It’s so hard to put such a perspective-changing week into words. I knew going on a mission trip would stretch me and open my eyes to God in a new way. I knew that it would be emotional and heartbreaking at times. I knew all of this in my head before going, and I thought I understood at least in part what was coming, but I didn’t realize how the people of Guatemala would so quickly creep into my heart in a lasting way. We were only there a week, but being able to see God working in the lives of the people of Chichicastenago firsthand in a positive, life-changing way was captivating.

Our team was made up of 15 people from different paths of life, and yet we were a cohesive unit. There was definitely a family feel to our team by the end of the week, and it was great to be a part of. Doing the devotionals together in the morning and the debriefs each night was an emotional and honest time that bound us together by our experiences. I am so thankful to have been able to share the trip with my husband, Heath. It was great while we were there to support one another, but also to come back home and be able to process through it all with him: laughing over moments of silliness or praying for specific children/families we got to meet. It was also a very emotionally bonding time for our marriage as I got to see him acting on his love for Christ and being a man of God outside of his daily comfort zone.

During two of the days on the mission, we met local widows from Chichicastenago and built homes for them and their children to live in. The poverty is shocking and sad, and yet you can see the hope through the smiles of the women and the giggles of the children. They are all so welcoming and thankful. After we built the homes, we had the opportunity to dedicate the home to them and to pray with them. There was never a dry eye in the room. It’s such a powerful moment to know that your hands have had a part in helping and blessing someone in such a tangible way. There was a language barrier, so we were unable to communicate a lot with words; however, giving of our time and smiles was the perfect communication of God’s love.

Here, in my daily life, I know that God is with me. I know that His spirit lives in me and that He is working all around me. But in Guatemala, those truths became very real to me. I felt his presence in a different way than in my cluttered, busy life here. I leaned on Him and spent time with Him with a new dependence that I am so thankful for.

If you are thinking about taking part in a mission to Guatemala, I would advise 100 percent to go for it. Let go of any fears that are holding you back, and go for it! This was my first mission, but it will definitely not be my last. It is not only perspective-changing, it is heart-stretching and overflowing. The natural beauty of the county is breathtaking, the mission work of Pray America is wonderful to be a part of, and the children will dig right down into your heart and settle in for good.

—Submitted by Kendall Newton

After spending a week in Chichicastenango (”Chichi”) last fall, I returned home with the realization that I would not be able to look at my life the same again. God had used my willingness to go and serve to crack open places in my heart for his people in need in Guatemala and in the world. I did not, however, dream that I would return only eight months later to continue His work there.

From the start, even with a heart for missions, I was somewhat reluctant to “jump in” this way – was I equipped? Could I physically handle the work? What did a broken sinner like me have to offer? I am so grateful as to how God so sweetly answered all these questions and put any concerns I had to rest by reminding me that He equips, He gives strength to the weary, and that “glass shines brighter when it is broken.”

My first mission to serve with Pray America in Guatemala so far exceeded any expectations I had. The hospitable staff, the warm accommodations, the delicious food and the organized work days were all carefully detailed with the teams in mind. Our team was fun and energetic, with open hearts to bring the love of Jesus to the widows and children of Chichi. But what really won me over was looking into the beautiful brown eyes of a precious child at the feeding center who climbed into my lap for Bible lesson time before dinner. My heart simply melted as I was struck at the awesomeness of our God, who created all peoples around the world – not just those in my world. This omnipotent God who knows every intricate detail of every being! He sent His Son to die, not just for me, but for all, so that we might all know abundant and eternal life. As a Christian, I knew this intellectually, but for the first time God opened my eyes and heart to the realization that the lack of essentials such as shelter, food and clean water can be barriers to the gospel – essentials I take for granted every day.

I returned home – physically – but much of my mind and heart remained on the beautiful hillsides of Guatemala. I was reading through the book Radical by David Platt with some amazing college girls, and at the same time gleaning from PC3’s messages from the series called “God’s,” which focused on positioning ourselves spiritually and financially to be able to fulfill the purpose for which we were created. We were also challenged to assess what “gods” we had created in our own lives. I began to pray and contemplate how to do this in my own life.

