Team Guatemala’s Experience

By Senior Evie Fordham
Sixteen Wake Christian Academy juniors and seniors spent their spring break in Guatemala at the Oasis, a home for girls, many of whom have been victims of abuse.

Wake Christian’s Team Guatemala returned to the United States full of love for the girls and enthusiasm about missions at the end of break, and perhaps their attitude can be best summed up by team member and senior Blake Cholerton, who said, “It was just one of, if not the best, experiences of my life.”

What made it so great? After all, the students weren’t just playing with the girls. They worked hard doing jobs like pouring concrete and serving meals and even had plenty of challenges in getting to know the girls, who varied in their English skills.

Lauren Hutson, one of the teachers who led the trip, said, “Some students knew very little Spanish, so that was a challenge. However, they found ways to communicate nonverbally.”

Hutson explained that the students let activities like “soccer,” “basketball,” and “hide and seek” do the talking but were still able to communicate more deeply through interpreters, especially when many Wake Christian students formally shared about their walks with God with the girls.

Despite any language barriers or tiring tasks, the members of Team Guatemala loved every minute of the trip. They bonded deeply with the girls, getting to know them and mentoring them while learning just as much from the girls themselves. Senior Casey Brady said his favorite part of the trip was “hanging out with the girls and seeing the joy of Jesus in their lives even after all they’ve been through.”

He stated that his favorite memory of the entire experience came on “the last night” of the trip. He said, “… a house of the girls all came out to hug me and say good night because they knew we were leaving early in the morning, and they couldn’t see us again.”

Those kinds of memories are what prompt Casey to say, “I definitely want to go back if I can at some point,” a sentiment shared by many of his fellow team members.

Knowing that Team Guatemala made a positive impact on the girls is what makes their efforts worthwhile for Spanish teachers Malcolm Deans and Lauren Hutson, who have tirelessly planned both official Wake Christian Academy mission trips.

Miss Hutson enjoys watching her students serving others, and she remarked, “I’m most proud of the way the students demonstrated love for the girls at the Oasis and each other… It was also neat to see students reaching out to the girls that were different or more reserved.”

She continued, “I was proud of the way the students bonded together as a team despite all of our differences in personality and pray that same spirit of love and welcome continues as we return to our normal routines back at school… I’m so thankful for every person on the team and their willingness to serve!”