The women's Guatemala team: ready to go!!

We are ready to be in Guatemala!!! We are excited about how God will use us! We will be packing our crates on Wednesday night!! Our flight leaves 9:45 am on Friday morning!!! Please pray for safe travels and pray for hearts and lives to be changed!!

lakewoodstudents' photostream

lakewoodstudents' photostream on Flickr.

Pics from the HS Guatemala Mission Trip

Senior Year

Since I am a senior this is my last high school trip. The last 3 years have been amazing. I can honestly say that I have grown up here. My faith has become so much stronger by coming here. My past trips have been very emotional compared to this trip. Because I have seen all the poverty before I knew how to react. I think that I could handle it better because I'm more mature in my faith and walk with God then years past. This trip more than anything has revealed my own sins to me. Being away from home and away from our busy schedules it gives you time to just think. The only reason we are here is because of what Christ did for us. Since we are so focused on The Lord we can listen better. This trip has taught me how prideful and selfish this world and I are that we live in. I was in a church service earlier this week and a little boy named Christian who lived in the landfill gave me one of his toys. Compared to me he had nothing but he gave away some of the only things he had. I know I will come back but I'm not sure when. God has taught me that he has his hand on this city. As I walked out of the dump yesterday for my last time on my high school trip I received a peace. The Lord has everything controlled and in his hand. My heart will always remain in Guatemala.

Caleb Parrish

The Aids Hospital- Isabella

When you begin your journey to Guatemala you think that you are coming to change the people of the landfills lives, but what you don't realize is that all the children you meet end up changing yours even more. As we were headed to the Aids hospital, I found myself overwhelmed with guilt. I began focusing on what the children of the hospital don't have, rather than what they do. In America, people with HIV/aids are looked at as if there is a cure, but in Guatemala people with HIV/aids are seen as unclean and are considered outcasts. Some of the children you meet there have lost their parents due to HIV/aids and others have been abandoned due to their current condition. But in the midst of all of their struggles, they are completely content and secure with the Lord. I had the pleasure of meeting a beautiful 1 year old girl named Isabella who completely changed my mind and my heart about what I was feeling. Even though she was not HIV positive, she was orphaned due to her parents having had aids. I spent the entire day with her in my arms trying to get her to smile, and by the end of the day seeing her smile at me gave me more satisfaction than I think I could have ever given her. I can not begin to explain the love I have for that child, but even though I know that Isabella doesn't have earthly parents to comfort her everyday, I know that God is watching over her every step of the way and that it is a blessing that she is safe in the aids hospital right now. I know that in the end, God will grant Isabella with the blessing of having two parents who can love her like God loves her. I think that she ended up showing me that your life may not go the way you want it to, but God has a bigger plan for your life and he can reveal himself in many different ways you'd never expect.
-Sydney Creamer

Daniel

This is my fifth time being in Guatemala and it is the only time I've ever been to the malnutrition center. While there, I met a boy named Daniel. He is 6 months old and is malnourished to the point where his family decided they needed to send him some where that he can get the nourishment he needs. When I first saw him, he was asleep in his crib and they told me I had to wait until he was awake to hold him. Once he woke up, I went and stood beside his crib and just started to tickle him. He gave me the biggest grin I have ever seen in a baby. When the nurse told me I could hold him, I picked him up and held him until we had to leave. While I was holding him, he was the happiest baby I had ever met. But when I put him in his cringe cried as loud as he could. It made me think about how Christ loves us. He holds us and never puts us down. And if he did, we would be like Daniel. We would cry as loud as we could because we don't have that comfort we need and want. And once we have that, we can't let go of it. That just shows us how powerful God's love is. He holds us in his arms and comforts us through the good and bad. Just goes to show that you can see God's love through anything you do.

Courtney Staples