Guatemala - The Beginning

It's funny how God works.  Not that it really should be funny, if we truly know His character, but sometimes He just is.  My Guatemala journey actually began many many years ago, when I was in elementary school.  I don't remember what grade, maybe 4th or 5th...  My godmother, Carol ,went to Guatemala and brought me back some dolls.  They are beautiful, dressed in traditional Guatemalan clothing, and I played with them (carefully) and had them displayed in my room.  In 5th or 6th grade, I had to do a country report.  Guess what I chose?  Yep, Guatemala.  In 1999, I was graduated from college and was actually making money and decided to sponsor a child through World Vision, where my mom worked.  I picked a girl, Julia, from Guatemala, and sponsored her up until last year, when she no longer needed sponsorship.  Now we sponsor a little girl, Maria, also from Guatemala.  In 2010 and 2011, Tony and I traveled to Mexico.  Despite the safety factor, I knew that I was intrigued by and really wanted more of the Hispanic culture and people.  (Now I definitely regret the 4 years of French I took in high school!)

I also have always had the desire to travel on missions and work in an orphanage.  I love children and babies and just have known that this is something that God has placed on my heart.  A few years ago I met Renae, who lives in our neighborhood and has kids at my kids' school.  I knew that she went on frequent mission trips and have had a few conversations about my interest in missions in the past.  In March, Renae put out on Facebook that she was taking a team to Guatemala in August to work with orphans, and something stirred in me.  I took a day to think and pray and then talked to Tony.  He was so supportive and excited for the idea of me going.  I asked Renae for the info and prayed some more.  It was VERY clear to me quite quickly that this was definitely something that God wanted me to do.  I applied, was accepted, and set to work with my fundraising.

My Orphan Outreach team consisted of 18 people - 13 from Hillsboro, 1 from Michigan and 4 from North Carolina. Those of us from Hillsboro met 5 times before our trip.  During our meetings we learned Spanish worship songs and some silly songs, worked on supply lists, prepared games and lessons for each day, and anything we needed to do to get ready.  And finally, August 2 came, which meant it was time to fly to Guatemala!