This is why...

This is why we do these mission trips. We had a wonderful mission trip debriefing time this evening at the beach. "You don't learn from experience. You learn from reflecting on experience," Noah, the Field Director for SI here in Guatemala, said back in Magdalena. The true value of a trip like this lies in the 5% life change impact in the students' lives over the next 80 years of their lives, not the short-term measurable things that we can see right away. I absolutely believe the greatest kingdom impact comes in the long-term with small, but significant changes.

Here's a picture of the group at the beach hotel, debriefing all the things that God has taught us in this trip.

I'd like to post a few comments from students, things that they learned through this trip. These comments were spoken in the setting pictured above, after they went between six separate stations for about 15 minutes at each station, journaling their responses to specific debrief questions, then verbally sharing with one another.

Here are some of their comments:

• Max shared the site leader wasn’t trying to change the system, but there was a lack in the system – they’re not changing a system, but changing hearts
• Ethan White – God shapes us and molds us in the process of trials; not about completion, but the process
• Scott said Raquel helped him not identify himself by his shortcomings, but by the things he could see God do through him
• Carlie said I’ve never seen a culture that had so little but gives so much
• money can buy happiness but only a cross can purchase true joy
• Abby K said that her site leader said: they’re people, not a diagnosis – our prejudice can easily get in the way of how we share with them and perceive them
• John said: “the further you are from comfort, the closer you are to living out what God’s planned for you. There are no good stories about comfortable people.”
• Jonathan said you can be effective in your home country, not necessarily in another culture
• John talked about the home visits and he likes to feel like he’s doing something, but he realized he’s not the Savior; God is
• Adam reminded our group that it’s not about us (through a letter from Esther, nonetheless)

We are truly blessed to have a wonderful God who teaches us and continue to mature and grow us, no matter what stage we are in. None of us have arrived. We all have much to learn. God has been working among the LIFT students through this mission trip. This is why we do this!

-Tyler Nelson

LIFT Associate Director

Site pictures

We are spending one night at the beach Saturday night, then Sunday night we will start travelling back to the States.

Before we go, I wanted to post pictures of all the sites, so that everyone can be represented.

Microfinance:

Special Education:

Appropriate Technology:

Women's Social Work:

Agriculture:

Sponsorship:

Tutoring:

Sports:

Creative Arts:

We just had a wonderful banquet, celebrating the end of such a quality mission trip. God had a plan. God's hand has been at work. God is sovereign. God is good.

-Tyler Nelson
LIFT Associate Director

Celebration in Florencia park

Day in Florencia

Today the sports and creative arts sites joined the sponsorship site at a nearby park called Florencia. About 50 kids that are part of the sponsorship program came to hang out and celebrate their hard work. The kids are a part of a program at SI that partners each kid with a sponsor. The sponsorship allows the kids to attend school, helps them purchase school supplies, and a uniform. They are required to maintain good grades in order to remain in the program.

Today at Florencia we started the morning out with games. It was such a joy to see all the LIFTers and Guatemalans fellowship together even if we don’t all speak the same language. After playing games, we ate lunch. The SI staff prepared hot dogs and hamburgers for us all to enjoy.

After lunch, one of the LIFT students, Keyla, who moved to the states from Guatemala shared her testimony with all the kids. It was inspiring for the kids to be able to hear a testimony from a LIFT student in their native tongue.

For the rest of the afternoon we all had free time, people were playing soccer, volleyball, swimming, and hanging out enjoying the nice, sunny weather.

To finish off the day one of the SI leaders, Steven, shared a message. He talked about being a child of God. He compared God’s love for us to a love letter. In life we might be unsure about love, but God wants us to be certain about him. He read John 1:11-13, which says that we all can become a child of God through believing in Jesus. Please pray for all the sponsorship kids, as they enter into their summer vacation, that they would continue to seek after God.

-Kim Farrar

Sponsorship and joy

What would someone immediately think if they were asked what they expected to be doing while working for the social work and sponsorship site here in Guatemala? My immediate thoughts on that question were pretty bleak if I may be quite frank with you all. I had no idea what to expect nor did I come into Guatemala with any expectations or assumptions. But what has happened at this work site so far has blessed my fellow LIFTers and myself more than we ever would have thought possible.

To explain, with any depth our experience here so far would be near impossible were I not completely awestruck by how God is stirring our hearts through the people of this amazing country. I encourage you to seek to soak in as much joy as you can find behind these words I am placing from pen to paper.

Know the humility and joy Jami found as she simply updated specific profile photos of students. Imagine the things one must do to get someone to smile when you don’t know how to say smile in Spanish. Feel the love and joy Elysha has felt as she has built relationships with dozens of children. Day after day she sees their smiles grow more and more every morning they see her. Try if you can to place yourself in the shoes of Max as Selvin, a sponsored student here at Students International, finished sharing his testimony and then proceeded to tell Max how he was thankful Max was here obeying God’s call in his life to come show the love of Christ to everyone who would listen. God is moving here in our hearts and in the hearts of those with us in Guatemala.

