Guatemala Mission Trip
The example of Dr Sam Martin
I'm writing this sub stack from Antigua, Guatemala where I am, together with eleven others from the Church of the Good Samaritan, on a mission trip. This is the 10th time that I have led a mission team from Canada to Guatemala. I have been partnering with the Arms of Jesus Children's Mission for more than 20 years and I have seen firsthand the unbelievable difference that child sponsorship and Christian education is making in the lives of the children in Paramos, Guatemala.
Though I am now serving as a missionary Bishop in Mahajanga, Madagascar, I learned the significance of international mission relief through my continued visits to Guatemala. I have watched the school in Paramos grow from two small buildings - a classroom and a chapel - to an extraordinary campus providing education to 800 students and unmeasurable number of social service outreach projects to the surrounding communities.
After spending the weekend sightseeing, the team was welcomed at the Arms of Jesus school on Monday morning by an honour guard of young students who applauded as we arrived. We were ushered into the gymnasium where about 200 students from kindergarten to grade 6 had assembled for their morning devotions. We worshiped with them, watching them as they prayed and sang the Lord's praise. It was impossible not to be moved by their fervor and their sincerity. After the assembly we were swarmed by little ones hugging us and greeting us and reminding us that love can speak more loudly than any language. As many times as I have received this incredible welcome and participated in worship with the children, I always get the overwhelming feeling that this must be how we will be welcomed into heaven!
Later in the afternoon we had the great privilege of spending time and pray with our sponsor children and their families. My wife and I presently have two sponsored children in Guatemala. It costs around $40 a month to sponsor a child and those funds allow for the child to attend this wonderful Christian school.
This week we will also go to a small rural village where we will wash the feet of poor children and then provide them with new socks and shoes. This will look nothing like the liturgical washing of the feet on Maundy Thursday, at the heart of the activity is very much the same. We will do to others as Jesus has done to us.
Amongst the other things that we will do while we are here is to build 8 houses for families who, while very hard working are unable to afford to build a house for themselves. Over the past 15 years, the Church of the Good Samaritan has built almost 100 houses in Guatemala at a cost of approximately $200,000. What a blessing to share in the excitement as the families receive their new home – a roof to keep them dry during the rainy season, a door and lock to keep them safe, and a cross hung to remind them of God’s provision and love.
Dr. Sam Martin, of blessed memory, founded the Arms of Jesus Children's Mission and has had a profound influence on my life and ministry. It was only a few days after he died unexpectedly that I was asked to prayerfully consider being a missionary Bishop in Madagascar, a great part of that discernment was Dr. Sam's example in my life. By God's grace he was able to accomplish something remarkable in Paramos; I pray that perhaps God could do something similar through me in Mahajanga.
What God can do little bit by little bit when Christians answer His call to do their part and offer up what they can is absolutely astounding! AOJ mission is such a clear example of this.