My senior year of high school a missionary couple who had been in Guatemala for several years came to my school to tell us about their ministry. They told us about the conditions the families whom they worked with, lived in. Of course my heart strings were tugged. I love kids. Hearing about those kids in Guatemala who needed help made me want to go and help in anyway I could, but logically I didn't think I would ever get the chance to go. Then God opened a door for me.
The week after the missionaries left the dean of students sat down with me and told me about another program that they were hoping to start in Guatemala, a goat program. Well this was right up my ally. They wanted to find a way to provide local families with dairy goats so that they would have milk for their kids. The dean asked me if I would be interested in helping with that. I said sure, and she gave me the email address of one of the directors of the missions organization. I started emailing him asking about his idea for a goat program. He seemed to like the idea of me going down there for about 6 months or so after graduation to help get this program started. I seriously considered going, but I didn't. I got busy with life here.
Last fall the thought of going to Guatemala entered my mind again. That was God. I told my mom that I was thinking about Guatemala again and she told me about a missions class at Christian Fellowship, for people considering going to the mission field. I went to the class. It definitely enhanced my desire to go to Guatemala. I emailed the guy I'd emailed nearly 3 years ago and asked him if they were still wanting to do a goat program. He emailed me back and said he didn't think the timing was right for their organization to start a goat program. That was discouraging,
I told the missions' pastor at CF that I'd emailed and it seemed like I'd waited too long and the door for me to go to Guatemala had closed. Well he told me that CF was sending a mission team to Guatemala, to work with the same organization that I had communicated with. The trip was in June, and I was welcome to come. So, I'm going.
Now, this trip is only a week long and has nothing to do with goats, but hey, I get to go to Guatemala, a place I feel God has called me to go for whatever reason. I get to go, see what it's like down there, and maybe talk to the people who have been interested in starting a goat program. I get to see if my going in the future to do that is even a possibility.
Now, aside from my own personal reasons for going on this trip, what is the purpose of it? Well it's a dental mission trip. A dental team is coming to provide some much needed dental care to people in remote villages. So what will I be doing? People will have to wait in line to be seen, and there will be a lot of kids, so they need someone who can entertain kids. I can do that! We are still figuring out what we will do with the kids, but it will probably be something similar to a VBS/ Bible club type thing. I've helped out with plenty of those, both at my home church and on other mission trips!
I am really looking forward to this trip! I get to work with kids, go outside of the U.S. (for the first time ever), and maybe get an idea of whether or not I could live in Guatemala for a year or so. Please pray for our team that's going, as we prepare, the people we will be working with, and for me personally, that I might get some answers/insight, as to whether or not I'm supposed to be further involved with ministry in Guatemala. At this point I'm just amazed by how God has worked everything out so far for me to be able to go on this trip, and I can't wait for June to come so I can see what's next!
Now, this trip is only a week long and has nothing to do with goats, but hey, I get to go to Guatemala, a place I feel God has called me to go for whatever reason. I get to go, see what it's like down there, and maybe talk to the people who have been interested in starting a goat program. I get to see if my going in the future to do that is even a possibility.
Now, aside from my own personal reasons for going on this trip, what is the purpose of it? Well it's a dental mission trip. A dental team is coming to provide some much needed dental care to people in remote villages. So what will I be doing? People will have to wait in line to be seen, and there will be a lot of kids, so they need someone who can entertain kids. I can do that! We are still figuring out what we will do with the kids, but it will probably be something similar to a VBS/ Bible club type thing. I've helped out with plenty of those, both at my home church and on other mission trips!
I am really looking forward to this trip! I get to work with kids, go outside of the U.S. (for the first time ever), and maybe get an idea of whether or not I could live in Guatemala for a year or so. Please pray for our team that's going, as we prepare, the people we will be working with, and for me personally, that I might get some answers/insight, as to whether or not I'm supposed to be further involved with ministry in Guatemala. At this point I'm just amazed by how God has worked everything out so far for me to be able to go on this trip, and I can't wait for June to come so I can see what's next!
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