Day 1, Traveling from CR to Guatemala
Flying into Guatemala, I thought it was a super beautiful place, but the closer we got, the more brokenness I saw. We saw a lot of small houses, run-down businesses, and signs of poverty, and it made me realize how much I am taking for granted. Driving around the town was very eye-opening as well, and I saw how their society is different from ours. For example, the traffic is a lot more hectic, with motorcycles weaving in and out. I noticed that even through all of this destruction and hard lives that people face, they are still very blessed and thankful for what they have.
-Brendon Brown
-Austen George
This semester I have been taking a class about world religions and cultures. Throughout the class, I have grasped the differences in cultures at an intellectual level, but seeing those differences in person made the discrepancies very real. I now have a much better understanding of how blessed I am.
-Emma Lanxon
Day 2, Build Day, part 1 and Home Visits
Our first home visit today was a mother and her adult son who was wheelchair bound with cerebral palsy. From the moment we arrived it was evident that this woman loved Jesus, loved her son, and was a hard worker. Her husband was at work so we did not get to meet him, but she shared about their life. When their son was born, there were complications and he had to be resuscitated. She recognizes his life as a true gift from God.
To earn money, she washes laundry in the river, which requires her to strap the load on her son’s wheelchair; walk down to the river, which takes about 45 minutes; wash the clothes and return home, which can take up to twice as long since they are heavy with water. She shared that when people ask how she carries such a heavy burden, she tells them that her son is not a burden, he is a gift. Her faith and reliance on the Lord were such an encouragement to each of us who got to meet her.
– Natasha Miller
Day 3, Wheelchair Day
Today was wheelchair day and we handed out nearly 70 wheelchairs. I learned today that we don’t need to be able to speak the language to communicate the love of God. We can show God’s love through the service God has called us to take part in.
Another thing that stood out to me today was the love that these disabled people have from those around them. None of them were there alone. Most even had multiple people there supporting them. Husbands support their wives, children support their parents, siblings support their brothers/sisters, and the list goes on. The gratefulness that all these Guatemalans had for our team was encouraging for us as well. We are all thankful God has allowed us to serve a people we don’t know in this way.
– Aaron Barnhart
I have always believed that you can only see and experience Jesus in the Bible, but today completely changed that perspective. Today, I saw Jesus when we were handing out wheelchairs to those who could not walk on their own. Jesus said in Luke 4 that He came to give recovery to the blind and set free the oppressed. Well, He did not stop doing that once He left this earth. Today, He was setting free the oppressed through us. I realized today that because His Spirit lives inside of us, we are currently carrying out His work.
Our God is a big God, and He is intimately involved in all of our lives. I have learned on this trip already that He can be seen all around us. He is the giver of all good things, and He is a God who cares for us beyond what we can think or imagine.
– Emilee Drost
Day 4, Home Visits + Home Building
Today when we were on home visits, the most astounding part for me was getting to understand the perspective of Jesus washing people’s feet. I had to get down on the ground to put shoes on the children we visited, and that moment felt the most honoring to them because I was able to show how much I loved them without having to say a word. It felt like the best way to show them how much I love them, as I resembled Christ’s position of service. When I gave a 6-year-old girl candy, toys, and snacks, her first reaction was to give away what she had. Even though she had next to nothing, she was selfless and her first instinct was not to ask for more, but to give away what she was given. We can resemble this young girl and learn to be content and to sacrifice like she did. We have so much more than she has, yet our first instinct is often selfishness and we feel unsatisfied with what we have. I want to be more sacrificial and content.
-Austen George
I had the opportunity to go on home visits today which are always such a beautiful yet heartbreaking experience. The third family we visited particularly stuck out to me because they have been through so many hardships in their life, yet they have seen the Lord do numerous miracles in their life and have stuck together through it. In Guatemalan culture, it is common for the husband to leave his family when life gets hard, but this family stuck together and encouraged each other. At one point the husband was on life support, and the Lord performed a miracle and healed him. We reminded them that although they continue to face hard things and often can’t afford necessities like food and education for their kids, God is with them and continues to provide.
-Aubrey Miller
When we initially showed up at the concrete job site, we could see that it was tiny, dropped off on all sides, and had no shade, and we could tell that it was going to be challenging. We started working and the rhythm we had working as a team for the very first time was clearly a work of God. Even though we were exhausted, the patience we had for each other was a miracle. At the hottest point of the day, a young boy brought me a pink hat with sparkly cat ears. I had forgotten my hat and was so touched that this family was trying everything to bless us while we were working to bless them. Multiple people from the neighborhood had come to help in any way they could, and it was a beautiful thing to witness the power of God working through all of us.
-Emma Lanxon
Day 6, part 1, Bethel Headquarters
Today we were able to visit the Bethel Ministries Headquarters and Warehouse, where they fix and build wheelchairs as well as build and organize supplies for the houses. It was eye-opening to see the amount of behind-the-scenes work that goes into allowing teams to build homes, distribute wheelchairs, and help families through home visits. We were also able to visit the Bethel School, where they help 11 disabled students to grow spiritually, physically, and mentally. It was incredible to see how passionate the Bethel team is about the work that God is doing through them. They also shared with us their future plans that would allow them to help even more Guatemalans in need. As we were traveling today, we were able to deepen our relationship with other team members. This week has been incredible and we are so grateful that God has allowed us to be his hands and feet.
– Tad, Elle, and Elyse Jacobi
Day 6, part 2, Home Dedication
The entire week has been a tremendous blessing for the entire team. For many of us, or at least this member of the team, sleep did not come easy the night before our journey was to wind down. The major events of the day were similar in scope and goal. We would divide into groups, some doing home visits, some stove builds, and others home builds onto already existing cement slabs constructed the day before. The work was physical and exhausting, but truly a labor of love, Christ’s love. I did not/do not want to leave.
The day culminated in the dedication of the house to a family of 6 children and a mom. The oldest child, a son, Jephet (sp?) would help in the labor from beginning to end. He was extremely happy that this home would meet the needs of his family and make his mom’s worries and struggles less. The house dedication was different this day as it included the entire Grace and Bethel Ministry teams, as well as local social workers, and other family members, and members of the nearby community. God was given glory in prayer and song!
Our hope is that they don’t see us but Jesus who provided for them. Our hope is that they don’t see us as those who answered their cries for help, but Jesus. Our prayer is that they rely on Jesus and that their hope is in Him!
What the families may not see or realize is that they blessed us beyond measure.
Our prayer and hope is that what God revealed to each of us individually in those blessings does not end as we land in Iowa. We want to listen to God’s whisper, be anxious about nothing fixing our eyes on the eternal, build each other up, serve others in joy, sacrifice for the Kingdom, and to understand the idea of blessing.
— Raymond Small
