My husband, Diego, and I have been living in Guatemala since August 1, 2021.  We have 5 children and 3 grandchildren who live in the United States.  When God led us to serve here, I planned to travel back and forth for holidays and special events (weddings, births, or funerals).  I never imagined that regular travel would not be possible.  But in December of 2021, we made a trip back to the United States, and my world changed.  

The Guatemalan government enacted a new rule stating that all non-residents (that included us at the time) would need to have a Covid vaccine to re-enter.  My husband and I are not vaccinated and feel very strongly against it.  Fortunately, the new rule did not go into effect until January 10, which gave us time to change our tickets and re-enter Guatemala before they began enforcing the new rule.  Unfortunately, this new rule meant that if we left Guatemala again we would not be able to return without a vaccine. And because we were not residents, our tourist visas required us to leave the country every 6 months.  We were trapped.  To add to the problem, my daughter Elena was expecting our third grandchild in early March.  I strongly desired to be there with her during the early weeks to meet my new grandchild and to help her, like I did for our other two grandchildren.  I was heartbroken and disillusioned with God.  I knew I was following Him to come to Guatemala and serve, but I did not understand why He was asking me to give up seeing our family, which was very important to me.  I still loved being in Guatemala.  I loved all the people we served and served with.  I didn’t want this call to missions to end.  But I strongly desired to also be able to visit my grandchildren!

This is where my conversations with God began.  Initially, I was so heartbroken that I could hardly pray about the situation.  I knew that nothing was impossible for God, and I also knew He could ask me to give up this desire to see my grandson.  After a couple of weeks, I was able to release my desire to Him and to pray “please make a way for me to see my grandson.”  At that point, I was  willing to accept whatever He deemed best for me.  

During this time, I was participating in a Visionwriters class called Miracle in the Mirror.  During one of the teachings, Jaque told the story about asking God if her son would ever get married.  God told her yes, and then she asked what his wife’s name would be.  God gave Jaque the name, and in the end it all came true.  This gave me the courage to ask God questions, expecting to hear an answer.  I decided to ask God if I would get to see my grandson.  He said, “Yes.  Buy a ticket.”  I asked, “When?”  God said, “March 12th.”  I was blown away.  I immediately told my husband what God had said.  I wasn’t sure if I had been dreaming since I was lying in bed praying.  God had never given me a specific date to do something before.  My husband asked me if it was God.  After reflecting on it, I was very sure that I heard from God.  My husband believed that I should buy a ticket immediately.  On Feb. 15th, I bought a plane ticket to Minnesota for March 12th.  That was the easy part.  I knew I could change the ticket at the last minute.  I really believed at that moment that God was going to change the rule before I got on the plane.  

As time was drawing near for my flight, the rule had not been changed.  In fact, we had friends who had been lobbying the government to change the rule, and they were being told that the rule would be in place at least until the end of 2022.  As things stood, if I got on the airplane I would not be allowed to return.  I began questioning God.  Did I hear You correctly?  He told me I did.  Should I go?  Yes, you should.  I began to have a lot of fear.  I wasn’t sure I could go through with it.  I talked with my husband about it one evening, and he suggested that I should make sure this action was supported by scripture.  The next morning while praying about this, God reminded me of the verse John 10:27:  “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.”  God was gently reminding me that I do know His voice and that I could trust and follow Him.  He also spoke to me saying, “This is a gift.”  I was amazed that God would give me such a specific gift.  Now I just had to have the courage to accept it.  I journalized and prayed about it over several days.

 

Here are parts of my conversation with God:

Me:  I am scared.

God:  I know.  I will be with you.

Me:  What if I can’t come back?

God:  You will come back.

Me:  This doesn’t make sense.  It seems unwise.

God:  I am the wisest.  You can trust me.

 

Another day in journalizing:

Me:  This is hard.  There are so many unknowns.

God:  They aren’t unknown to me.  Take the step of faith.

Me:   I am afraid of being separated from Diego for too long.  I am afraid of looking foolish to others.  I want to be obedient to you.

God:  You know my voice.  Faith isn’t true faith unless there are possible consequences.  I can’t make it easier.  YOU have to trust ME.  The more you practice obedience, the more your trust will grow.

 

God wanted to give me this gift.  He also wanted to show me that I could step out in faith.  I could trust Him.  On March 12th, I got on the plane with some trembling.  Only God knew when I would be back.  I flew to Atlanta and then to Minnesota.  I got to meet my new grandson and to spend time with my daughter and my other two grandchildren.  It truly was a gift.  I savored every minute, and I tried not to think about whether or not I could return to Guatemala.

On March 15th, just three days after obeying God and getting on the airplane, we heard incredible news.  On March 11th Guatemala had changed the requirements to enter the country, although they had not initially made it public.  A vaccine was no longer required.  I could return to Guatemala and my husband!  God had done a miracle!  He changed the rule before I got on the plane on the 12th.  He just didn’t let me know, so that I could test my faith and take a step of obedience.  It had seemed very strange that God told me to book a ticket on a specific date, but it was the perfect date for Him to show me that I can trust Him when He asks me to obey.  He is an amazing God.  He knows our hearts’ desires.  He speaks.  He loves.  He moves mountains.  We CAN hear Him.  We CAN trust Him.  There is nothing that He cannot do. 

Tina Barr lives in San Antonio Aguas Calientes, Guatemala with her husband, Diego.  They have been married 32 years.  She has five children (three of which were adopted from Ukraine) and three grandchildren (currently ages 5, 3, and 10 months)  Before moving to Guatemala, Tina was an Algebra teacher.  She attended her first Visionwriters class in Guatemala in early 2022.