Guatemala Short-term Missions trip

Day 5

Today we met for breakfast at 7am gathered our things and left at 8am for our destinations, one group for a home build and one group for home visits.

At the home build we framed walls set up bunk beds for the family as well as a stove and a bathroom. Many people in this region don’t have a stove and cook on an open fire so this was a big help to Celia and her four children. We had lunch at noon and the kids played limbo and we had a chance to share stories with one another about how we landed in the various places we are in our lives. Then we got back to building to finish up the house. The house was then painted along with the bathroom so the house isn’t just a shelter but feels more like a home for them. The home was then decorated inside and we dedicated the home and prayed for the family before we left. They were so grateful and we were so humbled by their gratefulness. It is inspiring to see our team and many volunteers working so hard to give to someone who truly needs it.

The group that did the home visits were able to visit four families and the visits generally last about an hour and a half. They gave food, asked how the parents of the families “are with God.” Missionary Ben asks questions also to find out the situation of the family, and leads a Bible story or a passage to witness to them. Then they were given clothing and shoes for the children and prayed for before the group left to the next visit. At one of the house visits, the mother was asked if she had any prayer requests, and her only prayer request was that we (missionaries and volunteers) would be blessed in the work that we were doing, which was remarkable because her family didn’t have much and you’d think that she’d have prayer requests about other things.

So the feeling that came about for the group was a change of perspective. The amount of opportunities we get in our situations in America, sometimes our instinct is to think of ourselves first, but this woman who is struggling in life has shown the love of Jesus in her belief in God and her prayer request.

It takes a follower of Christ and someone who is at complete peace with nothing to make such a prayer request. Thought she may have nothing materially, she has everything n God. After our day we were taken to dinner by the local contact in the area we were serving as a thank you for our service. We had dinner and then we did our devotion which was from Philippians 2, which speaks of Jesus’ complete obedience to God and his complete selflessness by coming and serving us when we didn’t deserve it.