Our journey kicked off in Cancún, Mexico, where we had to travel for 10 days and meet up with the rest of the team in Guatemala. My group got a lift to Merida which is a big city in Mexico where we spent our first night sleeping at the bus station where we got chased away at 12pm. We found another bus station where they let us sleep.
Early morning we started hitchhiking towards Campeche. The lady we got a lift with was actually on her way to Cuidad del Carmen which was even better for us. So she took us there after stopping, dropping us and picking us up 3 times along the way! She even drove away with everything we had- all our backpacks and equipment! At the end she offered us to stay and help her paint her house. For 3 days we painted that entire house.
She took us to the next village to get a kick start to Tapachula which is the border city from Mexico to Guatemala. Unfortunately there was a road block by protesting teachers, demanding better salaries and we had to walk through it, not being able to make it to Villa Hermosa which was our mark. We got a lift by God's grace, because there where only taxis picking people up at the road block. We sat on the back of a pick-up truck with church benches on the back on its way to Campeche which was three hundred kilometres back on our route! And just like rugby, you just have to pass the ball back sometimes to move forward. So we took the ride and after dropping the benches at the Mormon church, we set off for Tapachula. The man booked us into a hotel for two nights, took us to restaurants and drove five hours extra just for us to get us to the border.
We entered Guatemala without any hassles and got picked up by friendly locals who took us for hamburgers and dropped us off at an intersection where we had to turn off to go to Lake Atitlan where we were supposed to meet the others. We waited very long on that corner until we finally got picked up by electricians. We spend the night at their house and they provided for us. The next morning we got dropped off at San Juan where we bumped into the fire brigade. We had the opportunity to pray for them and they invited us to stay with them.
Without spending a penny God just looked after us, provided everything we needed and gave us some ministry points. I felt safe and secure during the journey and the one thing that I held unto was this single thought: that God has a plan. Whatever came over my way was part of God's plan, and He makes everything work together for the good of those who love Him.