Perspective from the Hombres

Today’s blog will feature the senior guys!  Mrs. Urquhart and I are so very proud of this entire class and simply amazed at the transformation that has occurred in this special group.  Enjoy! (Warning: You may need a box of tissues.)

By : Noah Vance

You’ve heard it said, “appreciate the little things,” but most will never realize what this really means unless they witness extreme poverty.  I have been given the chance to witness this throughout the week through these adorable children who literally take nothing for granted.  Even when they have next to nothing, they are often offering you their bag of chips or candy. Their generosity is astounding. Today I watched as a little girl licked clean a napkin that had a small sliver of icing left from her cake, and thought about how we take a piece of cake, which some of these kids may have never had before, for granted.  This treat, which we may seem entitled to, had kids lined up out the door of the small church for only a small piece of cake. Some of these children have nothing but are still content with a hug from a stranger, or a meal, which may put a smile on their face for the rest of the day.  These amazing children have given me a new perspective on life and a piece of my heart will forever be left here in Guatemala. 

By: Ben Coolbeth

During the week prior to this trip I steeled myself for what I was about to witness. Nothing could have prepared me. New sights, sounds, and smells just bombarded my senses. I had to ignore some aspects of life here just so that I wasn’t utterly overwhelmed. Violence, drugs and gang activity are commonplace in the city. Poverty is glaring at me everywhere I look. Thousands of people live in squalid conditions without enough to eat. The reality of it all finally struck me the first day in the park when a little boy tried to take me to his house. He began to climb down a runoff ditched filled with trash, and then made his way into a row of filthy shacks. I sat there at the edge of the park in disbelief as this happy little boy made himself at home in the local neighborhood refuse pile.  Dozens of lopsided shacks piled on top of each other descending down a cliff  is what hundreds of these people call home.  This is the reality these kids face, they know nothing else.  Unbelievably they meet us every day with smiles on their faces. Simply being able to love these kids, make them laugh, and show them that there is a God that loves them unconditionally makes everything our team is doing here worth it. 

By: Kyran Flahive

I tried to mentally prepare myself for the poverty that surrounds the country of Guatemala. I have never been to a different country until now and I can say that I was completely oblivious to the “outside world”. This week showed me how much struggle is in the world, and how much impact Christians can have on it. I thought that, coming into this trip, I would not get the chance to form a relationship with a specific child because of the language barrier. I believed that my impact would come through playing sports with random kids. This thought was soon changed by a little six year old girl named Betzy. Betzy has never talked to anyone in the program so no one really knew who she was. She told me that she has never had the opportunity to go to school. She wanders the streets during the day with little food. She lives on the roof of a small three story brick building with her mother along with six brothers, with only one brother in school. She has no father figure because her dad ran off with another woman and left them all to fend for themselves. Through all the time that I spent with her, I can say she is the cutest and kindest little girl I have ever met. She always had a big smile on her face. Even though she hardly got food, she would give to those that she felt needed it. When she was given clean water she gave it to a crying boy that didn’t get one. She gave away the birthday present full of toys given to all the kids in the church to another kid even though that was probably the only one she has ever received. It is hard to say goodbye to someone that calls you her best friend after three days. The poverty that these innocent kids face everyday is overwhelming and heartbreaking. People in America do not realize how great their lives are. Kids in America get mad when there are only twenty birthday presents instead of twenty-one, when Betzy didn’t even know the date of her birthday. This trip has been incredibly humbling and Betzy wasn’t the only one whose life was impacted this week. She left a mark in my heart and I will never forget her. The power of God was clear this week and I am very happy that I had the chance to experience it. 

