Hope's In: Guatemala 2018
The first complete week of August, I was able to go to Guatemala with the non for profit Hope's In. We went into the garbage dump communities to build houses, for families who need help. Hope's In partners with The Potter's House Association, and they select the families who are in need, and most deserving of a home.
I left at 4:00AM on Sunday morning, saying goodbye to my mom and dad, and hello to all new people. It was a little intimidating not knowing anyone on the trip, including my roommates. It felt very similar to what I expect college to be like... lonely and then tons of fun. My roommates turned out to be amazing girls who loved God, serving, and they were all around awesome! (Shoutout Bri & Haley!!)
The first day, we had a brief orientation, and then we went out into the dumps, and met our family. The Vasquez family was so lovely to spend the week with, and I was so happy that they were the people receiving this home. The morning was spent scraping the walls, and in the afternoon we plastered the walls...my new favorite job. The following day we began painting, and continued to hang out with a tons of kids. Hanging out with the kids was my favorite part of this trip. They all touched my heart in a different way.
Wednesday, I went to the medical clinic, where doctors from Barrington on the trip, gave prescriptions, exams, and an ear to listen to, for the people of Guatemala. It was also really cool to see an ultrasound for a women five months pregnant. In the afternoon, we went on Prayer Visits. The community leaders, gave our small groups homes to visit, and we prayed for the families in them. Most of the houses were made out of tin, cardboard, and other non supportive materials.
The prayer walk was an eye opening experience for me, because I only became a believer on God in October of 2017, so it was all still fresh to me. I had never prayed out loud, and something spoke to me on this trip. I led my first prayer, out loud, and told the families how loved they were. I think the reason I never followed through on going on this trip was because God knew I wasn't ready. I am really grateful that my faith, and relationship with God was able to grow in a short week.
The rest of the week was spent painting, putting the sink in, cleaning, and preparing the house. A special event on Thursday was hanging out with the kids at the Potter's House Association. The PHA hosts after school programming for kids to receive lunch, tutoring, and a place to interact with other kids with encouragement in academics. The kids are in this program after acceptance, and they need sponsors to stay in it. My family has chosen to sponsor a nine year old boy, Fredy! The best part about having Fredy as our sponsor child, is that his mom had shared her story with us days earlier, and we didn't even know! His mom, was working with a company Hope's In helped to create- Oso! A teddy bear making company for women to provide for their families. Fredy's mom couldn't get through sharing her own story, and later it was told to us. She had been working since the age of nine, and wanted to provide a better future for her children, and I'm so glad that God knew we had to help Fredy, and now we can!
On Friday after dedicating the house to our family, we had a group dinner with all the families that Hope's In had built homes for. It was awesome to see the people this organization had impacted, and to celebrate!
On Saturday we took a day trip to Antigua, Guatemala! It was beautiful eating at the Santo Domingo, and shopping in the markets. Any bloggers dream came true when I found tons of different colored walls for pictures!
It was an amazing trip, and I'm so grateful to have been apart of something so much bigger than me. The main thought I took away from this trip was "You don't realize how much you need a strong faith in God, until you can't fix your own problems."
Until the next airplane ride,
JC
