago.  You are not the same person we met months ago.  Jesus is in your heart and you have been transformed.”

 

Lorena smiled, extended her hand towards me and tapped my forehead.

 

“I feel like you just activated me.”

 

Praise!

 

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