By: Noah Johnson

When the decision was made to go to Guatemala I can honestly say I wasn’t excited at all. During the plane ride descent I could see Guatemala City and I remember saying to myself “It’s going to be a long week.” Guatemala is full of chaotic drivers, never before heard of vehicle brands, and armed security guards, but above all these is poverty. This week we had the opportunity to get a glimpse of poverty, and what the children of Guatemala go through everyday. Being an introvert and going into a school yard full of kids was overwhelming but when we entered through the metal gate, all of my introvert self disappeared. Kids jumped on all of us with glowing smiles and complete happiness in their eyes. The first day I met a kid named Diego on the sand soccer field. Diego was a kid who was quiet but very energetic.  Everyday I would go to the soccer field and there Diego would be and we would play soccer. The more I played soccer with him, the more he opened up. Today Diego subtlety asked if he could get onto my shoulders like all the other kids were. When Diego got on my shoulders I could hear instant joy in his voice. He would ask me to hold his hands out to act like he was an airplane soaring through the sky. Some of the kids gave him a hard time about being on my shoulders because he was ten years old, and all the other kids were a lot younger and smaller. It finally hit me that Diego was a kid being forced to be an adult, but wanted the opportunity to feel inside as a kid. Guatemala has changed my life as I see the way kids live in poverty and I’m glad God brought me here to serve. 

By: Rama Mugisha

Coming from Rwanda to Guatemala, I saw a lot of similarities including extreme poverty. So coming from a similar country, I never thought I would really be of any help the people of Guatemala in any way possible. But after we spent the first day with the kids, I really saw how happy we made them. Big smiles on their faces and joy in their eyes. Seeing this really showed me that we were making a difference in the lives of these kids, and I can say that their happiness made us feel like we actually did something great even though it seemed like an easy thing in our eyes, for them it was big deal for someone to pay that much attention to them and spend time with them, hear them out and many more. What I have learned from this trip is to be happy with what we have because the conditions these kids live in are to think about. Also, these kids look out for each other, they always stay together and basically the older kids are like the second parents to the young siblings. They are filled with love between each other, unless it’s like a soccer game then it gets pretty intense but aside from that, they are good kids trying to live on whatever they can find and however they can find it even if it means joining gangs or doing drugs. These kids need more people to bring joy to them, to show them that there is more to the world than they know, and to help them grow in Christ so they can make good decisions. It’s been a good trip! 

By : Seongwon Kang

When we arrived to Zone 7. My first thought was this place reminds me of where i grew up. The homes, schools and playgrounds. One day we had to decide on 2 people to present their testimony. I didn’t want to do it at first, but I decided to do it anyway, because the kids reminded me of my friends and I’m here to help them. I was pretty sure that my story would be similar to theirs. I wanted to give them hope from my story and I also I wanted to tell them that I was just like them. Therefore, I told them my embarrassing background that I  never told anyone. I met a little girl in church. Her name is Kimberly, the sweetest girl ever. She made me so emotional. I had conversations with her through a translator. She is seven years old and she is in 1st grade. I asked her about her family and she said her parents fight most days and she doesn’t even care anymore because she is used to it. I asked her that I can pray for her and she said you don’t have to pray for my parents but I want you to pray for food because her house doesn’t have any food. That hurt my heart. she lives far away from church and her house doesn’t have any transportation so her siblings and mom walk to church everyday after school. One of sweetest things she did was being generous. I asked her if she is thirsty and she said yes. So I bought her and the church group kids a bunch of bags of water with Mr. Lewis money. I gave her first and her brother couldn’t get one. Kimberly just gave her brother the water. She likes to jump on me, hug me, and riding on my shoulders. the last day I just wanted to make the best day for her because I was so impressed from her behavior and kindness. So I picked her up to on my shoulders and gave her my cookies from lunch and sour patch kids. An hour before we left the church. I gave her and her sister three leftover cookies and gave her brother a chip and bottle of water and all my Guatemala money that I had. And promised him to buy Kimberly Coca Cola. When a translator told her that today is the last day. She started hug me as hard as she could. She hugged me for a pretty long time and didn’t say any words. Her mom came to me and said “thank you for being nice to my children.” and she wanted me to take a picture with her kids. I don’t know why it made me so emotional. I believe that God sent me to Guatemala for a lot of reasons. I learned so many important things from Kimberly and I shared my testimony to Guatemala kids who having struggles like I had before. God is awesome  and He never changes.