When I was 15 I went on my first mission’s trip to Colombia,
South America with my church. I had never really thought about doing missions
work until this opportunity came about. On this trip I kept praying for God to
do something crazy, but my definition of crazy is different from God’s. One
night in service I was off to the side watching people worship, pray, and seek
after the Lord. I was just watching and all of the sudden I heard God say to
me, “This is what you will be doing with the rest of your life and I am going
to start preparing you for your future.” In that moment I wasn’t too sure of
what that meant but over the years God has slowly but surely been revealing his
Plan for my life.
After this first trip, I began looking for other missions
opportunities. A spot opened up on a Caroline's Promise Guatemala team a few months before the
week long trip. I went on this trip and was absolutely in love with the people, the
culture, the scenery, everything. This trip really began to bring me out of my
shell and gave me an idea of what type of mission work I wanted to do in the
future. The next year I went back for two and a half weeks and experienced such
amazing growth in God and in my faith.
After getting home from that trip I was so eager to go again
but for longer than a week or two. I was taking a gap year and needed to figure
out what was next. I began talking to my mom about things I could do and she
said, “Why not talk to Lisa and see if you can go for a few months?” So I
started talking to Lisa about the internship and everything just fell into
place and before I knew it, it was January 17th and we were in the
airport ready to leave!
While here we taught English, music, computer, and drama
classes to about 150 students each day. We built strong relationships with the
teachers at Casita and with the young adults at Iglesia Adonai. I was reassured
that this is what I am supposed to do with my life. What the kids and others in
Guatemala don’t understand is the way they blessed me and changed me. I think
about this trip every day and of all of the amazing things they taught me and
showed me. How to love in a new way, how to care in a new way, and dream in a
new way. How truly inspiring each of them are to me.
Readjusting has been pretty difficult the past month. I love
seeing my family and loved ones but ache for my family in Guatemala. I also
miss speaking in Spanish every day! But I know that home is where God wants me
right now. In the fall I will be attending UNC-Greensboro and majoring in
Nursing and minoring in foreign language. I can’t wait to start the next
chapter of my life and see where he takes me over the next four years.
Although a (rather) short blog post cannot do justice to the
things I have learned I hope you all understand just a little of what God
revealed to us on this trip. Thank you to everyone who prayed for us, supported
us, and thought of us throughout our time in Guatemala and even now as we are
adjusting to life back in the States. Rebecca and I are so grateful for the
opportunity we had and it is something we will never forget. Dios te bendiga!
If you are interested in applying for an internship with Caroline's Promise please contact us at Lisaholbrook@carolinespromise.net