Central Reformed Youth Group In Guatemala For Missions Trip

The youth group from Central Reformed Church posing for a group photo during early planning stages. (submitted photo)

Oskaloosa, Iowa – Packing, planning and lots of excitement and support are words that can be used to describe the days before the youth group from Central Reformed Church boarded their plane.

The group boarded their planes today, and left out of Des Moines with their ultimate destination of Chimaltenango, Guatemala.

While they are in Guatemala, those serving on the missions trip won’t have access to cell phones and internet access is limited, but you can keep up with their work on a blog set up HERE – http://teamcentralreformediowa2013.wordpress.com/

The thought of doing a missions trip sprang from a recent missions trip that Tami Goemaat took to Africa. “After going there, I thought our youth needed to go on an international missions trip.” Tami had been recommended this location in Guatemala as a good location for the youth to take their first missions trip.

After discussing the possibility with fellow sponsors, the group then decided on the trip. The decision was just the first step, many hurdles had to then be overcome. Money was at the top of that list, along with the safety of the group. Then the group applied to Paradise Bound, the location where the group is housed and fed during their stay.

So, within the week of deciding they wanted to go, the group had only one week to get the application in place. That left one week for the youth and their families to decide upon the trip. “We honestly thought we were going to have a small group of kids to go with us this year,” Tami explained. So, initially there were 15 youth signed up to go, but now there are 32 making the trip. (7 adults and 25 youth)

“It was really neat to see God working through all of this,” Tami described of how things worked out. “We had a lot of hurdles.”

“We had to raise sixty-thousand dollars for this trip and we had it all raised before Christmas,” Tami said, smiling about the accomplishment.

In the days before traveling, the sponsors were working everyone through their checklists. Things like passports were already done, along with medical releases, shots and other immunizations. “We made lists and we checked them off as we got them done,” added Diane DeZwarte, an adult sponsor on the trip.

Safety, of course, is one of those foremost concerns the sponsors are most aware of. “I think safety is always an unknown when going into a foreign country where there is a lot of poverty,” says Margie Greenhalgh, another sponsor for during the trip. She says that other groups that have visited this location have had no issue in the past, “and we have no reason to be concerned.”

Another concern is keeping everyone healthy during the trip. “The facility they are staying at has all the filtered water they want, but the members will have to carry their own canteens or other water storage with them during the day while they work, because the local water may make them ill.

The group has also planned on taking extra luggage that is filled with medicine (cough syrup, TUMS) and vitamins, along with bibles. “A lot of it is just basic medical supplies that we take for granted,” explained Margie Greenhalgh. “They just don’t have access to it.”

As is common with many overseas trips, it’s cheaper to take extra baggage along with you while traveling than to have them shipped.

During their stay in Guatemala, Margie explained that three of those days will be spent house building. Greenhalgh equated the homes they will be building there to what a shed is here. The homes will be 10 foot by 12 foot in size and on a cement slab, which will already be in place. The group hopes to complete 5 homes during their time.

The group is already aware of the families they are building the homes for and they purchased gifts for the new homeowners.

Two other days will be spent at medical clinics in remote villages. They will be helping the on staff RN distribute medicine and spend time with the children of the villages.

Later in the evening, the team members help distribute food then the Jesus Movie is played. Afterwards members of the team will give their testimonies.

During the week, the members of the group will learn to live without electricity at most times, and, a tough one for most of us anymore, no cell phones. The group will have access to electricity for 4 hours a day, provided by a generator.

When the group returns in a week, they will then share their experiences with their church and fellow youth group members on July 21.