Guatemala 2026- Day 6

As you have read these blog posts this week, I hope that you have been encouraged by the way that God is moving in San Lucas Toliman and through each student on the trip. I hope that when we get home, you will be able to talk to these students and gain insight into their perspective on the trip. I promise you it will be beautiful. Each and every single moment, we got to witness joy that only comes from Christ in each and every single person we encountered.

Today was great. It feels hard to explain in words how beautiful today was. Jesus was present. We did a children's ministry day. In the morning, we hopped on a boat and headed across a lake to a village called San Antonio Palopo. In the afternoon, we headed to a village that you get to by walking over a suspension bridge. Each moment with a child today was beautiful. The mountains. The volcanoes. The water. The people. It was awesome. We played with kids, we laughed, we hit beach balls. played soccer, made friendship bracelets, and most importantly, we got to walk through the creation story with the kids. Every single moment was full of laughter, smiles, and hearts of gratitude. 

For our final porch time, we looked at what it means to go home after serving for a week. We started by talking about why each of us came on the trip. Then we talked about ways that each of us saw Jesus. We talked about what we love and appreciate about the culture here in San Lucan Toliman. Each student shared profound, deep, and beautiful things for each of these topics. A common theme was how, here in Guatemala, life is slower, there is a deeper sense of community, a greater understanding of finding joy in the mundane, and a sense of kindness that we do not often see in America. We then looked at Exodus 3 and 4 and how Moses was not sure about being equipped to be sent by God. We then looked at how God called Moses to be worthy, equipped, and then spoke truth over Moses in times of doubt. Today was great. Filled with joy. Tomorrow, we will walk through San Lucas Toliman for the last time. And then we will head to Antigua. We will be leaving with grateful hearts for the week that we experienced. We will be leaving changed because of how God moved. 

For The Kingdom, 

The Guatemala Team 

Guatemala 2026- Day 5

This morning on our walk to breakfast, we noticed that everything had started to feel familiar. Our team has become comfortable with the route and greeting the people of San Lucan Toliman. The walk through the streets has quickly become one of our favorite parts. After breakfast each morning, we start our day with musical worship and a "mini porch time". This morning, as we gathered, we were reminded that we are to praise God in all circumstances and that we are fearfully and wonderfully made. 

We headed out to the school that we were tasked with painting. We drove through the beautiful mountains of San Lucas Toliman. The schools have very little funding, so painting is not ever a first priority. We are grateful that we are able to help in that way. Our prayer today is that by us painting and making the school feel more alive, the teachers were able to better provide a safe place for their students. So that is what we did. We painted. We painted with joy.

Painting is not an easy task. Once you add high school students into the mix, it feels more difficult. And yet, our team today persevered. We lifted each other up. We laughed. We got frustrated. We repeated to ourselves our memory verse from Romans 12:10-12. You might be curious to know what it was like painting a school here in Guatemala. All the walls are made of cinderblock. They are low-budget. They are often not in the best shape. But these schools are a vital part of the community. The teachers here in Guatemala have immense pride in what they do. Even though a fresh coat of paint may not seem like a big deal, it brought immense joy to the school leadership. Painting was hard, but today we painted with joy. 

After dinner, we headed to grab some ice cream and to walk down to see the lake that San Lucan Toliman is on. Each of us was grateful for a sweet treat and getting to spend time together as a team near the lake. We laughed. Played on some swings. It was fun. Then we headed back to the hotel for porch time. Tonight, we looked at the idea of forgiveness. We talked about how, since Christ forgave us, we are called to forgive others. Forgiveness is a key concept to being able to fully follow Jesus. We also went around the table and talked about some things we saw today that were beautiful, challenging, and different. Some things that were mentioned were the fun memories we made painting together. The challenge of painting a school for 8 hours. We talked about how beautiful the volcano was that we got to look at all day while painting. This has quickly become one of the leader's favorite parts of the trip. It was amazing getting to watch the students process the people, places, and experiences that they are encountering. We are having the best time. There is always laughter. Always joy. 

For The Kingdom, 

The Guatemala Team

 

Guatemala 2026- Day 4

Today is our halfway point. One thing about our team is that there is immense joy in every moment, every task, and every conversation. This team is humble, devoted, sacrificial, and joyful. It feels as if we have been here forever, but in the best way. We started our day with a beautiful walk to the school. We greeted the locals of San Lucas Toliman with "hola, buneas dias." We had breakfast and spent time preparing our hearts and minds for our second building day.  It was a beautiful picture of the hearts of each student on this trip. 

Our two groups moved on to a new building site, and each team built a new house. It was amazing to see how well the team improved at construction after just one day of experience. Today, we focused not only on the hammering and building skills, but also on our community and team-building skills. We met the families of the houses we were building. We met their neighbors and kids in the area. We all know each other better because of the experience of building houses together. It was beautiful. It was bonding. It was a community. 

In our first trip meeting, we talked about this idea of serving with Joy. That is exactly what this team exemplified today. There was encouragement. We cared well for each other. We showed patience. We laughed (a lot). Most importantly, there was JOY that only comes from knowing Jesus. It is a gift and joy to be a part of it. 

