Guatemala Water Mission - Team 2422, May 2024
May 3rd - One Day to Go
Well, here we are one day before we head off on another adventure to serve the people of Guatemala. The thoughts that come to mind at this moment are, do I have my passport, do I have my medications, are our travels going to go smoothly, etc. I’m checking my packing list several times, because you can’t be too sure. This trip will be different than all my other trips because those were eyeglass mission trips, but this one is for water purification, hygiene, etc. There will be a bit of a learning curve, but we will pray that our work is successful, and that the people we are serving can get the most benefit from our work. The benefits they receive will be the true measure of success.
We fly out of Detroit first thing Saturday morning on our way to Dallas, where we will meet up with the rest of our team. Our team is comprised of people from Michigan, South Dakota, Kansas, and Montana. I always look forward to meeting team members from other parts of the country, who will be serving with the common goal of serving God’s people in Guatemala. From Dallas, we make our way to Guatemala City, where we will meet with our host Nury DeMilian. Nury is a most gracious host, and a wonderful woman of God. Nury has been our host on several trips, and is one of the finest people that I’ve ever known.
May 4th - Travel Day
Well, we left Detroit at 6:30 this morning, made it through security without any hiccups and landed in Dallas without any issues. While sitting at our gate here in Dallas, we actually ran in to two team members from the team we served with last year in Gualan. Right now we’re just waiting at our gate for our flight to Guatemala City. Some of the team waiting at the gate. That is all.
May 4 - Continued
A quick update for Saturday morning. We flew out of Dallas Saturday morning, and into Guatemala City early Saturday afternoon, picked up our luggage, and made it through security and customs without any issues. We had no issues finding Nury at the airport, as she was enthusiastically waving to us as soon as she saw us.
We loaded all of our luggage onto the bus as we prepared for the long bus ride to our hotel. It was about 8 or 9 o’clock Saturday night before we got to our hotel, which is in a very rural area, going down roads that I wouldn’t have taken my truck down. When we got here, we were very happy to find that our dinner was already prepared and waiting for us. After a devotion from Kaileigh and some short instructions for Sunday, we prepared for bed, which was a very welcome sight, especially after a very long day. God is good!
May 5th - Church and Water Filter Set-up
It is Sunday morning, and after a very nice breakfast of refried beans, scrambled eggs, watermelon, and toast, Kaileigh gave us the instructions for the day. This morning we are going to church in Gualan, and then wewe’re going to assemble water filters and get further instructions on cleaning the filters. Jude gave us our devotions this morning from Philippians 4, teaching us that when we pray, we must have meaning and intention in our prayers. It becomes far too easy to say the same prayers every day, and not have meaning to the words that we are praying. God is not impressed with long drawn out prayers and big words. He wants our prayers to come from our heart. Have a blessed day!
May 5 Cont’d - Preparing for 1st day of clinic
We spent Sunday, May 5 getting our filter systems ready for the people that we will be serving. We then went to Mission of the Cross Lutheran Church in Los Limones to get a view of where we would be serving. We returned to our hotel, and went on a nice tour of the area, visiting a lagoon, and then shown a business on the hotel property, where they make jewelry and other small items made of jade, which were very beautiful.
Within settled in for dinner, were given a very nice devotion from Lance, and were given instructions for the first day of clinic from Kaileigh.
May 6 - last-minute preparation’s for the first day of clinic
We awakened this morning to the sounds of roosters and peacocks. Patricia gave us a very nice devotion from 1 Corinthians 1:10 teaching us that there be no divisions among us, and that we are all united in Christ as one.
We then drove to La Ressurrecion Lutheran church to pick up our filter kits to take them to the Los Limones community. Before putting them in the homes, however, we first went to Mission of the Cross Lutheran church, where we gave short presentations to members of the community, to show them how to use the filters, and how to practice better hygiene in order to prevent illnesses. In keeping with the theme of water, Mark and I told the story of Jesus and Peter walking on the water (Matthew 14) reminding them that Peter only started to sink when he focused on the troubles around him, taking his eyes off of Jesus. We also reminded them that when he was in trouble, Peter called out to the only one who could save him, and that was Jesus. We could not have done this without the help of our interpreter Marco.
Just before leaving for lunch, we distributed our first filters into four household’s, teaching them how to properly use the filters, and also how to clean them. We also included several hygiene kits to the households, which included combs, toothbrush and toothpaste, soap, wash cloths, etc. After completing the set up of the first filters into this house, we came back to La Resurreccion Lutheran church where a local woman catered a very nice lunch for us. Thank you and have a blessed day!
May 6 - First Afternoon
After lunch we proceeded to a different section of Los Limones to distribute more filters. Pastor Luis Jose then led us to the people’s homes. Comparing their living conditions with our living conditions is an extremely humbling experience. Very poor living conditions in the United States are better than the conditions that these people are living in, and yet these people are content. One thing I’ve noticed is that outside of the home, the children tend to be happy and playful, however, inside the home they are quiet and well behaved. In one home, about 15 local children followed us inside while we were showing a woman how to use her filter. While we were inside the home demonstrating the use of the filter, these 15 children did not move nor make a sound, they were calm and well behaved. When we left the home and they were outside, they were very happy and playful. You will find very few pictures of children because if they get posted to social media the images can be exploited.
In this photo, you can get an idea of some of the living conditions that these people experience.
