Author: Trish Vandop, Assistant Director of Grad, SEALS Team Teacher
The SEAL outreach team of 8 students had so many life-changing experiences in Guatemala on our May 2024 trip, it was hard to pack it all into one blog post! The SEAL outreach program exists to provide opportunities for students to serve, explore faith, advance the gospel and lead, all in the context of short-term missions. In an earlier post, we saw how God is active and working every day through the Impact Ministry staff among the people of Tactic, Guatemala. Having been there and now returned home, my attention has shifted to looking for meaningful opportunities to support these efforts around the world as well as being on mission in my own community!
While our SEAL team was in Guatemala, we formed so many new and special friendships. I don’t think we would have survived without our host Hugo and our translator Kathe. Together, they helped us understand the cultural and religious history of Tactic and took us to various sites to learn more about what many Guatemalan people believe and how those beliefs translate into different celebrations, rituals and practices. We visited catholic churches where we learned how traditional Mayan gods have been integrated into Catholic teachings to form a syncretic worldview. We even hiked 100 feet into the depths of a sinkhole to view the traditional spot used to pray to specific Mayan gods. It was sobering in each location to see evidence of or witness people reaching out in desperation to deities who could not help them. I can’t explain how meaningful and encouraging it was to take time to worship the living God through singing and prayer in these places He created and are intended to point to a personal knowledge of Him. It was a clear reminder that God doesn’t give up on us, and he wants every person to know Him.
This different religious and cultural backdrop in Guatemala made for some interesting differences when I compared my experiences with faith in Canada. While many people don’t yet have a personal relationship with Jesus, there is a definite openness and willingness to talk about spiritual things. One person put it this way ‘I try to help them see that as a catholic, they already believe the bible is true… but they don’t always know what it says. If we can show them what it says (and they are generally very interested to know), this often causes them to come into a new understanding of what faith in Jesus is.” The spiritual climate of Tactic was described to me as ‘we don’t yet know’ compared to the ‘we aren’t interested’ attitude we often feel is true in Canada.
Having returned from our trip, I know without a doubt that God is using short term mission teams to make a real and lasting impact on the community of Tactic. Never in my life have I felt so totally certain that God is using the donations, sponsorships, and volunteer hours of his people to bring lost people to Him. As a team, we saw the direct impact that the $20,000 HCOS students raised through the Read For Change initiative had in Tactic. At each school, students lined up and received their daily meal while we visited and for many of those students, that was the only thing they would eat all day. In fact, students regularly ask if school can be open on Saturday and Sunday because it is the only spot they feel safe and fed. The Vida schools are very much a refuge for so many children, much like our refuge in Christ. Feeding kids physically has allowed teachers and staff in the schools the opportunity to feed students spiritually.
It was amazing to be a very small part of God’s work in Guatemala, and each team member was challenged to think about how we can continue to be God’s ambassadors in both practical and spiritual ways. I think our students (and their leaders) came away with a very real sense of our own responsibility to care for both the physical and spiritual needs of the people around us. So as I continue to be open to how God might have me do in this time and in this place to extend the love and grace of Jesus to those around me, part of the answer for me was to become an Impact Ministry sponsor, and support the work in Tactic.
What could you do?
- Please pray for the students who participated in our first trip, and the Impact Ministries team as we all continue to grow in our own faith and serve God.
- Pray for our SEAL outreach team headed to Guatemala in April of 2025 – that they would see God at work in their own lives and in the world around them.
- Consider sponsoring a student or classroom with Impact ministries. Sponsorship provides a meal, a school uniform and supplies, and a Christian education for students who may not otherwise be able to continue attending school.
- Participate in the HCOS Read for Change initiative through the Learning commons next year. Your support goes directly to providing food for students in schools.
- Consider applying to join our team next year. To learn more please see the HCOS Grad Webpage: Travel programs.
We look forward to our 2025 trip and seeing how God works in the lives of a new group of HCOS students!
