By Dorothy Brotherton

FOR SOME young people, a different perspective on spring break is challenging their thinking. Youth groups are flocking to mission fields, to serve and to expand their vision.

This past spring break became a Guatemala adventure for 23 teens and five adults from Emmanuel Assembly, West Kelowna. The team was called History Makers, based on concept dealt with in a Sunday school class.

With interpreters and drivers, the group numbered 32. Their work centred on the Fe Viva compound in a tiny village called Chiquimulilla, two and a half hours from Guatemala City.

Reid Hanson-Street, 17, a grade 12 student at Mount Boucherie Secondary School, had his appetite whetted for Third World work. “I’m heading back to Guatemala after graduation and taking missionary training. It made me want to have a larger impact on the world.”

Grade 11 student Jordan Schroeder found working with down-and-outers on the streets made a big impact. “We went out and invited people who were intoxicated to a worship service and dinner, at a place called the House of Refuge.”

Daily hanging out with kids in a children’s home was another highlight for Schroeder. He went for the first time three years ago, and was excited to go back –  because, as he put it, “God’s doing a lot out there.”

This is the seventh similar trip for Kimberly Horie, a volunteer leader at Emmanuel.  She was encouraged by the impact the trip made on the young people.

“I have found that taking teens on these trips gives them a better worldview; they understand that some people are stuck in a cycle of poverty, and they just will never have the opportunities we do.”  

In Chiquimulilla, the group focused on practical matters.

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They built a bridge over a ravine – 15 feet deep and 28 feet across – that fills with water during the rainy season. Locals had been crossing on a palm tree, which had fallen across the ravine. They had to cross to get to their water supply on the other side.

The bridge may save lives and limbs. “We left something that was tangible and will make a difference,” said Hanson-Street.

Hard work filled the days. The group painted; hauled water uphill, about 50 pounds at a time; played sports with kids; held a club for village children and orphans at a nearby orphanage; dug a composting ditch; worked with homeless people; helped build a well; and moved dirt.

Horie described one memorable encounter: “We met a pastor who runs a school, a church, works in a prison and runs a family farm.” The group put on an assembly, and he invited them to dinner.

“He killed his pig so that we could have something to eat. We found out his wife is ill and his car was broken.”

The youth collected some $300 for the family.

“They understood they could go without a trinket or fireworks so he could fix his car” – and that, although there is no social safety net in the village, his wife could now go to the doctor.

Horie said that the trip gave the teens “an appreciation for running water, stable internet access, parents who love and support them.”

She also noted that such experiences help youth to appreciate their Canadian affluence ­– and to gain a sense of responsibility, to do positive things with their resources.

May 2010