Team Guatemala Mission Work

---from an essay for English---I have decided that I would like to become a missionary to countries and people bereft of food and shelter when I finish school. The event that began this idea was when my father returned from a Guatemala mission trip. In January of 2007 my dad went with a team to build an addition to Hope of Life orphanage. While he was there he helped feed a poor village that lived by an unkempt trash dump. He also worked at a food warehouse where he met many local families. In the evenings he spent time playing with the orphans. One orphan named Erika was always close by his side in the pictures he brought home.
After he returned home he told many stories. Through our church we were able to become sponsors for Erika and her sister. Our church has a partnership with Hope of Life mission in Guatemala. The mission has an orphanage, a nutrition center, a home for the elderly, a school, and a tilapia farm. Wow!
The next year in February of 2008 my older brother, Zach, was able to go. My dad wasn’t able to go with him because of his health. My brother went to help build a school/church building for the poor village of El Modela. He got to hang out with lots of orphans and make friends with them, and meet Erika and Marilis, the two sisters we sponsor.
These experiences of my family members have made me want to go too. I hope to help the people there, and meet and make new friends. I have been taking Spanish to help me communicate with the Guatemalan people. My brother, dad, and I are all going together along with a team from my church. We will deploy in January of 2009, and we are planning to build three or more houses in the village of El Modelo near the trash dump. The dour homes they are living in now are scraps of trash and cardboard put together. I hope to be helpful and make a good impact in the lives of others. Hopefully this will be the first of many mission trips to come.---Cody