A group of 11 individuals from three different local churches returned at the end of July from a mission trip that included building houses for two families and distributing meals. It was a trip with the goal of serving and spreading the love of Jesus. While the group was successful in doing just that, they came back with something as well: A true blessing.
The original trip was planned to go to Spain last year. God stepped in and said they needed to go somewhere else. Through the Tri-County Baptist Association, the group was ready to go when Spain shut its borders because of the pandemic. Even though the borders were shut, the desire to spread the gospel still resonated.
Pastor Brian Malone with Goss Baptist Church said he saw where a former church member went to Guatemala in Central America, and it planted a seed in him. After doing some research, he reached out to a missionary group called Grace Ministries and secured a spot for a team to come. The organization normally stays booked with short-term mission teams; however, due to the coronavirus, there were openings.
“It was a God thing,” team member Nelda Hudson said.
That set everything into motion where members from three local churches, Goss Baptist Church, Foxworth First Baptist Church and Emmanuel Baptist Church, prepared to go. Finally, on July 22, the team made its way to Chimaltenango, Guatemala.
Malone said the mission house where they stayed was originally a feeding place that eventually converted into a school and mission house.
“It is as nice as any school over here,” Malone said.
While the school is free, Malone said parents are asked to help with some items. However, if the family cannot, the parents can work at the school as well. Hudson said it’s a win-win situation because if the parents are working at the school, they get fed too.
One of the goals the team had was to build two houses for people. The people there are very poor, and homes could be constructed with items such as bamboo and cornstalks. The houses they built are very small, about the size of a small room here with just four walls, a roof and a door. However, the tin walls and the roof keeps the family out of the elements of the weather.
Hudson said one of the homes they built was for a woman who has lived with different neighbors throughout the years. She was in her 60s, but did not have her own home. The other home was for a family that lived in a corn-stalk hut with a dirt floor for more than 40 years. The new home had a concrete floor, and the family was so proud to have it. The family was given another bag of concrete to do a porch, but they put it inside the house and made the floor very smooth. Later in the week, the team went back to do a dedication of the houses, and the man, who was part of a family who received a new home, had wired his house with a single lightbulb and had electricity.
Hudson teared up when talking about the people and how poor they are. For the price of a small combo meal in the U.S., an entire family there can eat for a week. Yet, despite their circumstances, they are very happy and loving. The people appreciate the mission team coming and ministering to them with food and evangelism.
“They were genuinely kind,” Nelson said.
The team attended the local church, where Malone said there were school buses bringing people to the church. Through an interpreter, Malone was able to preach.
Another project they took part in was food distribution. Not only did they hand out food at the school, but in the community as well. One day near the homes they built, they provided food for 70 families. Another place they passed out food was at a dump. Malone said they provided breakfast and lunch for them. Workers at the dump would dig through the trash, looking for recyclable items. The workers got paid $1 a day. Malone said a lot of the people who work outside the cities only made $1 a day.
“Land was very expensive there, costing thousands for just a little plot,” Hudson said.
Most people could only rent a very small portion of land for their homes.
Hudson said she attended a women’s gathering where women from the mission church and the team gathered together and discussed scriptures, problems and how to overcome them. Everyone participated, and she said she had never been so spiritually filled at a women’s conference as she was that afternoon.
Another experience they had was visiting a convalescent home in the mountains. The team passed out food and talked with the different residents. Hudson said she was talking to a gentleman who was so happy about the visit. He ended up singing “Jesus Loves Me” to her in Spanish.
At the end of the week, looking back at the experience, Hudson said they realized that while the team was doing the work and serving the people, in the end, they were the ones who received the blessings.
Malone said they are already starting to plan a trip for next year.
