Throwback Thursday...Guatemala 2015

Earlier this year we as a family had the awesome opportunity to go on a foreign mission trip for the first time ever.  We went with our church to an orphanage called Casa Aleluya in Guatemala.  It was the perfect trip to take small children on, and we were so blessed by this trip.  One of the things I absolutely loved about the trip was that one day we went outside the city limits to an extremely poor village and took blankets and clothes and rice and beans and of course the Gospel to the people.  It was a day that my kids and I will never forget.  Warning: this is going to be major photo overload, so just be prepared!!

I loved seeing how my kids interacted with the village kids.  Language was no barrier to them!

We handed out beaded necklaces from Dollar General, and you would have thought that these were real diamond necklaces the way the women of the village hurried to snatch up these necklaces!  It was humbling to see and reminded me of just how much I take for granted.

It was so beautiful to see the smiles on the womens' faces as we handed out the goods to them - new clothes for their children, dolls and toys for their kids, and free rice and beans for a month to feed their families for a month.  This doesn't sound like much to us, but it was unbelievable to them!

We were told later by the village leader that no one had ever brought the Gospel or even tangible physical help to these people the way that we did that day.  It was such a blessing to be a part of something like that, and I pray often for that little village and for the work that we started that day.  I will never forget that trip and hope that we as a family will have more opportunities in the future to do this kind of work where God leads!

Happy Thursday!