Guatemala Short-term Missions trip

July 26 - August 2, 2022

Day 4 | Friday, July 29

Home visits + concrete, part 2

by Chad George & Hannah Isaacson

Day 4

Chad,

Today we returned to the same community and in general vicinity of where we had laid the concrete slab on Tuesday. We started our trek with a devotion by Ben on “what is love”. It was a powerful reminder of who God is, His grace and mercy and how we need to approach our ministering to the Guatemalan people.
The uneasiness of not knowing what to expect on the first day of home build was gone which made for greater observation of the day; having eyes to see our surroundings and get a better sense of those we were serving.
This homesite for today happened to be a bit of a ways in which required us to walk and carry all the equipment to where we would be building. Again, It gave us a wonderful opportunity to see the people. we reached our destination and were greeted by the family who had also kindly set out a table so that we would have a place to eat our lunch.
The location Layout required that we get creative with how we were going to accomplish the task but with all our eager team members, coupled with the family, neighbors and city workers willing to help, we completed it in a timeframe that we did not expect.
The day was filled with much hard work but also laughter, connection, relationship, bottle flipping, car rides with Zack singing the entire theme song to puppy pals and finally Pizza Hut for dinner.
It truly was a joy to pour out all that we have to serve and bless the local people because we are constantly reminded of the sacrifice and generosity of our savior which only motivates us to want to do more.
Hannah,

Today we visited two families who both needed hope and encouragement. The first family was a single mom with 3 kids, who are living in her brother in law’s house and renting from him. He’s planning on selling the property and soon they won’t have a place to live. Her youngest daughter has numerous health problems including, dwarfism, a hole in her heart, lung issues, Hepatitis, and parasites. They have almost no access to medical care. Her mom doesn’t know how bad her heart issue is, and basically said that her daughter could die at any time.

Her daughter likes going to school but they wouldn’t let her go because she’s too sick most of the time to go. Even though she has all of these problems, she was so energetic and joyful in showing us her school books and kittens—she wanted to show off for sure! She was really entertaining to watch, I loved watch her hang out with the missionary’s daughter. I saw her dig into her school backpack and she got half-way into the bag to just take out some items to show us.

Her mom is in such a desperate situation right now, with no home, no food, no access to medical care for her daughter, and three kids to take care of. When we first started chatting, we found out that she’s been attending a Jehovah’s Witness church—and that she was confident she was not ‘good enough’ to go to heaven. But after the Gospel was shared with her, and she read from several passages in the bible, she wanted to accept Christ as her savior on the spot! Praise God! The change in her demeanor when we first walked in compared to when we left was remarkable. She said that she felt like she was between a rock and a wall, but that the weight was completely lifted when she accept Jesus. We gave her and her family clothes, shoes, blankets, toys and stuffed animals for the kids, 50 lbs of food (lasts about 3 weeks), and a Spanish bible.

Today we were able to meet some physical needs for both families, but the hope and encouragement they received in hearing about the love and faithfulness of God was the greatest gift by far!

Our Guatemala Missions Work

Rick Fulton, the founder of Mission Mobility, leads short-term trips to Guatemala, partnering with Grace Community Church. During these trips, teams work alongside Bethel Ministries to distribute the wheelchairs and walkers that they’ve been collecting all year long.

Teams also build metal homes for families. These homes typically include a fuel-efficient wood stove, triple bunk beds and pouring a concrete floor. The team also collects food, clothes and blankets to distribute and they carry it with them throughout the week as they distribute it in multiple locations.

Learn about our field staff & global outreach