Guatemala 2025/26

​We weren't sure if we'd have the opportunity to serve in a local village called Jocotillo this year, but one of our leaders made it happen!  It was a privilege to serve the hungry.  Thanks to the generous financial support of so many people, the team was able to provide $4000 in corn, beans, rice, sugar, and salt.  Thank you, God, for providing food for the hungry. We estimate that we passed out about 300-400 bags of food.  Each bag included 5 pounds of corn, 5 pounds of beans, 3 pounds of rice, a small bag of sugar, and a small bag of salt (if my memory serves me correctly). This should feed a family of four for about 3-5 days. Keep in mind that this may be the ONLY food this community has access to for a while.  Also, most do not have an easy way to boil water (or access to water) so cooking the food is a huge task in and of itself. The majority of the community in Jocotillo works picking pineapple.  We were told that working sun up to sun down would ear...

​On day three the team started several projects.  A lot of the men have been mixing concrete and preparing an area for laundry for a new pastor that will be living on campus. This is the first time Casa Bernabe has had this resource on campus and they are all so thankful! Caleb was helping run the electrical and plumbing for the washer and dryer. Another portion of the team got to paint the exterior of the school building. This is where Timmy chose to serve and I heard he rocked it! One of the house parents is on break and they were short a helper. I was so humbled and honored to be asked to help for the morning. I helped with dishes, held the cutest 12 month old, and entertained foul energetic girls outside so that there could be some peace in the house for a bit. We also bathed the baby and I was shocked when the “encargada” heated up the water on the stove, brought it to the bathroom, and mixed it with cold water to get it just right. So much work!!!  I have an incredible a...

​We started the day by attending church here at Casa Bernabe. It’s always beautiful to hear the children praising God! We also heard a message about Barnabas (how Casa Bernabe got its name…Bernabe = Barnabas). After lunch, some of the team went shopping for our big New Years Eve bash (including me). Others organized the team donations and divided them into the 8 households. It is amazing to see the abundance God provided for the children and houseparents- everything from jeans and towels to bandaids and coloring books. After donations were sorted, it was time to hang out with the kids. Tim played a LOT of soccer (he’s sore today! lol). Hannah played with the girls and helped Caleb teach a group of younger boys how to play Dumpster Dice. He said the boys couldn’t get enough of it and they were all giving him hugs. He always worries about the language barrier and connecting with the kids so this was a real blessing for him. It also kept the kids busy to give the house parents time to get...

​We are safe and sound and tucked into our beds at Casa Bernabe. It was a long day of travel but it was all worth it for the warm welcome of the children. There is so much love here. So many kids remembered my name and gave me hugs and it was the best gift I could ever ask for. Unfortunately, American Airlines did not process our group in a timely manner and 4 team members didn’t make it on our flight. It was a very frustrating experience, when we did everything by the book. We arrived at 2:30 for a 5:07am flight. Turns out they don’t open the checked bags counter til 3:30am. They had our group wait in a line (over 30 of us) and processed us one at a time…and they were in no hurry. By the time the last 4 got through security the door to the airplane was shut and there was no way they would open it. Please pray for our team members to be able to get some rest. They were able to get on different flights but won’t be arriving til 2am and then a 45 min drive here. I can’t imagine how exhau...

As I wrapped up school before break and finished all the Christmas shopping and baking, I've had some time the past few days to really focus on praying for our upcoming trip to Casa Bernabé. We will be completing a team devotional each day and had some pre-trip readings to do.  The book had us journal our anxieties and fears in a prayer to God.  I didn't think I was that worried until I started writing, and the words kept pouring out. We hope you will join us in praying for the following (and anything else God puts on your heart!): Health - lots of viruses going around and in the back of my mind I always wonder how the bug bite situation will be for me Humility - I like control; that's no secret.  I desire to surrender everything to the Lord and submit to His will, but sometimes my selfishness gets in the way.  I want to do things my way on my time.  Please pray that my heart will be humbled in challenging ways to grow in my dependence on Him. (Kara) Travel Merc...

Today we had the opportunity to serve in a local village where several of the children at Casa Bernabé come from. It is always a hard day emotionally. The poorest of the poor in the US are rich in comparison to this community. About $4000 (U.S.) of our team budget went towards purchasing food for the people of Jocotillo. The Lord provided 20 bags of corn, 20 bags of beans, and 30 bags of rice. We then divided up the food into quantities to hand out for families. Each family got 5 pounds of each item. I was told a few years ago that it would feed a family of 4 for about a week. I’m not sure that is 100 percent accurate, but it seems like an educated figure. By our estimate, we handed out food to somewhere around 350 families. A set of house parents, Marlon and Analu, have always dreamt of running this ministry on a bigger scale. Marlon was always involved with doing this “on the side,” in addition to being a house parent. Due to recent health problems, they had to leave Casa Bernabé. Al...

Each year the children give us a parting gift of a “Despedida” (Goodbye). They make the team cards, dance to songs, and bring people on stage to do games. What a beautiful display of gratitude is given to us by these special children…although it’s really us who should be thanking them for showing us God’s character throughout the week - kindness, humility, gentleness, strength, endurance, and so much more.