What LIFT 49 Carried Home from Guatemala

This month, thirty LIFT Discipleship Program students boarded a plane to Guatemala to serve alongside one of our ministry partners, Students International (SI). They went with Osprey backpacks filled to the brim, some nervousness about flying, and a deep, genuine desire to serve. Many of them realized that they had come action oriented. Ready to serve, do, and give. Yet this trip offered them something they didn’t expect. One by one, in different moments and places, they began to realize how much they were receiving.

The moment they stepped off the plane at the Guatemala City airport, something turned on.

"Right as we stepped out and began to experience the culture and meet people, it filled us with more excitement for these next two weeks," Abby J. wrote on day one.

From there, they made their way to Magdalena, met the SI staff, and then, perhaps the most disorienting and wonderful part of day one, met their host families. Guatemalan families who would cook for them, care for them, and welcome them with open arms and homemade tortillas for the next two weeks.

For many students it was their first real glimpse of what this trip would actually be. Not just a place to serve, but a place where they would be welcomed in.

LIFT Students Having Dinner with their Host Family

By day two, they were already serving at ministry sites. Ben C.'s site was running sports programs for kids led by a Guatemalan site leader named Byron, whose own story was a living example of how God can use ministries like SI to transform lives.

Most site leaders spoke little English. Most students spoke little Spanish. So they got creative.

"The LIFTers have been so intentional about finding ways to communicate," Ben wrote. "They aren't afraid to put themselves out there."

That night, the SI staff threw a Guatemalan culture night, including tamales, horchata, fried plantains, dancing, and confetti eggs that a group of Americans initially mistook for water balloons. It was only day two. The fun had more than begun. The reflections were just getting started.

What started as excitement on day one slowly gave way to something deeper as the week went on. 

Giulia and the Women’s Social Work Site

Giulia S. was working at the Women's Social Work site, helping women who spent their days sewing bags, aprons, and pants from the bold, colorful huipil fabric traditional to Guatemala. One morning, she had the privilege of sharing part of her own testimony with the women in Spanish. She had come to encourage them. What she didn't expect was what came back.

"I received such attentive feedback and much encouragement from them in return."

Caris R. encountered truth in a moment she couldn’t shake.  One of her site leaders, Yvonne, walked everywhere slowly and intentionally in order to talk to every person she passed. Then one afternoon, sitting in a home visit listening to an untranslated testimony, Caris caught herself staring at her watch.

"I was disgusted with my hurry sickness," she wrote.

"It's not about me or my schedule. It's about being present, engaged, and sharing Jesus' love and compassion.

That night, she took her watch off. She didn't put it back on.

Caris, Yvonne, and the Child Sponsorship Site

Rosalie B. was watching the SI staff pour into the students daily through devotionals every morning, meals, testimonies, and cultural guidance. She had been serving at the Special Education site all week, sweeping floors each morning to prepare the space, playing games and puzzles with the kids, and one afternoon worshipping in Spanish alongside mothers from the community. She knew they had come to serve. But the longer she was there, the harder it became to distinguish which direction generosity was flowing.

"I hardly know who is serving whom," she reflected.

Matt and the Trade School Site at a Home Visit

Matt P. was coming to a realization of his own at the Trade School Site. He had noticed that in Magdalena, meals lasted a long time, breaks stretched to an hour and a half, and people stopped what they were doing just to be together. He thought of Mary and Martha. He thought about how often back home he had been Martha.

"A lot of what we do here is spend time with people," he wrote. "Simply sitting in the presence of people is sometimes all that is needed.”

I am learning more than I am serving," Matt reflected.

On Friday afternoon in El Tablon, a small community outside Magdalena with dirt roads, a sandy soccer field, and children who drop out of school after sixth grade, Lauren G. was playing keep-away with a group of boys. She was exhausted, but the kids were not.

"This little boy I was playing with, named Marco, couldn't have been more than 10 years old," she wrote. "He was wearing a little red shirt, black pants, and a pair of Crocs. While we were playing, he walked away for a minute and came back with a little square water pouch. He handed it to me. I thought he was asking me to open it for him, but when I tried to give it back, he said to me in Spanish, 'No, it's for you.'"

"I felt so touched in that moment. I felt the love of Christ shine right through that little boy. Not because I was in need of water, but because of his hospitality. He treated me like his equal, like his friend, or even like his guest on his favorite field. This little 10-year-old boy, who doesn’t have many materials, is made in the image of God, and he has love to give. "

Lauren Playing Soccer with the Sports Site in El Tablon

LIFT 49 flew to Guatemala eager to give. The Lord had even more planned. They came home having been received — by host families, site leaders, women who sewed with dignity, and a ten year old boy in a red shirt who walked off a soccer field to bring a new friend his water.

LIFT and Students International Staff

To everyone who prayed, financially supported, and loved these students from home, thank you! Your support made this trip possible, and we hope this story shows a glimpse into how God used every detail of it. Please continue to pray for the people of Magdalena, for the work of Students International, and for the hearts of these students as they carry what Guatemala gave them back into their everyday lives.