God’s calling in our lives has brought us to this place where we have received just as much as we have given. We have learned more than we have been able to teach. We have been witnessed to as much as we have witnessed to others. We have been so blessed by being a part of the work here at S.I. in the work site of sponsorship and social work. I personally could not have wished for anything more than what God has given me here on this trip.

-Ethan White

Women's social work

One aspect of the program here in Guatemala with Students’ International is the ministry site focusing on women’s social work. Women come from nearby communities to learn practical hand-crafting skills from Sheny, the director of the women's social work site. They learn how to sew, weave, braid, and knit items to sell in their local markets. I have loved joining their classes with my team of three other LIFTers.

Sheny also does regular devotions with the ladies. Women from all different backgrounds join her workshops. Some of them believe in Jesus, whereas others do not, but the women of all participate in the devotional discussions. One woman was so moved by the devotions that she asked, “Sheny, will you teach me how to pray?”

I am learning just how important this program is for these women. It builds both financial freedom for them, and it builds dignity. Women who were told they could never do anything meaningful with their lives are starting their own businesses. They are learning skills they never thought were possible!

Another way that the women experience spiritual growth happens when Sheny does home visits. We’ve joined her during these home visits during this past week while we’ve been in Guatemala. Sheny visits the women in her program at their homes. Each one we have visited have warmly welcomed us into her home. They have shared with us both the good and challenging circumstances happening in their lives. It’s neat to watch how effective missionaries are invested into the lives of those in their communities. I’ve watched how Sheny listened, cried with, and laughed with each woman. We partnered with her to pray with and encourage them to keep their eyes on the Lord.

My time here has greatly impacted my heart. I love hearing the women’s stories about how the finances through the program have provided for their families. Most of all, the most impactful thing s for me is seeing the heart transformations through the power of Jesus!

-Sarah Bergford

Planting trees, planting faith

This morning the Appropriate Technology site took part in a tree-planting activity with some of the women in the community of Magdalena.

They met in the central park and walked up the hill to the property of one of the women's fathers. These women take part in a community financial commitment to save up money for each other's stoves. These stoves are large financial investments, relative to their income, but they incredibly increase the health, productivity, and efficiency of their home cooking.

The women have regular meetings with the site leaders Carlos and Kevin, where these full-time missionaries who work with SI build relationships and share the gospel of Jesus Christ through the occupation of building and installing stoves and helping to transform homes and communities.

These trees were planted with the idea that the stoves burn wood, and the site leaders hope to educate the women about the sustainability of wood sources, with the imagery of giving back to the environment, from which they are taking wood to cook food, by planting trees.

The students at this site, Russell Kennedy, Nate Nanda, Ethan Smith, and Jonathan Carter, have been building relationships with the children in these families, helping serve by building and installing stoves, and learning alongside Carlos and Kevin, who have a heart for relationships and sharing about Jesus Christ.

The morning was concluded with a message from Carlos about the righteous person who is like a tree planted by streams of living water, bearing fruit in the name of Jesus Christ, encouraging these women to plant themselves in Jesus Christ so that they will never be hungry or thirsty, but will always be provided for in deep, spiritual truth.

From Psalm 1:

Blessed is the person who does walk with the wicked,
but whose delight is in the law of the Lord.
That person is like a tree planted by streams of living water,
which yields its fruit in season.

-Tyler Nelson
LIFT Associate Director

A day in Antigua

Today (Tuesday) the LIFT 42 students are out in their sites. I am very proud of them all. They are doing a great job, supporting one another in prayer, keeping a positive attitude, and growing in their servant's hearts. Below is a short post about our restful day on Sunday in Antigua. Antigua is a UNESCO heritage site, which means in this case that there are restrictions on how construction can happen there. If there are ruins of old buildings in the middle of a courtyard in a plot, one has to keep that open courtyard with its ruins intact and build around it, so many of the buildings have beautiful charm and an ancient feel. The streets have to be cobblestone and the buildings need to be painted in bright Spanish colors. It's a beautiful town.

-Tyler Nelson
LIFT Associate Director

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About Sunday, Nov 10

The LIFT team enjoyed a Sabbath day in Antigua after a week of work at our ministry sites. It started with a church service at Shoreline City, Guatemala, a bilingual church pastored by Earl McClellan. The message was refreshing and impactful, and it was cool to see how seamlessly they transitioned from Spanish to English in their service.

Shoreline City church, Antigua campus

After church, we split off into groups to explore the city, and there was much to see. Antigua explodes with culture, which was easy to see when we stopped to eat for lunch and dinner. From traditional cuisine to foreign fusion, Antigua had so much to try. For example, my group had Texas BBQ for lunch, French crepes in the afternoon, and traditional Guatemalan chicken and potatoes for dinner.

