I woke up this morning and saw on my phone that it has been 1 year since I went on my first mission trip to Guatemala. I can't tell you how many times I have reflected on and talked about my trip to Guatemala throughout this year. Not only did it make my faith stronger, but it reinforced my belief that the love of God truly does conquer all.
At the time, I was so scared to go out of the country by myself with a group of people I just met. But something was telling me that I needed to go and do this trip. Now, for those who don't know, I was raised being taught about God but I never really KNEW God (you get what I'm saying?). My walk with Christ did not begin until I was about 20 years old.
When I arrived in Guatemala and the team all got to meet each other, I was blown away by the love of Christ that these people had. I have never heard people pray like this before, it literally sounded like music was just coming out of their mouths. I remember sitting in a group of people and I shared that this was the first time I was exposed to people my own age who were Christian.
I am not going to lie, I had anxiety throughout most of this trip. My team was very welcoming and comforting but I felt very out of place at first. I really did miss my safe place at home with my family. Reflecting back on it a year later, I realized that sometimes God puts you in uncomfortable situations to help you grow and advance in your walk with Jesus.
There is one picture that was taken of me during the trip, where I am trying to teach this woman about Jesus. And being an outsider, looking at this picture, it is absolutely beautiful. You see me teaching this woman about Jesus with two other people encouraging me in the background. But when I look at the picture, I just remember how hard and how much I was struggling during that moment. I literally could not find the words to say to this woman, because I let my anxiety and insecurities take over. I just remember thinking "they're gonna judge me on what I say," and "I am not going to say the right thing." and "they're gonna think I am a bad Christian."
Reflecting on how I was feeling at that time, I realize how the enemy was at work just filling me up with doubt and insecurities. It was SO embarrassing to me that I literally could not say a simple prayer for someone or teach someone about Jesus. The nurse I was working with, made me pray with every single person that crossed our path (and boy was I feeling stressed) but I am grateful for her patience and for her pushing me and encouraging me. I needed to experience that to realize I had and still have so much growing to do in my faith.
The people of Guatemala were filled with joy to have us there. It was mind-blowing to me how these people had absolutely nothing, yet they still had smiles on their faces. I will never forget I helped a woman pick out some reading glasses and she was so grateful that she came back with a giant bundle of platanos to show her appreciation.
There were so many people and hearing their testimonies and what they were dealing with was a bit overwhelming but at the same time amazing to hear what these people have overcome. But there is one specific moment during my time in Guatemala, that I pray for every single day.
I was doing triage when a young pregnant girl, along with some village nurses came up to my table. I started taking her vitals and information down and then asked the nurse what she would like to see a doctor for. The nurse explained that this girl was 8 1/2 months pregnant and her water had broken 2 days prior and she had been bleeding now for two days straight. We did not have an OBGYN on our team and the doctors did the best they could to examine her. The resolution to this situation was she needed to get to the hospital ASAP to try to possibly save the baby's life and to save hers before she became septic. On the bus ride home that day, I had told one of my team leaders, what had happened and we just took a moment to pray for this girl and her unborn baby. I am not sure what happened to her or her unborn child, but not a day goes by where I do not think of her. She was young, and you could tell that she really did not understand the seriousness of this situation. Experiencing this has made me decide to potentially go into women's health and labor and delivery. I did not like feeling helpless in that moment and I pray to God every day that she and her unborn child are okay.
The trip really had a lot of heavy and hard moments, but there were also many beautiful and exciting things that happened as well. Our bus broke down at night and we were stuck on this bus, but during that time, the team leader, was speaking to our bus driver about his faith and asked him if he would want to accept Christ into his life and I am not kidding you this was the most powerful and beautiful moments I had ever witnessed. The prayer this man said sent chills up my arms it was so so good. It was one of the best nights of my trip hands down, to see the overwhelming love of God and what He can do was amazing to witness.
My trip to Guatemala will always be so special to me. The country and the people were absolutely beautiful and I am forever grateful for the team I was surrounded by. I had learned so much about myself and my faith during my time there. I miss the friends I had made while there, they made me laugh and were so encouraging and supportive during the trip. The memories we had all made together were so special and I will forever remember our time together.
Guatemala will always have a piece of my heart. They told us before we left that the mission does not stop in Guatemala but we need to bring it back home and share our experience and love of God with our very own family and friends. After the trip, I understood my purpose and saw what God was doing in my life. I understood how He was using me as one of His disciples to share His word.
If you are someone who is considering doing a mission trip, DO IT! It seriously changed my life for the better and I would not have the relationship with Christ that I have today if I did not go on that trip. I thank God for blessing me with the opportunity to go to Guatemala and to help the people there and to learn the lessons I did. And I absolutely cannot wait to go back someday.
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