Nothing creates a sense of happiness like helping those in need. That’s why Marion Christian Church provides an opportunity to achieve such a feeling. The church does mission trips to Guatemala and provides families with houses, food, indoor plumbing and electricity, toys, and life essentials.

     Patty Wise, a lifelong member and mission group leader, has been doing trips to Guatemala since 2016 when they started working with an organization called Project Guatemala. ImagininGuatemala, its sister organization, is located in Antigua, Guatemala. The employees in Antigua choose families that are eligible for the program and then assign them to teams that build the selected families’ brand-new houses. Wise said, “This is our biggest trip yet, which is really exciting for me. We’re going to have 24 people going this time.” The team works together to fund the trip by doing rummage sales and lunches. Wise said, “This year, we were kind of blessed with a gift of a small warehouse and some garages that were deserted, and we cleaned them out, organized everything, and sold out of the warehouse…” The storehouse provided an opportunity to increase the trip budget and added activities. The church raised a total of $52,451.21, which pays for plane tickets, building the homes, transportation, and two additional workers from the organization that assist the groups in building the houses. The current price to go on the mission trip is $150 a day per person.

     Cathy Fuller, a group member, has taken her fair share of trips to Guatemala. The members are in Guatemala for nine to ten days. She said, “We build a house in four days for a family that does not have a secure place to live.” Usually, the build sites are outside of the city of Antigua, so the groups ride in the back of pickup trucks. The building is done completely by hand, including mixing buckets of concrete and hauling it to the build sites. Fuller said, “It is a one-room house with two basement windows, a secure, locking wooden door, and ceramic tile floor.” After the groups leave, ImagininGuatemala team members install a bathroom with a toilet, sink, and shower. While most of the trip is work, there is also time for having fun. This year, the organization has provided the chance to zipline, take a trip to a black sand beach, and hike up a volcano to make a s’more at the top.

     The church takes extra steps to ensure that the house is a home by adding personal items. When the teams are assigned their families, they are allowed to make a list of added items that suit the needs of the family. Since most of the families have children, the group members purchase toys, coloring books, hygiene products, and notebooks. Each item is carefully chosen by the team members depending on how old the children are. For instance, this year, the church has been assigned a family with a fifteen-year-old girl. The group plans on purchasing her makeup, hair necessities, and school supplies. Her current living situation requires her to clean the house, take care of her younger siblings, cook meals, and finally when that is all done, she must complete her work for school. Due to her time-consuming schedule, she is only in her sixth year of school. All of this goes to show that life is very different from the lives of middle-class families that live in America, and the mission trip truly is an amazing way to help.

     The work that ImagininGuatemala does is amazing, and to be a part of it is a wonderful experience. Helping those who don’t have as much is a great way to spread love and make a difference in the world.