In 2017, I went on my third mission trip to Guatemala, and I remember almost every second vividly. The trip was organized by a group from South Dakota (see http://www.leahskids.org for more information about this group) through an orphanage called Casa Angelina (see whatmattersmm.org for information about Casa Angelina). After a day of sightseeing and getting settled, the group was loaded onto a bus and we made the journey through the mountains to the small orphanage. As we drove through the gates that surround Casa Angelina, the kids grouped together and ran up to the bus, waiting excitedly as the doors opened up.
Just as I had the previous two years, I stepped off the bus and took the hand of a small child with a huge smile on their face. This time, his name was Carlos; he took my hand and led me away from the bus so we could start a game of tag. Before I knew it, I was chasing and being chased by 4 or 5 young boys, all of whom had the biggest smiles on their faces. We ran around and around and around, until it was time for me to go inside and the kids to go to school. Before we split up, Carlos ran over to me and gave me a hug that I’ll never forget.
Guatemala, specifically the children, will always have a special place in my heart. At Casa Angelina, the children are taught to love themselves and love God, something their lives before being rescued would have never led to. Carlos, and all the children at Casa Angelina, were taken from terrible situations and given a second chance. I will never go through what many of them have had to go through, but being a part of their story, even for a second, brings me so much joy.
Brenda. Erika. Marvin. Julia. Carlos. Blondie. Gabby. Esmeralda. Nelson. On a screen, here in America, these are just names. But thousands of miles away, in Guatemala, at an orphanage full of love and second chances, those are children, children that have touched my heart and helped me see life in a new way. Circumstance doesn’t dictate how much joy our lives can produce, it merely limits us on the joy we believe we can feel. These kids prove that joy can come from anything. I love them all dearly, and miss them more than I can express. Two years is too long, but a walk down memory lane gives me hope that one day I’ll go back again.
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