As many of you know, I am just returning from our mission trip to Guatemala in the last week and yes, this blog has been a bit silent for the last few weeks as we were busy prepping our team to leave and preparing for our time of ministry there. Our church is starting a ministry project in Guatemala called The Village Project, where we will help identify a local church planter and begin transforming a village both physically and spiritually.
Through our church, we are working with a stateside ministry, World Help and with Hope of Life in Guatemala, to adopt a village in a rural part of this country where famine and malnutrition continue to take the lives of many. Through this long-term Village Transformation Project, we will support a local church planter, provide clean water, rebuild the school, provide discipleship materials and training, build a church, provide food and medical assistance, and send teams down throughout the year to accomplish these goals and more over the course of the next several years.
This was the first time a team had gone in to serve the village we are adopting and there's nothing like serving in a village of over 700 people and knowing that almost everyone in this village had never even heard the name of Jesus before. We had the privilege of being the first team and also of visiting other villages nearby as well; however, God clearly confirmed that Curva del Pino was where He wanted our church to invest long term and I'm sure as time goes on, He will direct us to other villages there where we can minister.
Generally, I am ready to dive in and talk about all of the details immediately upon returning from most of the trips, but this time it was different and took me a good week to begin processing all that we experienced and all that God did during our time there. From serving in the village, feeding families in a dump, worshipping with other villages, to holding toddlers that were less than 10 pounds- these moments will be forever grafted in our hearts and minds.
Though I've served and led mission teams in many developing or third world countries over the past 13 years, there were elements of this trip that again were a harsh reminder of the reality of how the rest of the world lives and how spiritually dark many places around the world really are. Yet, in this darkness, it was wonderful to know that there is still a light that can shine brightly in this dark world through the lives of believers reminding us that Jesus is still the Light of the world.
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| Little girl from Kelly's House- a special needs center |
I plan to share a number of stories in the days to come and certainly a lot of photos as well; but in the meantime, I'll let our Guatemala Documentary Video from our trip show you some of the things that we experienced and some of the thoughts I've been processing since our trip. I hope that you enjoy this special video. You will need to click the Vimeo Icon in order to view it and we hope it impacts you just as much as it did our lives.
http://vimeo.com/58409323
1 comment:
Leah, while watching the video, it was heartbreaking to see the conditions that some of those in Guatemala live in. As heartbreaking as it was, however, I could see the Hope and Light that you and your team gave to those who live there. I pray that the Lord will bless you and your husband as you continue to witness to others.
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