The timing of these three experiences brought about tough issues for me to work through: 26,000 children dying every day in the world, more than a billion living in desperate poverty… yet most Americans (me) are in the top 15 percent of the world’s people for wealth. Was I wearing blinders? How was I to reconcile my relationship with Jesus Christ and my material blessings? How could I even begin to think about the Great Commission and the urgent need to share the gospel and meeting spiritual needs of others and yet overlook dire physical needs in the process?

As I said, uncomfortable questions for which I am still seeking to understand my miniscule role. What I have discovered, however, is a new mindset taking over – that is living from the perspective that God has given me excess - not so I could have more, but so I could give more. Radical? Or Biblical? Baby steps have been leading me to a place of trusting God more, while letting go of things I thought I needed to be content. The crazy thing is the excitement and joy I feel in doing this!!

In May, I had the incredible opportunity to return to Chichi – this time I was accompanied by my twin daughters, recent college grads. It was truly a sweet blessing to witness the work of the Lord in this place again, and to see it again, fresh, though the eyes of my girls. As before, we were part of an amazing team, whom we now consider family. As before, we also built four houses; however, this time, we took part in a new initiative for Pray America. Typically, the widows in the area cook and heat with an open fire in their adobe homes – a practice that is hazardous to their health and that of the young children, in addition to the great expense for the wood. A new prototype stove has been designed that is not only safer but burns very little wood. The staff of Pray America hopes to be able to install the stoves in all of the widow houses that have been built. We had the privilege of installing 10 stoves for 10 families.

My most vivid and poignant memory, by far, from both trips came from the first build day in May. My daughters were joyfully dedicating the house to our new friend, a widow named Sebastiana. They explained that God loved her and had sent us to build the house for her and that it was free, a debt never to be repaid. Through the translator, she shared her story of losing her husband, home and dignity after being abused and tossed out by a family member because of her faith in Jesus Christ. As my daughter began to pray over her and the house, pausing for the translation, Sebastiana launched into a flood of emotions, spilling out from the innermost parts of her soul. She prayed and prayed, praised God, and wailed… all in a very strange and foreign Quiché dialect. We understood nothing that she was saying - and yet we knew exactly what she was saying….

“Holy are you God, Holy is your Name
With everything I’ve got, my heart will sing
How I love you!!”

—Submitted by Nancy Forester

In March 2011, PC3’s college ministry, Overflow, led a team of students to SETECA seminary in Guatemala City to serve alongside them for a week-long mission. The focus was on building relationships with the students, doing construction projects, and running children’s programs. Below, one student shares her experience…

In September 2010 I left for Guatemala with a group of individuals from PC3. We were going to build houses for widows and orphans in need. I was not sure what to expect. I didn’t know anything about building houses, but I felt that God wanted me to go on the trip, so I left with an open heart. I decided to journal during my stay in Guatemala to help me remember the experiences, the people and the things that God wanted to show me. As I look back over my notes, I can see that I experienced more sadness, compassion, love and spiritual growth than I had hoped for through the experiences of our Guatemalan adventure. From the dirty barefoot children running through littered streets, to the persistent beggars in the market in Chichi, to the starving dogs living on trash piles, I learned the meaning of real poverty. This is a concept that eludes us, to our good fortune, in America. As a middle-class kid, my idea of poverty has generally been not being able to pay my bills. In Guatemala, it’s literally not having food or a home. It’s a whole different level of survival. But I saw more than poverty; I also saw a great deal of beauty. Guatemala is a beautiful country despite the trash on the streets. It’s beautiful not only geographically but also in spirit. The resilience of the people despite their hardships is simply inspiring. I found that they gave as much to me as I gave to them because I learned so much from them.

During my quiet time on my second day in Guatemala, I opened my Bible to

2 Peter 1:5-7, and my gaze fell on the following verses:

…add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; and to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.

At that point, I understood at least part of my purpose for being in Guatemala: I was in Guatemala to show kindness and charity to my brothers and sisters, and through these acts of kindness, God was going to alleviate their suffering and build character in me. I was building houses, and God was building character.

