LCS Student Reflections - Day 2

Hey everyone this is Maddie and so far so good with this missions trip! Today we worked at a school painting walls and also at a soccer field spreading sand all over the entire field. Everyone is doing great we are all feeling God and having an amazing time! The entire missions trip team has met a lot of people such as a lovely man named Carlos (his American name is Charlie) he is our driver and is one of the most loving and gracious man I have meet so far on this trip. He doesn’t just drive our bus he also helps out with the school and the field. Days are still to come and they will be even greater that today. I just wanted to say that I LOVE MY MOM & DAD and chloe J and I miss you guys but don’t worry about me and Mallory we are having a great time.

See you guys soon!

- Maddie

Hi all - today was a great day.  Everyone worked so hard on many projects at the school and the soccer field.  We had the team working on backstops for the soccer field, digging (tons) of holes for posts to fence the field, painting poles, fences, and walls, and digging up an area at the school for a garden.  I wish all of you could be here to see how hard your sons and daughters are working!  You should be proud of all them; God truly put together an amazing team!

- Lynn

Hey Guys, this is Stephen. Today was an awesome day, our team worked so hard on so many different things. Weather it was tearing up grass for the garden, or painting a wall, or digging holes for fence posts, everyone contributed something incredible. God is working in so many ways here that it would take me all night to tell you everything. But, the most predominant way that I have sensed God working is in the lives of the returning Guatemala team members. We all heard Joe say many times to “not have any expectations” and for the most part I thought I didn’t. The other “return-ies” and I had hundreds of expectations that we didn’t even realize, and for the first half of the first day we were all in a pretty depressed mood because it wasn’t the same as last year. But after we took the tour of the Guatemala City yesterday, and especially with the stop that we made in Pinitos, we could almost feel the burden of the expectations being lifted from us. We all realized that this isn’t about us at all, and we have yet another God ordained chance to bless a different community in some crazy powerful ways. Today, I felt that come to life. I am so excited to see the way that God uses us in this community. We are a great team, and great teams can only do great things. So, keep praying for all of us as we embark on the rest of the mission that God has planned for us this week. Pray for unity, health, and that God would show himself to us. Thank-you all so much for your continued love and support.

- Stephen

LCS - The day in photos

 Digging in the garden.

 The first of the many post holes.

 Cutting the posts.

 Setting the backstop.

 Enjoying work.

 Relaxing a bit.

Some of the team enjoying little pre-work fun.

LCS Student Reflections - Day 1

One of the many reasons I have been so pumped about going on this mission trip is the possibilities I knew I would have to try speaking Spanish with people. Well today I got my first opportunity on the plane when I met the sweetest Guatemalan lady named Concha (it was longer than Concha but there was no way I could pronounce the real name so she told me to call her that). She was so kind and insisted on swapping seats with me so that I could have the aisle seat instead of the middle because she wanted me to be more comfortable. We began talking, more like she was talking with me trying to understand her and then I tried to make myself understood and she smiled at my mistakes. But through all of that we were able to communicate with each other. I learned that she had been living in the US for eighteen years with her husband, but they had grown to miss their children in Guatemala too much and had made the decision to move back. She asked what I was doing in Guatemala, and I shared that it was for a mission trip with Lansing Christian High School. She then asked me multiple times if we were a Catholic, Protestant, or Evangelical group. In Guatemala and Central American countries, there is a much bigger distinction between denominations of Christianity than we make in the US. I responded that we were Evangelical/Protestant. I tried to convey the idea that it wasn’t very important to us, what mattered was what one believed about Jesus. She later mentioned that she also believed what denomination one belonged to was not the most important thing.  I don’t know how much this conversation actually affected her, but it was really cool to be able to speak with someone from a different culture, who had lived a completely different life, and who spoke a different language. I do believe this experience will help me be less afraid to speak Spanish with people and that it was somewhat of a foreshadowing of the kinds of experiences we will have throughout the rest of the trip.

-Melanie

Today we visited Pinitos, the place that the LCS mission group worked last year, and two realizations, one negative and one positive, hit me. First of all, I realized that I had forgotten how depressed being at Pinitos could make you feel. The smell of rotting meat and the sight of rundown shacks were removed from my memory as I reminisced about the truly incredible, despite the badness, mission trip. Now that I had returned, the realization hit me that the unsightly, depressing details of such experiences are often forgotten in an effort to remember the greatness of the experience. The second, more positive realization hit me when the people of Pinitos noticed that there were some visitors in town. The people soon recognized us and began smiling and waving at us. The kids especially excitedly ran towards us after not seeing us for a year. The realization was that the actions of we Christians can be and are remembered long after the actions are completed. The people of Pinitos could have easily forgotten in that year who built for them a soccer field or why. But instead, they recognized our faces and were joyful to see us again. What I hope for this trip is that we would be a similar blessing to a new group of Guatemalans as we were one year ago to the people of Pinitos.

- JD

Gearing Up For Another Great Week!

We had a long night but an incredibly smooth travel experience for our journey to Guatemala.  Everything came together exactly as planned and we touched down here bright and early at 6:15am.  The airline fed a light breakfast to those who were awake to eat during the 4 hour flight from Chicago.  We breezed through immigration and customs and joyfully connected with our GSM hosts, John & Amy Banta.  Within just a few minutes we had our stuff loaded on the truck and we jumped in the vans and headed for 2nd breakfast at McDonalds.  I'm not sure egg mcmuffins have ever tasted so good! 

We were here at the seminary by about 9am (Mountain Time) and we quickly settled in to our rooms.  Students were given time to relax, nap, or play until lunch - which is in just a few minutes.  After lunch we'll do a small work project here on the seminary property and then head out for a tour of some of the areas where we will be working this week.  Group morale is high and everyone seems to have endured the long travel day. 

Please pray for us as we begin this incredible week here in Guatemala.  We're excited about all that God has for each of us in the days ahead. 

More later... time for lunch!

LCS Team Update

We have landed in Guatemala!  Everything is going great!

Free Short-Term Mission Trip Training video!

I found this free short-term mission trip training video today.  It's packed full of great material and is very well done.  If you don't know what to do for a training session, this 50 minute video includes several sessions and planned breaks for discussion or group building activities.  This is a real gem of a resource!  Thanks to Lutheran Church Charities for posting this!  If you are looking for some personal training for your short-term mission team or your leaders, contact us at www.simplymissions.org. We would love to help you plan and prepare for your next short-term mission trip!

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