Thoughts from Jake & Grant

Here are two reflections for the day:

I started off the week not knowing what to expect from my service trip to Guatemala because of my trip to the garbage dump community last year.  I have learned a lot more from my trip this year compared to my first visit last year.  The most obvious of which is that I know a lot more Spanish this year compared to last year.  I am becoming better able to communicate with the kids and Lolo (the construction worker) because of their patience and the fact that they somehow know what I am saying when I mess up.  The most important thing I am going to bring back from this trip is to look for God in the little places.  Before this trip I didn’t think I saw God because I didn’t have an experience like Paul when a big shining light came that blinded him.  I learned to look for God in the pure joy of the people in Guatemala, who despite having to worry about how they are going to find their next meal still have some of the biggest smiles I have ever seen.  

Jake T. 

Coming into this trip I was not very excited. What could be fun about having no electronics for over a week, sleeping in a retirement home, and eating food that my stomach wasn’t used to. Also, I only knew 2 other kids coming on the trip with me and I do not like to meet new people. I had a negatively skewed view of Jen, mainly because most of my experiences with her (all 3 of them) involved her going well over the time limit on our pre trip meetings. However, when I got here I found the reality of the trip to be much more enjoyable. I have never been good with little kids, because they can’t hold a reasonable conversation for very long, and that doesn’t amuse me. However, when encountered with the language barrier I had to learn to communicate with these kids via the language of compassion. The roles were reversed, and I was the one who couldn’t hold a decent conversation, I was on the outside looking in. My new perspective of being a humble observer allowed me to witness a new dynamic in children that I had never seen before. They felt the same emotions that I do. I saw a little piece of myself in each one of them. On top of the fantastic experience with the kids, I got along very well with the other people on the trip. I made new friends and had a lot of awesome talks about all sorts of things that we find exciting, and I can honestly say these are some of the best people I have ever met. They make me want to meet new people and try new things, to get out of my comfort zone and live the way God intended me to be. This trip has definitely made me a better person, and I hope to continue building myself on the new foundation that I have laid here. 

Grant