Guatemala: Day 1 Reflections

Written by CTS Student Teresa Wolfert

We are grateful to have safely arrived at the seminary here in Guatemala City after a long night in the Dallas airport. Severe thunderstorms prevented us from leaving as expected at 9 pm Monday night, so we were finally in the air around 7 am Tuesday morning. We decided we are going to lobby CTS for a formation credit because sleeping on the benches or the airport lounge floor without being grouchy stretched the formation of our character. As we flew into Guatemala City we noticed many little communities nested in the countryside and mountains and as we got closer to the airport it became clear that although Guatemala boasts much stunning geography, there are also many areas of the country struggling with significant poverty.

Our accommodations at the Semilla Seminario are delightful, the balconies overlook a beautiful green space with dangling vines and lush palms. We share our meals with the other guests in a quaint cafeteria and pitch in with clean up as necessary. One of our students, while practicing her Spanish, offered to wash the dishes with “soup”.

After lunch, Yvon, our host from the CTM (Center for Transformative Mission), took us on our first ministry excursion. We traveled into Zone 3 of the city to a ministry that serves and seeks to transform the area around the city dump. Those who live in this area make their livelihood from picking through the trash, then finding trash that can be cleaned and resold. Both adults and children comb through the piles of waste and become trapped in the cycle of profound poverty and hopelessness of this lifestyle. Hector and Fito are two ministry leaders who are changing the lives of the young people and families working in this area as they share the gospel and the transformative love of Jesus with those living in the area. With the power of the gospel working in their lives, especially children and young adults are encouraged to continue with good education and nutrition and to keep out of the destructive power of gangs.

After our excursion a few of us ventured out to the local grocery store to grab a few treats and enjoy a walk in the neighborhood. We were deeply touched by the work of our brothers and sisters in the ministry we visited and spent some time reflecting on what we experienced today. We are looking forward to exploring more of Guatemala in the days to come.