One thing I have not mentioned is the weather. It is sunny and hot, hot, hot. On Monday I believe the temperature was 104°, and I believe more of the same as expected. The lower elevations that are closer to sea level are very hot, but once you get into higher elevations, the temperatures are more pleasant. I did notice that even when the children are running and playing, they are not even sweating, since they are so accustomed to the heat.
After distributing 21 filters in the afternoon, we returned to our hotel, only to find that the power was out, which meant that there was no air-conditioning. Fortunately, however, the power came back on within 10–15 minutes. Before dinner, we went to work and assembled over 40 more filters for distribution to the community. Before dinner, Karen led us in devotion and prayer. Wet hen had very nice dinner of chicken, potatoes, and assorted vegetables. Kaileigh then asked us about some of our experiences for the day. We found that some of the families wanted us to pray for them, and some of the families actually prayed for us in their native Spanish. What a humbling experience, that people who have so much less, pray for us who have so much. One very important thing that I do need to mention is that with each filter we are also giving them a Gideon Bible, which they do appear to appreciate. Thank you very much, and God’s blessings on your day!!
May 7 - Day, number two
This morning we gave instructions to a new group of indigenous people, and talked to them about germs, hygiene, and how to use the water filters. We also gave them a devotion concerning Jesus and the woman at the well. After we were done with our presentations, we went out and distributed about 10 water filters to some of these people. We also asked them if we could pray for them, which they greatly appreciated. There was one young woman who asked us to pray for her daughter, who is not in the household, and who is, unfortunately, caught up in drugs, and has a child. So we prayed for her daughter and child, that the temptations of drugs and her lifestyle would be removed from her, and then she could return back home to her family. It took much bravery on her part to tell these things to us, who are total strangers to her. Just prior to lunch, we delivered four more filters to families, who also desired for us to pray for them and their families, and that their families would stay together. We are now taking our lunch in Gualan, which is the only place that I can make a Wi-Fi connection. So I apologize if there are any delays in communication.
While walking down one of the streets with Carlos, Marco, and pastor Luis Jose, an inebriated man with a machete walked up behind us, but fortunately Marco and the pastor were between us and the man. All he wanted was some money, which he would, unfortunately, use for more alcohol. Fortunately, with Carlos, Marco, and Pastor Luis Jose, he was not a threat to us. On our way back to the hotel we stopped for gas and saw some thing that we don’t see in the states anymore. A full-service gas station.
May 8 - Day number 3
I was awake at 4 o’clock to a room that was in complete darkness. That can mean only one thing, our power is out. Fortunately they have a gas stove, which means…..COFFEE!! It also means a hot breakfast. Thank you Lord!! You always provide.
It’s almost 8:00 am and the power is still out, but everything is fine. Laura led us in devotion, teaching us to not make things too complicated in our lives. Breakfast was scrambled eggs and a green salsa over tortilla chips, and it was excellent.
We loaded up the rest of the filter kits on the bus and went on our way to Mission of the Cross Lutheran Church. On the way we picked up Carlos and Marco, two of our translators. We arrived at the church at 9:00 to find about two dozen people from local households who are to receive water filters today. We are distributing filters to about 4 households in teams of 2 to 3 people. We are also making it a point to pray for these people, your families, and their household. After making several stops in the morning, we headed back to Guoan for lunch.
This is Nori, our host, and Pastor Luis Jose, who is pastor of Mission of the Cross Lutheran Church. On Sunday afternoons he has children over to the church, and has upwards of 80 kids there every Sunday. Which is amazing!
This is Ben playing the ukulele, and Nancy and her daughter, Sarah singing “Jesus Loves Me” along with the people we were serving. Ben and his wife Scarlet are helping us by serving as translators, and they have their beautiful six month old son Jakko with them.
God‘s richest blessings to you all!
May 9th - Final Day
We had our final breakfast at the hotel this morning. The staff was gracious enough to move tables and chairs, and all the food out to a nearby lagoon. These women, Angelica, Flory, and also Claudia (not pictured) did an absolutely wonderful job of working so hard to keep us fed each morning and evening!
This morning was our final day of service to the community of los Limones. We distributed our final 10 water filter kits to several families at the Mission of the Cross Lutheran church.
We have now traveled back to the city of Guoan for lunch, and then to head back to Nury’s house or for our final day, which is a tourism day for us. I’m looking forward to doing a little bit of shopping and buying some of their wonderful coffee! Thank you and God bless!
May 10 - Tourism Day
After breakfast, some ladies from the local Lutheran Church in Santiago Zamora came to Nury’s to sell crafts that they have made. There was also an eyeglass mission team that came to Nury’s to purchase their crafts as well. From Nury’s there are two volcanoes, visible, one of which is active and was emitting some smoke.
May12 - Return to the States
Good evening everyone. We left Guatemala City 12:30 AM Saturday morning, and all of our team arrived home safely. It was a successful week as we distributed approximately 80 water filters to the community of Los Limones. I can see with certainty that this was the hardest trip that I’ve been on, with temperatures of 100–105 degrees, with the Real Feel temperature over 110 degrees.
We prayed for unity of their families, we prayed for health, and we prayed for their homes to be blessed. Many of these people may be poor in material things, but rich in faith, and we must remember that Jesus looks at the heart. We can always learn and grow in faith from those around us no matter what their lot in life is. I hope that all of you have enjoyed reading this, and can take something away from this and use it in your personal life. Thank you and God‘s blessings to you!