Tonight in porch time, as we gathered, we talked about the spiritual discipline of Solitude. This week, one of our main focuses has been being aware of God's presence in everything, so that we can be more like Him, so that we are able to better serve and love the people we encounter daily here in San Lucan Toliman, and at home. We were honest about the fact that solitude can be scary. But we learned that Solitude is important because it helps us open the gift that is God's presence in our lives. We looked at 1 Kings 19:10-12, and saw that God meets us in the quiet and stillness. We considered the idea of what might be noisy in our lives and hindering us from being able to practice solitude. Students were real, honest, and vulnerable tonight. God wants to be with us. He enjoys spending time with us. Our prayer tonight is that through the discipline of solitude, each of us will be better servants of Christ. That we would know Him better, so that we can be more like Jesus. The hope is that we can all lean into the awareness of God. 

For The Kingdom, 

The Guatemala Team 

Guatemala 2026- Day 3

We started our morning at 6:45am with a walk through San Lucan Toliman to the Promised Land Ministry School for breakfast. As we walked, we observed sights and sounds of the city coming alive. Our team was rested, refreshed, and our hearts were ready to serve. The path to the school is familiar already. We are starting to feel comfortable in San Lucas after just a few days in the country. 

After breakfast, we broke into two teams and headed out to build houses for families in need. Over the years, Promised Land Ministries has built over 100 houses in the hillsides. They are simple houses. Cement floors with a few rows of concrete blocks to begin the walls. The rest of the house is built from rough-cut lumber. The roof is made from sheets of tin. It is an accomplishment for each team to construct a house from the material in a single day, but the truth is that the houses are simple. There is no plumbing. There is no electricity. But when the families walk through their finished homes, they are filled with joy. It was a gift to get to experience this with each of the teammates. At the end of the building day, we got to meet the families and pray with and for them. We prayed that God would bless

their home and that God would be present in their space. It was great. It was fulfilling. 

We headed back to the school and had a much-deserved lunch. We then headed to a local village to deliver some perishable food to some locals. We met with the family, greeted them, and then prayed with them. We then stayed around for a while to play with some of the kids. It was life-giving, and we deeply enjoyed that part of the day. 

We came back to the hotel. Full of the difficult things we had seen as we built homes for families. Full of the challenging things we have seen so far in Guatemala. Full of beautiful things that we have seen God in every step. We played some card games, rested, and spent time together. It was sweet. 

In our porch time tonight, we looked at the spiritual discipline of submission. We talked about how submission is the act of submitting all control to God and recognizing that He is the one in control and not us. We read through some verses and considered what those verses taught us about submission. We looked at John 3:30, and the idea that submission means that we decrease so that God can increase. We looked at Hebrews 13:17 and talked about how obedience is a core part of submission. We looked at Romans 12:1 and how we are called to be living sacrifices. We looked at Philippians 2: 5-8 and how humility plays a role in submission. Lastly, we looked at Ephesians 5: 20-21 and how we are called to submit to one another in the fear of God. We considered in our journal time, "What is one more step that draws us closer to Him?" 

We are excited and eager to continue on mission tomorrow. We will continue to build houses and serve with Joy. 

For The Kingdom, 

The Guatemala Team 

Guatemala 2026- Day 2

This morning, we made our way to San Lucas Toliman. This is the place where we will be spending the rest of the week. The drive was beautiful, and everyone was filled with Joy. We arrived and headed to the Promised Land Ministry school. We got to see some of the new additions to the school, play some basketball, kick around a soccer ball, and start to build relationships with the people we will be working alongside. We had lunch and then returned to the hotel. We got settled in, rested, looked at the beautiful view from the roof of the hotel, and played some cards. We got ready for church and then headed to the service, which was completely in Spanish. It was a lot of singing and a lot of fun worshipping. We experienced God in a way that we are not accustomed to in the United States, and it was beautiful. After church, we headed back to the Promised Land Ministry school for dinner. The school is a home base for our team this week. We will have meals there, prep for our service projects there, and spend some free time there. We then made our first walk through San Lucas Toliman. We said "hola" to locals on the street and talked about how excited we are for the week ahead of us. 

In our porch time tonight, we started by talking about some things that we found beautiful, challenging, and different. Students went around the table and talked about the things that they had noticed throughout the day. Students mentioned how it was beautiful to witness people worship in a way they are not accustomed to. 

In our porch time, we discussed the parable of the Good Samaritan from Luke 10. We considered the question "What does it take to serve?" We talked about how it is costly. how it requires sacrifice, vulnerability, our time, our energy, and our resources. We also considered the idea that to be a good Samaritan, we first have to have a relationship with Jesus. We talked about how it can be easy to come into a mission trip and fall into the role of savior, and the story of Luke 10 tonight reminded us that we all need help. We all need Jesus. 

During the walk back to the hotel tonight, we felt and saw the culture. As we walked past the people and the stores and the sounds, we began as a team to understand and respect the culture we are in this week. A culture I am proud to say our team is giving tremendous effort to appreciate and respect. What we saw today was different. What we saw today was challenging. What we saw today was beautiful. 

For The Kingdom, 

The Guatemala Team