So Close!

The Guatemala Team

Dream Becomes Reality

Two days? It seems like a dream. Was it a year ago that Pastor Luis from Impacto Ministry visited St. Andrew to share the inspiring stories of mission work in Guatemala? His enthusiasm and faith were infectious and inspiring.

I'm sure I speak for many of us when I say that my first thought was, "International Travel. How will I ever afford it"? Pastor Luis told me that he would see me in Guatemala in the spring. He told us the story of his ministry. Sewing machines were needed to teach Guatemalan woman skills to help support their families. He had no idea where the machines would come from, but when you have faith, God is good. The machines came and Impacto is able to start a sewing ministry. Pastor Luis said, "If you want to come to Guatemala you will make it happen". Who can say no to that?

In the months following that conversation what happened was nothing short of miraculous. A group of 46 people, plus or minus, came together, determined to make a mission trip to Guatemala a reality! It's a creative bunch of people. There was "Taste of St. Andrew", a silent auction, gift wrapping, childcare, arena cleaning (ok, maybe not our favorite), a Valentine's Day Dinner, and other fundraisers. Generous church and community members came forward with donations of shoes, peanut butter, vitamins, school supplies, soccer balls, quilting kits, VBS materials and monetary donations to help the team purchase supplies for the work in Guatemala.

Fearless team leaders, Karna Wieck and Kathi Anderson brought the team together for monthly meetings so that we could learn about mission work, culture and the People of Guatemala to enable us to communicate, learn from them and walk beside them in their daily journey. We learned how to "Help Without Hurting", how to respect the culture and thanks to Libby and Ross, some praise songs in Spanish. We packed suitcases of supplies together, prayed together, celebrated our successes and learned from our errors. The beautiful thing is that our experiences, blessings and guidance have already been rich and we haven't even left Iowa City.

On Saturday, March 14th this group will board a plane for Guatemala City, Guatemala and onward to "The Promised Land" of the Impacto Ministry. We are excited, relieved, anxious, humbled and maybe just a little bit scared, because, after all we are human. Many of us are reaching just a little bit out of our comfort zones, but we know that if we listen, pray and arrive with pure hearts we will reach far enough and join hands with God to do his works.

Follow us. Pray for us and those receiving us as guests in their country. May we all be better Christians through this experience.

Podemos caminar with dios ~ May we walk with God