Our second day of building houses was particularly profound to me. The widow we were going to assist lived far out into the country. The ride to her land took about 45 minutes. It was bumpy and muddy from recent rains. We all piled into the back of a pick-up truck and rode with our gear to the site, taking in the scenery and culture along the way. Finally, we reached a point where we could drive no longer. The driver pulled over to the side of the road and explained that we would have to get out, pick up our gear and walk down a narrow, muddy path 6 minutes to the plot of land where we were to build her house. Now, I am an avid walker, but walking a muddy path on the side of a mountain carrying construction materials was a little bit intimidating. It wasn’t that far, but I knew that if I slipped and fell down the side of the mountain while carrying tools, it would not be a good scene. We all stood there for a minute assessing the situation. Was there any other way? Who would carry what? Finally, we just picked up the materials and started down the path. It was doable but tedious. We had to watch our steps, but we all made it safely to the widow’s land. Along the way, little faces began to appear off the side of the path. Community children, much more adept at maneuvering through the terrain, had noticed us and began to walk with us. They knew who we were and that among our hammers and drills and nails, there were also suitcases filled with toys, candy, food and shoes.

Once we were at the site, we met the widow and began the task of building a very simple structure that she could use for shelter. We broke into teams and started to build the walls. I teamed up with another woman, Emily, on a wall. Two days prior, our group had gone to a separate site to build our first house. On that first day, we had built walls with three to four people working in a group; but on the second day of building, the numbers did not quite work out the same. Perhaps Emily and I could have just joined another group, but we decided to make a go of building one of the walls by ourselves. It was not fast going. The boards were very heavy and we could only carry two at a time. She carried one end, and I carried the other. Once we got the boards where we wanted them, we had to turn them on their sides, line them up, drill holes and hammer in the nails to build up the wall one board at a time. As we locked in one board, we grabbed another and repeated the steps. We lined up the next board, overlapped it to the previous one, and so forth, until we built up the wall. Several times along the way, the boards got really heavy and slipped from our hands. There was some discussion over when we should ask one of the guys to come over and help us, but we decided to keep on going. As the wall got higher, we again discussed asking someone who was taller to come over and help us hold up the boards; but everyone seemed busy on their own walls, so we decided to get a ladder. Finally, we had a lopsided ladder set up against our wall. We couldn’t get it to stand even on the ground because we were building on an incline. Emily climbed up the ladder while I stayed on the ground and leaned on the ladder with my body to keep it from tipping over. I stretched out my left hand as far as I could to help her hold up one end of the board. She probably used all of her physical strength to maintain her balance on that ladder while she drilled holes and hammered the nails in each end of the last board, but she pulled it off, and we finished our wall!

All of us worked really hard that day and finished the house in just enough time. As the guys were putting on the roof, a heavy rained moved in. We waited for a break in the rain (inside the house, which didn’t leak, thank goodness), then gave the house to the widow who had patiently waited in a shelter close by. We hung a cross in her new house, prayed with her and packed up our gear to return to the truck.

On the way back to town, we were caught in another downpour. I remember being soaked and cold as I pondered the fact that we were riding in the back of a pick-up truck in a torrential rain in mountains so high we were in the clouds. Suddenly, I realized that God was giving me, all of us, a gift. As a kid, I had dreamed of adventure, and here He was giving me my heart’s desire for obeying Him and doing His work. With His help and guidance, we were able to rise to the level of determination we had seen in the Guatemalan people. His hand had steadied us as we carried our gear on the muddy path, and His hands were on our boards as we built our wall. It was awesome.

Following is a portion from my last journal entry during my time in Guatemala:

We’ve seen so much hunger in this country. Hunger for food. Hunger for love. Hunger for hope and purpose. Families are starving, and women can’t feed their children. Dogs walk the streets freely, shadowing people to pick up crumbs. They are skinny and wild, unaccustomed to kindness. So many living creatures are suffering here… and yet there are beautiful things to be seen. Wherever God’s creatures suffer, there is an opportunity to pour out the love of God. And anytime God pours out His love, and we share in His grace, there is beauty.

— Submitted by Wendy Williams

PC3 sends short-term mission teams to Chichicastenango (”Chichi”), Guatemala, for one-weeks missions through an organization based there called Pray America. Teams help Pray America build homes for widows, serve orphans in feeding centers, and work alongside this organization to aid their ministry and discipleship efforts among the nationals in the Chichi area. One team member from our June mission to Guatemala recounts her experience below…

A good friend of mine recently took a trip to Alaska.  After merely 24 hours (and having never been there before), she declared that she found “home.” Shortly after, she and I took a two-and-a-half-week road trip, driving from North Carolina to California.  At every place we stopped, I consciously waited to see if it felt like “home.”  Sadly I boarded a plane in LA to fly back to Wilmington having never felt that pull to one particular place. I was home for five days before boarding another plane, this time on a much-anticipated mission trip to Guatemala, and had no idea that I would find my “home” in Chichicastenango.

