| Mission Will Change You, Strengthen Your Church, Broaden Your Vision by the Rev. Bob Bidwell
I just returned from one of those life-changing experiences, a mission trip to Guatemala, with one of my congregations, First Presbyterian Church in Blissfield, Michigan.
Ten people made the trip: myself, eight members and a nephew of one of the members; leaving on June 19 and returning June 29. As is frequently the case when visiting an underdeveloped country, the first thing to strike most the group was the poverty. Yet by the end of the trip, our vision had changed so much.
After a year of fundraising and planning, with the help of Presgov, a Presbyterian organization in Guatemala, staffed with PCUSA mission workers like David and Jeannene Wiseman, we made our trip. We flew into Guatemala City, and then traveled to Quetzaltenango. The following day we spent the morning briefing and exchanging currency, and then went to Emanuel Presbyterian Church to meet with Rev. Moises Colop, who was pastor of the church and head of the new presbytery. We received a presentation on the history of the Presbyterian Church in Guatemala and of the new church that we were going to be working with on our project.
The following day we drove two hours to the next city, Retalhuleu, we would stay in, where we met a pickup truck, which then took us on a hour long drive up a curvy, narrow, and rough, dirt road to Monte Margarita where our church was located. We were battered and bruised from the ride in the back of the pickup by the time we arrived, but the sight of the beauty of the country, the volcanoes, and people had us excited.
The church was a small wood frame building, and an area had been cleared for the construction of an additional building—for a kitchen and pastor’s use. After introductions and prayer the work began, and we were at a loss, realizing the limited tools, and primitive methods used. With lunch served to us by the ladies of the church and a rain storm mid-afternoon, little work got complete, before we needed to head back down the mountain. The trip in the back of a pickup, in pouring down rain, on slick, muddy, mountain roads was one to remember.
The following day was much the same, as we even saw a plume of smoke from one of the volcanoes on the way up the mountain. Again the day was cut short by heavy rains.
It was clear to me that the members of the church could have clearly gotten the work done much more quickly and efficiently, if we hadn’t been in the way, yet they showed great patience with us, and truly cared for us, valuing our intentions and the relationship more than the finished product or a timetable.
During the trip we also presented a couple of workshops at Moises’ church for the clergy and elders, for the women, and for the youth. I also preached on Sunday, June 25, with the help of a translator.
At the end of our time we went to Antigua and did a couple of days of tours, and in all that we did, we continued to find that the people we thought were so poor, were actually more in touch with their faith and reality than we usually are. They were thankful for what they had, and gave thanks to God. They valued relationships and were always looking for a way to help someone who had less they did.
Our tour guide on the final day in Antigua mentioned that she and her family had begun a project of feeding 25 children, and were trying to develop a school, so those who could not afford school would have an alternative.
Mission is not about going and doing for someone else. It is, as Carlos Lara, the Mission to the USA visitor Blissfield hosted two years ago, said, the opportunity to meet people, to love and hug people and to get to better understand how much we have in common.
We received so much more than we were able to give in our trip. We learned so much more than we could possibly teach. And we came back better people: that is mission, and that is God’s grace at work. If you can share in a mission trip, I would strongly encourage it. If you would receive a Mission to the USA visitor, it just might encourage such mission trips. It will change you, strengthen your church, and broaden your vision on the people of God.
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