Your Experiences, Your Stories...

Many people who come to Guatemala in order to help the people leave having been impacted  by God and the Guatemalan people in some profound ways. We are always excited to see how God both blesses the people of Guatemala and those who come to help. Rather than attempting to describe their experiences, we thought you might enjoy reading a few of their stories and impressions first hand. Do you have an experience that you would like to share?  Write us and let us know. We'd love to put it on the website

DAVID WOODS, PITTSBURGH, PA

Ten years ago this week I was preparing with about 15 other people to leave on a short term mission trip to an orphanage in Guatemala.  I was passionate about missions and excited to cut my teeth in a real way.  I felt blessed by the life God had given me and was excited to share that blessing with the less fortunate.  So, it was surprising to me, in looking back on the trip, that I was far more blessed by the people of Guatemala then I could ever have blessed them. Since that first trip I have returned seven times to Guatemala, with different groups and on my own, to share in the work God is doing in that country.  It is often on these trips that I hear God speaking to me in a very clear way.  Each trip deepens my faith and causes me to fall deeper in love with his Son.  God often seems nearer to me when I’m in Guatemala then when I’m at home.  I started thinking and praying about why this is.  God answered my questions where he usually answers life’s hardest question, in his Word.  Throughout the scriptures God’s people are a people who are on the move.  Abraham is called away from his fathers land to go to an unknown land that the Lord would show him.  Joseph was called to go to Egypt as a captive.  Jesus reminds us in Luke 4:24-27 that Elijah and Elisha were both sen taway from home to do ministry. Paul, a Pharisee, was sent to distant gentile cities for the gospels sake. Jesus’ great commission commands us to go into all the world to preach the gospel.  And of course God himself stepped away from his heavenly throne, and took on the flesh of mortality, among people who he created, yet knew him not. God is constantly calling his people to leave their comfort zones behind and go.  And when Gods people respond they without fail are always blessed.  God calls us away from ourselves so that we can find ourselves in him.  It is when we don’t know the language or costumes of a place that we learn that it is only God who sustains us.  We have too many crutches at home that make us feel secure in ourselves, our bank accounts, our jobs, our friends. God wants us to know that there is no other God besides Him and only He will keep us from harm. When I leave what I know behind and follow God, He has never failed to sustain me, and He promises that he never will. Short-term trips to other countries are a reminder to me of who it is that is in control of my life, and it helps me to leave my comfort zones wherever I might be.  We don’t have to leave the country to get away from what we know.  In America it might be a next-door neighbors house or the neighborhood next door.  It’s not hard to find people who we are not comfortable around but who need to hear the gospel.  I pray God continues to call me to the unknown, so that I may learn more of his sustaining Grace. And I would encourage anyone who has not left their comfort zones for the sake of the Gospel, to step into the stream of God’s people who leave what they know and follow his voice. For we know that this stream leads to the sea of people from every tribe, tongue and nation who stand before the throne of God day and night in praise of Him.

JEFF PIRINELLI, DALLAS, TEXAS

When we initially decided to go to Guatemala I knew nothing about the country, just that our friends, the Capeharts, were there. They had described a beautiful place full of mountains, rainforests, friendly people, and ancient ruins. Who wouldn’t want to go? So we asked Leslie what we needed to bring, and her reply made me stop and think twice. “Don’t bring anything you wouldn’t gladly give up at gunpoint,” she wrote. Central America was going to be a different kind of vacation…
We went for a week and saw what Matt and Leslie had described. The first morning we arose early to see the sun coming up against the towering volcano Fuego in Antigua, while sipping Café con Leche at a rooftop table. But the glass high-rises and BMW’s of the City and the Spanish Colonial villas of Antigua turned to cinder block structures and chicken buses just outside of town. Further out were bicycles and adobe houses, or bare feet and cornstalk huts. My first day there I was shocked at the level of poverty I saw all around me.
The second day, though, I noticed that many of those people were smiling and waving as we drove by. They called out to Matt by name, and welcomed us into their homes. They were rich in spirit, and glad to share with us. In the market in Chichi we walked comfortably through the crowds. We saw the traditional clothing, hand woven in colors and patterns specific to each village. We watched Mayan rituals still being performed in honor of their gods, and saw the intermingling of Mayan and Spanish Catholic religions at a cathedral. It affirms the depth of their cultural heritage and the importance of their history to these people. We saw CD vendors in the markets, new school buildings, and new churches being built. We felt the changes slowly making their way into the culture. I chuckled while watching young women in traditional garb taking each other’s pictures with digital cameras in front of two thousand year old Mayan ruins. Guatemala is a fascinating mix of old and new. And we watched Matt and Leslie chat with people they’d helped and healed. Broken people from broken homes or broken families who had been led to Christ and were walking in the light. New homes, new skills, new jobs, even new lives because of the work of Christian missionaries. Their new strength, peace, and confidence will help them lead others to the Lord.
Through it all was the natural beauty of Guatemala. Awesome mountains, volcanoes rising out of a flat plain, Lake Atitlan shining in the evening light, and many other amazing wonders. That first trip was a life changing experience I’ll not forget. We’ve already gone back, and the second trip was even better than the first. And I can’t wait to go again and again…