It wasn’t an immediate reaction.  The trip was full of surprises and instances that proved God’s divine sovereignty:

• We were supposed to leave in May, but our original trip was delayed, rescheduled, and ultimately canceled due to a volcanic eruption AND a tropical storm that hit Guatemala.
• The trip was thankfully rescheduled a month later, but only seven of the original 13 could go (luckily five others will be going in September with another team!).
• When we got to the airport (at 5 a.m., mind you), five of the team members thought they did not have a seat assignment because it wasn’t listed on their tickets. (Unbeknownst to us at the time, they actually did have seats all along.)
• Coming home the following Saturday, our plane delays in Guatemala caused us to miss our connecting flight in Miami, forcing us to stay the night at a hotel (thankfully paid for by the airlines…), which inevitably made me miss a flight I was scheduled to take the very next morning from Wilmington to Chicago.

But through all of those traveling tribulations, God remained in control, and He impressed that upon our hearts.  We were fortunate to be in Wilmington and out of harm’s way (i.e. mudslides, sinkholes, etc…) during the natural disasters that devastated much of Guatemala in late May/early June. God taught us how to WAIT on Him during that time of uncertainty, and He taught us how to serve Him no matter where we are.  This lesson came in handy because while in Guatemala there were many times when we had to be flexible—whether it be due to the weather (it rains a lot!) or just cultural differences.

And boy! There were many, many cultural differences.  It didn’t help that I learned how to say five Spanish phrases before taking off. Very few people in Chichi even speak Spanish. The civilization is predominantly Mayan, and there was a lot of idol worship and language barriers that I did not anticipate.  The market (google: “Chichicastenango Market”) is the biggest open-air market in Central America, and it is pretty heartbreaking. The children will run around—dirty, shoeless, sad—impressing on the soft hearts of tourists their need for shoes (for school) or lunch money. It’s very sad. And annoying. They put the “pest” in persistence.  But they’re also extremely cute which makes it hard. I tried running—literally—from one child who playfully ran after me!

We ended up having the opportunity to build four houses that week for widows in rural areas surrounding Chichi.  I will never forget what it felt like that first day when we finished and I looked at Ryan and said, “Dude! We just built a house for this family. A HOUSE!” (I proceeded to do this three more times!) What is considered a house is nothing more than 120 square feet of concrete and wood. But hey! It’s more than they had before, and you wouldn’t believe how incredibly grateful the widows are.  After the build is complete (about 4-5 hours depending on how much we play with the kids—which is a LOT), we bless the home in a dedication ceremony for the widow and her children. It was so spiritually moving on the last build day when the widow was praying in her native language along with the team who was praying in English.

We toured the campus of Monte Flor (Pray America’s future community-focused center that will provide care, spiritual guidance, education and resources that facilitate the health and independence of local families and communities) and were able to see some of what’s in the works for Pray America in Guatemala.  Sixty acres has been purchased, and the original dwellings have been refurbished. A shoe factory, which provides shoes for local children, is on site. (Side note: School is free in Guatemala, but you have to have a uniform and shoes…. Basic things most children do not have and cannot afford. Pray America is making great strides to eradicate this problem.) Plans are being set into motion, and the vision for the land will include girls’ dormitories and a school—I told them to let me know when they need a teacher!

The needs in Guatemala are immense, and Pray America is doing very hard work, but they are trusting and following God with hearts and a passion I have only just discovered. The rates of molestation of young girls here and alcoholism among the men are enough to make you sick to your stomach. But in a culture that does not have a word for Heaven, Hell, or Love, it’s hard to be surprised.  However, seeing the joy in a child’s eyes, a little girl I met named Belbita, as we played soccer in the rain, made me believe that ALL things are possible and that hope can be brought to this nation.

Please pray for Guatemala and for Pray America. Pray that God would open the hearts of the nationals and that He would strengthen the hearts of the missionaries there.

—Submitted by Kristen Barriner