Missions change lives!
The Church has a responsibility to change lives and change our Community and our World!
These were the key messages delivered by Alejandro on Saturday night.
Ours is a broken World and we too are broken. Missions build faith and bring hope, both to participants and to the people they walk along-side. This was the lesson that Alejandro learned when he returned to his native Guatemala as a member of a mission team. Not everyone on that team was Christian. But, missions change lives. This mission, not only brought locals into a relationship with Christ, it also brought Christ into the lives on the non-Christians on the team and brought the rest of the team into a closer relationship with Christ.
Their mission built a church that could also be used as a community centre and a school. The local community, Cubulco a poor rural village in the hills outside the capital, Guatemala City, had started the project. They built a solid foundation and began the walls. However, they simply couldn’t find the financial resources to finish the project. Also, in such a poor community, the struggle to survive day to day, leaves little time for projects dedicated to building a better future. This is where the Canadian team came in. It had the financial resources and it had the willing hands with the time needed to help the local community finish the project. For two weeks, local Guatemalans and Canadians worked side-by-side to build that church. Friendships were built. Hope and faith were also built.
One thing I have learned is that, with little more than hope and faith, people can accomplish amazing things. That, more than anything else, is what mission teams need to pack.
So what does a successful mission look like?
People from all walks of life, both local and “from away”, working together, laughing together, building relationships with each other and sharing God’s love with one and other.
This was Alejandro’s message.
However, the work in Cubulco isn’t complete. People still face huge challenges. The church and community centre meets some of their needs, but more is needed. Safe drinking water for the community is a challenge. Employment is still scarce and life is still a struggle.
Alejandro called upon us to continue our walk with his friends in Cubulco. He hopes to build another team of willing hands to join him on another trip to Cubulco. The team will continue to share God’s love and work along-side his Guatemalan friends to build a better future for this little corner of Guatemala.