But the culture could also be seen in the wonderful ruins found around the city. We stopped at the famous Ruinas de Capuchinas, a 17^th century convent and got to sit in the beautiful gardens there. We also found a basement section with such great acoustics, we couldn’t help but sing a hymn of worship.

From then on, we bought handmade gifts for our families and supporters at the town markets, and even found time to visit a Mayan chocolate museum! All the while, we walked under the looming Vulcan de Agua until sunset, when we got in our bus and returned to Magdalena.

-Joel Burdette

Cloud, fire, and smoke, and beauty

This past weekend, LIFT 42 had an epic adventure, climbing the volcano Acatenango to its summit at 13,044 feet. We began by leaving our host families at 9:30 on Friday night, driving to Antigua, being briefed by our guides with OX, and heading for the mountain. 12:45 am on Saturday morning, we began our grueling ascent.

Dark and wet, hiking up through clouds, we pushed faster than most groups that OX is used to guiding. They said if we made it in 1:00 or 1:15 to the first checkpoint, we'd be OK, and we made it in 45 minutes! Headlamps and endlessly stepping up and up and up while being sprinkled with cold rain was the first four hours of our hike.

Around 4:45 am we were closer to the summit and the winds picked up significantly with gusts around 50 mph. Everyone put on as many layers as we had, and we pushed on through the cold, intense, dark winds to the summit.

Our guide had said, "it probably won't clear." Praise God for his bountiful gracious gifts. Just after sunrise, around 6 am, the clouds began to clear.

LIFT 42 felt the peace and joy of the Lord as the fresh rays carried new warmth and beauty. Shortly, the views truly opened up from the summit of Acatenango so that we could see Fuego's eruptions about a mile away, just over a short ridge.

We descended to the place where OX often sets up base camp for those hikers who prefer to do these 9 miles and this ascent and descent of 5,000 feet in more than one day.

Their base camp location has amazing views of Fuego, just 1,200 feet down from the summit of Acatenango. By this time it had warmed a bit more, and OX had banana bread, spreads, tea, and coffee for us! It was an hour filled with joy, beauty, and camaraderie as we took in the beautiful views and began to understand the words "refreshment" and "rejuvenation" in new, rich ways.

After this wonderful breakfast, we descended the rest of the way down the mountain through beautiful fields of flowers and trees that we hadn't seen as we passed them by in the night.

It was a soul-refreshing hike, though many of us were very tired, having gotten maybe two or three hours of sleep before this, one of the most intense hikes of most of our lives.

We went back for a good meal at the community center and some much-needed rest in the afternoon.

We'll post a bit more about our church visit and our day in Antigua on Sunday sometime later.

Today, we are back in the sites with Students International, learning, growing, and glorifying God!

In Christ,

Tyler Nelson
LIFT Associate Director

Avocado orchards

Overall, so far, Guatemala has been an overwhelmingly positive experience. The people have reflected God’s generosity constantly. Yesterday after a delicious breakfast with my host family, Kate, Abigail, and myself (John Gallagher) went to work at the agricultural site with Meme (Meh-may), our leader. Meme had just led devotionals about the faith of Noah. This was fitting for the parallels I see between the two men. Both save the lives of animals for the glory of God. Meme has a veterinary clinic here and charges 10 Quetzales (about $1.50) for a visit no matter the procedure. To put this in perspective, I spent 50Q on a Big Mac, fries, and a drink.

When not in the clinic working with dogs and other pets, we are building water filters for farmers in the community. Yesterday we drove into the mountains to do exactly that. While stopping to collect cinderblocks, cement, and other supplies, we were surprised to see one of the bags begin to move, and even more surprised when it barked at us. Inside we found two puppies, each smaller than a loaf of bread. Meme is a small man with a big smile, and he was grinning ear to ear as he handed the “chuchos” to us.

They accompanied us to a massive avocado orchard, each branch bending to the weight of the abundant fruit. The trees take 5 years to mature and produce fruit, but Meme told us because of the many prayers over the plants, they have produced huge harvests on their third year.

We were treated to Pepsi and chocolate wafers by the farmer, which established a pattern for us. Each farmer was more generous than the last. One provided us with a feast of guacamole, salsa, tortillas, and chicken. We have worked at five farms in total so far and none have failed to feed us so generously that we have been too full to eat the lunches we packed.

Another pattern every farmer took part in was the request for prayer before we left. They asked us to pray for the protection of their families, the blessing of their crops, and the fulfillment of God’s plan. The humble, lighthearted, yet reverent love they show toward God transcends language barriers and has been inspiring to all of us. They work hard but never cease to smile, and the most frequent phrase on their lips is Gloria a Dios. Glory to God!

-John Gallagher