It was clear from the beginning of this trip that God has a mission for me. He had planted me at this church and then nudged me to go on this trip for a reason. The first two days of the trip consisted of us pulling weeds and digging and leveling dirt. You see when we arrived at the site for the brand new church, there were just giant piles of dirt with weeds and grass growing on them. We had to first remove all the weeds and grass, and then proceed to move and level the dirt amidst the space. Even with a group of 20 people this was a large task. As I stood in the dirt field with pieces of concrete and rebar in place but much still left to do, I began to think about what this all meant. To myself, someone that had not been to Guatemala before, this area looked like just a mostly empty plot of land. El jefe (the boss) came over to this triangle piece of the field where a few of us were standing looking out over the space. “This is going to be the entrance to the church.” He said. My eyes closed and in that moment I began to envision the church. The tall double doors, opening wide and the amount of people that will be ushered in on Sundays and throughout the week. From grandparents to teenagers and young children that will be served and graced by the ministry that this church will provide. The classrooms that will teach people, the chairs that will allow people to be washed by the grace of God. All the shoveling of dirt that took place today is the foundation and the tying of the wire on the rebar is the groundwork of the sides of the beautiful church soon to come. Many of us encountered exhaustion, sweat and soreness today as we put in hard, long work, but it is not without God’s love and hands. Every wheelbarrow of dirt and every weed picked was the ministry of God unfolding before our very eyes.
On Sunday we had the opportunity to go to the local church (whom with we were building the new building for) and it was a very awesome experience. It was a delight to see how they worship and praise Jesus there. Everyone was clapping and dancing and throwing their hands in the air. I couldn't believe their enthusiasm. It was inspiring. I also had the chance to lead a CPR and first aid class with a few of the other team members. We were able to teach those who volunteer in the kids ministry at church the basics of CPR and first aid. This was a very unique experience and I am so grateful we were able to do it. That night I unfortunately got sick and that hindered me from working the next day, but by Tuesday I was feeling much better and I was able to go with the team to Zapote to finish building the houses and stoves they had started. It was quite a humbling experience. Zapote is located about an hour and a half away from where we were staying. To get there you have to do on bumpy dirt roads and cross 4 rivers. Driving into the town there is dirt and trash and very small houses. We split up into two groups to each work on one house and one stove. The house we built was a small rectangle that had a door and a window and corrugated metal around the sides and roof. In America we would consider that more of a shed or shack, but in Guatemala that is a house. That morning we were carrying large pieces of corrugated metal from the back of the truck to our work site. Our work site was located behind a families existing house. I had the chance to peek into the house and it have 5 very small beds inside and nothing else. No electricity, no furniture. Nothing. I was astounded. As I was carrying a piece of metal to the work site I backed into a tree that had some pokey branches on it. I jumped as I did not expect to have something poke me in my back and I exclaimed something about the tree having pokey's. My partner and I went to set the piece of metal down. After doing so, I looked back towards the tree and the little old lady had come out of her house with a pair of scissors and she was cutting the branches off of the tree. Despite having very little, the kindness in her heart was overflowing and that is a moment I will remember for the rest of my life. When we finished building the house and the stove we were able to present the house to the recipient. She was a young gal who had been the valedictorian at her high school and her family wanted to give her this house as a gift. They would be living there together. The pastor from the church came and we prayed over the house before we handed her the keys and it was a very humbling and gratifying moment.
The following days consisted of visiting and meeting kids in Membriall. I thoroughly enjoyed this part of the trip, as you all know I love kids. I was able to meet two of the seven kids that our church sponsors. We were able to meet their whole family and bring them some gifts. The first boy I met had several brothers and sisters and his mom kept repeating over and over how grateful she was for us and our support to allow him to go to school. The second boy I met was very shy and would barely speak to any of us. But the look on his face when he pulled the shirt out of the bag that I had helped picked out for him was amazing. He was so happy and joyous to be receiving a new clean shirt that he could play soccer in.
In both San Lucas and Membriall we held a festival with games where families could come and play games and win prizes. We also had members from our team give testimonies and our teens sing and play music on stage. It was so much fun to be able to meet the kids and see the joy on their faces as they went from one game to the next game. There were also adults and elders who were having just as much fun with the games. At the festival in Membriall there was one little girl who kept coming back to my game because she loved it so much. She didn't even care for the prizes she just wanted to play the game.
This trip was absolutely incredible and one that I will remember for the rest of my life. The love and devotion to God that the people of Guatemala have, when they are faced with difficult situations is truly inspiring. To see how big their hearts are despite their situations has truly humbled me.