Personal Narrative Essay : My Mission Trip To Guatemala

One of the many impactful times was when the realization how happy the kids are with so little. Going into the trip you are told how they live in poverty, but the realization of how little they have does not seem real until it is experienced in person. It would have been normal if the kids walked in with glum faces and an ungrateful heart (it is what we are used to in America, after all- being ungrateful or sad about what you have/given), but instead the room lights up with the smiles of the children who are so grateful/proud of everything they have. One instance of how happy/proud they are of what they have is when we visited the homes of a student and teacher from Hope for Guatemala. When visiting Hadie’s home- one of the teachers at Hope for Guatemala- and meeting some of her family was an eye-opening experience. Hadie’s mom was 40 years old and has had 14 children and could not stop smiling, even though two of her children had died tragically just a couple years ago. Hadie’s mom ran her business- a tortilla shop- from the front of her house which was a considered nicer for that area. It had a 3 room house that was being renovated to have a bigger area than the hallway to sell tortillas and another room 2 rooms that 4 people could sleep/live in instead of 5 per room, and the renovations was affordable because of the donated money through the church and

The classic saying, “There’s always someone who has it worse than you” (Shaggy- Keepin’ it Real), didn’t come true to me until I had first-hand experience. As a child, I grew up in the lower middle class. So I wasn’t rich nor super poor. My mother came to the United States from El Salvador in the 1980’s. She has never taken my brother and me to her home country.

The country was foreign, a first for me. Dilapidation and ruin scattered the horizon as far as one could see. Guatemala is a place where poverty has a strong grasp on its people. We traveled tirelessly for hours to reach the poorest of the poor. Upon arrival old, young, and natives of all shapes and sizes formed receiving lines, eager to welcome us with gifts of smiles and gratitude. It was an experience that forever changed me. This was the first time I had stepped outside the boundaries of the American culture into a world where nothing is taken for granted. Each day spent on my mission trip brought a fresh awareness of gratefulness. Any pre-trip reluctance quickly became a vague memory as my emotions welled within bring a fresh change to

Opening my backpack I quickly rifled through it. Scriptures, check; suit jacket, check; dinner list, check. Then to the most important pocket, the right hand side pocket. I dug through the pocket until I found that for which I was looking for¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬−my black Karrimor glove liners. Putting on my jacket I started to account for what the road might be like. The falling temperature and humidity made for a dangerous bike ride home. It made me think of home and the possibility of black ice.

In the city of Samayac, Guatemala was a small town where I traveled to last summer for a mission trip. Our intention was to teach kids about the bible, and the many aspects of it. My group visited many kids and adults in their villages local church, and played many games along with activities. While we were there it was a hot tropical day with a 90 degree temperature. It was something hard to deal with, but we still found a way to enjoy the time there. Around noon my group was supposed to do a church activity outside with the kids then later have a spanish service that I had no clue what they were saying. About halfway through the day it started to rain. It rained so hard that the street looked like a river going downhill and the church had

In January of 2015, I experienced a mission trip in Guatemala. Although the trip taught me a lot about both myself, and the people and culture of Guatemala, one of the more prominent realizations I had was that the Guatemalan children had so little resources to get a quality education in life, yet they were still eager to learn. For example, each child was required to wear a pair of black dress shoes to school. Since many could not afford to pay for these shoes, they each walked to the missionary compound, no matter how far, to get a free pair of shoes that were offered. Additionally, many of the kids were more inclined to attend a short church lesson after eating dinner than play with their friends. After experiencing this dramatic change

All things considered, from a young age I was taught all about my background, which happened to be Guatemalan. Both my parents were born and raised in Guatemala along with my four older siblings. My family left Guatemala in the early 1980s as it was unsafe to continue their life there. As a result, both my brother and I were fortunate to be born in Canada. Growing up, both my parents included their traditional customs in our everyday lives. In other words, we then adopted their customs, beliefs, language and learned about our roots. Immigrating from another country, my family found it extremely difficult to accustom themselves to new customs and most importantly norms. At an early, I lost my father and my mother then became a widow who had

Imagine a time where you were at your lowest, a time in your life that nothing seemed to make

My whole family and I were devastated by the sudden death of my uncle Ryan. He had been sick with what we had thought was the flu, but later realized that it was pneumonia. I believe that we learned so much from this experience and were able to come closer as a family. As a result of my uncle’s death, my whole family decided to take a get-a-way trip to the Dominican Republic during his birthday and Christmas. While I was there I learned a very important lesson; I am blessed to live in the United States.

It was a Monday in the summer of 2015. I was riding in an old 11 passenger van with 30 other people, on our way back from playing soccer. Most of the people were Guatemalan children screaming at the top of their lungs as the van rocked side to side as we drove up a narrow, winding, mountain road without guide rails. In the summer of 2015, I went to Guatemala for ten days, on a mission trip. My team (18 youth and pastors of East Side Church of God) and I visited four different Indian vilages: Chupol, Paquisis, Sacbichol, and Agua Escondita. We spent two days in each village and slept in each village’s church.

My parents are unable to care for me because they are not in this country they are in Guatemala. They can to provide for me in Guatemala because we are financially unstable. My father is in charge of providing for the family, his occupation is farm work. My mother cannot get a job since in Guatemala there is not a lot of job opportunities and she has to take care of our home. To be able to further my education I would have to have to be financially stable, but we are not able to do that since I am not an only child. I have siblings that need the care and attention as myself. Where I live it is known for the violence that has been going on. There is no respect for one another. The gang violence has increased throughout the years. When recruiting

Mexico. A glorious get away with a beach and a wonderful hotel. Wait, hold on. Tijuana, Mexico. Drugs, poverty, and rough living. Not a trip most people would want to take. Summer of 2016 some teens and adults prepared for a Missions trip to Tijuana Mexico, me being a part of this group. We were going through a group called Amor Ministries, and would be building a house for a needy family. Our first meeting we sat in the youth group center of First Christian Church and introduced ourselves. Not many of us knew each other that well. We talked about our plans on how we were going to travel, the times we will be leaving, and other finance information that I didn’t listen to since my dad was leading the group. He has been on the trip multiple times

world we need each one another. However, sometime it’s better to make your decision alone. If you make your own decision you will be responsibility for your own mistake.

Is it possible for someone to impact your life if you don’t even speak the same language? This was a major question I had to answer this summer. I found myself on a mission trip in Nicaragua with around thirty people I had met less than a month earlier. We were doing a vacation bible school at an after school/feeding program for kids from preschool age through high school. Of course I loved all of the children at Los Brasiles but I naturally picked favorites and those favorites taught me more than I could have ever imagined possible.

I tried to persuade my parents into paying for my flight ticket to Nicaragua in the summer for a mission trip. The best time to reached both of them was during dinner. I went on to explained to them how I want to make a difference in others life. Going on this trip will teach me how to get one of my comfort zone, appreciate the life I have, and gain a feeling of fulfillment. This are all the things that this trip will do for me. A lot of the youth people at the church we attend to have gone to a mission trip and they all loved it. In fact, most of them have returned multiple times. Some of the thing I will be doing on this trip are eating foreign foods, painting and building houses, and dealing with adults and children. My parents were thrilled