It will be harder than you expect.
Yes, there will be the plane delayed, luggage mishaps and miscommunication, but these won’t make or break your trip.
When I was called to step out of my comfort zone and go to Guatemala to serve at Casa Bernabe for the first time back in 2014, I reached points where I doubted this was what I was supposed to be doing, and in those moments I could only trust the Lord to lead me.
Being called to serve again this year, in the midst of other personal struggles, quickly became another time to rely on the Lord and His plans.
It was harder than I expected because I was emptied of myself, constantly playing, digging, gardening, changing dirty diapers, and not feeling 100% — but I was filled with the Lord, which leads to my second point.
It will be easier than you expect.
On the other hand, everything I feared as I boarded the plane and leaving behind beloved friends and family, overcoming the language barrier, homesickness, and the fear of the unknown had not overtaken my excitement when we arrived. I loved the culture and adjusted quickly to having to use my improve Spanglish. Surprisingly, the things I didn’t know to expect turned out to be the greatest blessings of all!
I have always had a longing to be near to and to be serving children, but when we arrived and the baby house (Casa de Angelitos) didn’t have any additional live in helpers like they usually do, I immediately knew that was the place God wanted and needed for me to be during that week. Little did I know that God didn’t need me there to help feed the children who have difficulty eating, or to play with the 13 babies inside while it poured down rain, He needed me there to provide a pair of ears to the house parents and their own children. How crazy is that? All God needed me to do was listen as someone else spoke what was on their heart.
I made close friends, experienced a new culture and grew in my relationship with the Lord. Every day, I was more excited to be there than the day before. That is not to say every day was easy, but it did get easier as the week progressed. So despite the challenges I faced, my short-term mission trip was easier than I expected because I let go of my preconceived ideas and let the Lord guide my trip in ways far greater than I ever could.
You are capable of more than you think.
All I can say is that the Lord will use you in ways you don’t think you are capable of.
As an introvert who shies away from phone calls and conversations with strangers, my work interacting with people all day was a challenge. But by the Lord working in and through me, I found myself not only capable, but actually enjoying a ministry I never thought I would.
I met so many incredible people during my trip, and I would have missed out if it weren’t for the Lord orchestrating a plan that was better than my own.
I’m reminded of Isaiah 55:8-9: “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.”
Every day, I encountered new challenges: whether that be exhaustion and almost passing out or trying to keep track of 13 boys for an entire day, they were things that would have caused great fear and anxiety in me back home, but every day, it got easier. I found myself waking up each morning asking the Lord, “What do you have for me today?” Because I knew that whatever it was, I could rely on him to help me accomplish it.
I became acutely aware of my own inability, but I found something much greater: the strength that only comes through Him. So don’t fear the unknown or the unexpected, but embrace it.
It will have more of an impact than you think.
There is nothing short about a short term mission trip. I learned this as two years have passed since the first time I visited Casa Bernabe. There is the obvious being “changed” and arriving home with a new appreciation for the basic items we are provided with in our country and in our homes. But there are also unconventional ways that being able to serve in Guatemala has allowed God to open new doors for me.
Being completely emerged in Spanish back in 2014 allowed me to find a passion for the language and has now become my chosen major.
For a year I was able to provide a scholarship to one of the kids I had drawn close to during my first trip to Guatemala and I was also able to rekindle that bond during the latest visit. God has used that specific child to keep me constantly in prayer for the orphanage and in thought for this child and those who care for him.
One of the biggest tangible impacts I’ve been able to see was returning to the orphanage 2 years after my first visit and being able to see service projects we had done 2 years ago still standing and also being able to see results of service projects that we started while we were still there. The first time we were there we began sifting, mixing and laying concrete for the patio and sidewalk of a new house; this year we got to see the finished house along with shared laughs and smiles with the two families that housed it. Talk about a way to see your impact. Another cool experience that allowed me to see my team's effects on Casa Bernabe was getting to work in the garden, pick green beans and then later help prepare those green beans for a meal.
As I traveled home this time I left another piece of my heart with the children, the house parents, and the ministry; and I can’t wait to one day go back and regain that piece.
