In February 2017, I had the privilege of leading our seventh incredible team to San Lucas Sacatepequez, Guatemala to do life with our family at Camino al Cielo CarePoint. God has given us a vision to go beyond the love and care of children and into the lives of teachers. Now parents are a part of the vision of leaving a CarePoint not only sustainable, but a lighthouse to the community. Wow! Best trip ever!
The teachers at Camino al Cielo work hard, teaching, supporting, and loving every student. Each time we visit, we carve out time to sit with them and minister to them. This time was no different, yet the outcome was. Unbeknownst to us, they struggle with being valued as a teacher in their culture. But God had other plans. As we led them in scripture each morning, everyone on our team focused on encouragement, value and legacy, which was exactly what they needed! We had the incredible opportunity to tell them how important they are, and that they are building the next generation for Christ through their legacy of teaching and loving. Their testimony back to us at the end of the week was that they didn’t know how valuable they were, telling us how much they needed that, which made every wall between them and us come down. All praise to Jesus! Can’t wait for what’s next!
As we have partnered at this CarePoint over the past two years, we have felt God calling us to broaden our circle of love and influence from children to teachers, to parents, and eventually the to the community – just as Jesus commanded his disciples to broaden their circle from Jerusalem to Judea, to Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. The effect has been phenomenal. The trust earned and the relationships formed are proof of this. We had a relationship building time with parents this trip, that opened doors to hear their stories and to value them as friends and partners. Again, walls came down! We cannot wait until the next trip in August to pour into our Guatemalan family spiritually, knowing how they pour into us. God is great and greatly to be praised!
We also have had incredible, humbling times over the past three years, to be invited into the homes of parents and students. This has been the most important and personal experience each trip. We have prayed together, laughed, shared stories, and this time, sat at the bedside of a very sick student just loving him and his family. We walked through a difficult circumstance together that changed our lives and our relationship with that family forever.
Thank you to HopeChest for their trust in us. Thank you to our dear friends at HopeChest Guatemala (Mafer, Nestor, Andrea and Carolina) for guiding us. Thank you to our host Wall-e, our dear brother and friend, all of our translators over the years, our driver Henry, and of course our Camino family – Jon, Flor, Sarita, the teachers, kids, and parents! We cannot tell you how YOU have changed our lives for the glory of God and advancement of the kingdom.