Mission Trip: Easter 2021
by Steven Hash
On April 1st, we went to the city of San Juan Comalapa in Chimaltenango to visit El Buen Samaritano elders center. It is home to 23 elders. The center is run almost completely on charity, as the elders do not have family with the means to support them, and the government does not fund the center. We were provided a small list of items the elders said that they would like to have.
We checked blood pressures, temperatures, and blood sugars for the elders. Then we had a chicken dinner with the elders, as fried chicken and Coca-Cola were two of the most repeated items on the list. After dinner, we gave the elders gifts from the list. They were very excited for it and appreciated the food and gifts greatly.
I was given a tour of the facility and spent some time with the elders and the children of the workers. Next, we had a cake together, and then it was time to leave.
We enjoyed ourselves and had a great time providing a little joy to the elders and workers of the center. The people there were very friendly and welcoming.
On April 2nd, we continued our mission with a visit to the Hospital Nacional de Chimaltenango. After putting on gowns and sanitizing our hands, we delivered Easter baskets to all of the hospitalized children there. The children and their parents were very grateful for the baskets. Afterwards, I made some balloon animals for the children as well, and we prayed for a little girl who needs eye surgery due to psychomotor retardation and her grandmother who is caring for her.
On April 3rd, we traveled to the village of Chupol in Quiché. The village is divided into sections, and in all there are over 700 children in the village. We delivered Easter themed treat bags that Alejandra had prepared for 200 children, along with glow bracelets, tracts, and balloon animals. The village is colder than the surrounding areas because it is higher in the mountains, and many of the people do not have warm clothing. Therefore, we delivered jackets to some of the children with the help of the community leader to show us who needed them the most, as well as some backpacks for the school children. The children of the community and their parents were very grateful for all that they received.
On April 4th, we visited a local church in Chimaltenango, where I was invited to deliver the message. I was given a tour of the small church before the praise and worship started. I didn’t pick up on a lot of the words, but the music was great, and I really liked the part that I understood. The message was a team effort, with Alejandra doing the interpreting and Mario reading the Bible passages in Spanish and offering some words as well. It was a great service, and the people were extremely friendly and welcoming.
After lunch, we returned to the church area for our next activity. After talking to about 50 children about Jesus’ resurrection with the help of Resurrection Eggs, we had an Easter egg hunt, with 500 eggs filled with candy and some special prize eggs. Afterwards, we fed them a nice snack before leaving. The children had a lot of fun and will be enjoying a lot of candy.
On April 5th, we traveled to the garbage dump in Chimaltenango. In this area, the people spend their days working in garbage, attempting to find something useful in the trash that has been discarded. It was different to hide Easter eggs among trash, but we were able to bring some joy to the lives of the children here.
We used the Resurrection Eggs again to help tell the story of Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection. After that we had an Easter egg hunt with 250 candy filled eggs for the children. Next, we had a piñata for the children to break open for more candy, and finally we had treat bags for all of the children, containing children’s vitamins, a toothbrush and toothpaste, some tracts and bookmarks, and various other small items.
The children were very grateful for everything and had a great time.
Afterwards, I had breakfast and lunch at McDonalds with some friends that I have helped support in the past. It was a great trip with a lot of fun memories.