KAREN PIRINELLI, DALLAS, TEXAS

My husband and I have traveled to Guatemala twice this year.  We knew that the trips would be wonderful experiences for the two of us, but we didn't really anticipate the impact the trips would have on our ten year old daughter.  We live in a neighborhood where most people lack for little.  As a result, she has not ever really been exposed to people who are truly in need.  The sights she saw, and the people she had a chance to interact with, have changed the way she views her world.  Like us, she saw firsthand how few material things people need to be content, and that things are not what make a house a home.  With God, there can be hope and happiness even in very humble surroundings.  God is at work in so many ways in Guatemala and it was a joy to be a part of it even in some small way.

AARON ELLIOT, NOBELSVILLE, INDIANA

Sebatiana and Manuela were mother and daughter.   They own some land, but do not have adequate living space.  In fact, they live in garbage.  Sebastiana has a mental disorder where she hoards trash.  Literally, she picks up anything and everything and collects it.  The town thinks of her as a witch.  Matt, whose deep love for Sebastiana was evident, sent a team up to clear trash and build a house for Sebastiana and her daughter. 

On Sunday, the team was just finishing just finishing up the work.  The first two days were spent doing nothing other than clearing trash.  Matt had to stick close by those two days because Sebastiana was very upset that they were moving her stuff, and kept threatening the team with her machete.  After two hundred trash bags were filled and moved, the team was able to get to work on building walls, laying a concrete foundation, installing the roof.  By weeks end, all that remained was to put on a door and finish out a window.

Besides the amazing transformation that took place on the side of this mountain where they live, the transformation that took place in Sebastiana was probably more amazing.  She was shaking hands and very grateful for all the work that was done.  The team was able to sing a few songs with both Sebastiana and Manuela and to pray with them.  Manuela just wanted prayer that her mother would continue to get better.  Manuela had been to the market and bought a present for every single person on the team.  I don’t think there was a dry eye in the place as we sang and prayed and thanked God for what He had done this week, and asked him to continue to heal Sebastiana to her right mind. 

Clara and Victor

 Clara and her daughter work for Matt and Leslie as house help and caring for their kids.  Victor is Clara’s husband and was one of the town drunks.  His drinking had lead to the deterioration of his liver and progressed to the point that the hospital sent him home to die.  The bleeding out of his liver was beginning to happen and he was sent home to die.  Clara went to Matt and Leslie and asked that they come to pray.  Matt and Leslie at first resisted, saying “you need a Pentecostal.  We are not that kind of missionaries.”  They went, prayed…and God healed Victor. 

Clara and Victor have decided to donate part of their property for a wheel-chair bound woman (Anastasia) and her daughter (product of a rape) to have a home.  Currently they are without a home and Anastasia makes her money begging in the market.  For a family to donate land to another person, let alone a woman in a wheelchair, in order to build a house, is simply not done in this culture. On Sunday, we were able to celebrate the work, sing and pray with Victor, Clara, and their four kids.  Again, it was an amazing and moving time for all of us.  Later we were able to meet Anastasia and give her a big hug.  She is yet to see the house.  I wish I could be there the day she moves in.  Be prepared if you ever meet her…she will hug you and hardly let go!