Let the service learning begin!

Our first lesson? Patience—a biblical fruit we’re sure will grow today as we embark on our 10–12 hour journey to Christmount. We’ve got a great group ready to serve, learn, and grow together.

We hope you’ll follow along this week as we embody God’s hands and feet through acts of service here in beautiful Western North Carolina.

Howdy folks! This summer this space will be filled with stories from Panjachel, Guatemala to Black Mountain, North Carolina and the roads in between. I am on the edge of my seat waiting to see how God will move our youth, our adults, the new friends we make, and myself over the course of our journeys. Come back here in June to hear from our youth on the intergenerational trip to Guatemala and later from our youth headed to North Carolina. It’s gonna be fun, you’re not gonna want to miss it.

Pastor Sam

On Monday morning, we meet Roberto, Isabel, and their sons, Elvis & Anderson for the first time. Upon meeting us, Roberto & Isabel immediately called us family. I’m not going to lie to y’all, I was taken aback by this statement. I mean we had just met these people and we didn’t even speak the same language. Yet, here was a Guatemalan family of Mayan decent calling us, a group of stark white folks from Indiana, their family. As the week progressed, we worked side by side with Roberto, Elvis, Anderson, and other neighborhood kids to move dirt & rocks, sift sand, make concrete, and haul it all over the place. We spent time playing soccer, or fútbol, making up handshakes, color pictures, and paint nails! We had conversations with Isabel and were able to share resources with her as she continues to heal from an accident effecting her feet. All the sudden I looked up and it was Thursday. All the sudden it was our last work day, our last day with the family… with our family. In four short days, these people quickly became our people. Their community is our community. This past Thursday our group said one of the hardest goodbyes. There were tears, gifts, smiles, and prayers, and the tears, gifts, smiles, and prayers from our time together keep coming and coming. A part of all of our hearts will always be in the mountains of Guatemala. Our biggest prayer is that this goodbye might be a “see you later”. So until we see them again, keep Roberto, Isabel, Elvis, Anderson, and their community in your prayers with us.

Hasta luego, familia❤️

It’s so rewarding to see the work we are putting into this house come together! The dedication of this group is amazing.

The youth continue to ask, “Can we leave earlier for the site so we can finish more on the house?” and “Instead of our free day on Friday can we keep working on the house?” The excitement they have and the connections they are building are quite inspiring.

The adults on this trip have also been amazing role models for the youth and the family we have been working for by spreading love, encouragement, and kindness.

Each day the kids from the neighborhood come out and greet us and get straight to work alongside us. Although they like to play sometimes, many of the times they have passed off playing to keep working with us.

The way GCC has connected with this community in a small amount of time is works from God. We are His people and He is the one who took us on this journey and introduced us to those we now call family.

Not too long left in this beautiful place, which makes us all sad! 😦

Words from our college student along with us on this trip:

I am loving every second of this trip.
Being able to be servants of God and serve in Guatemala has already taught me so much about myself and the individuals here in this beautiful country.

Every day at our worksite, I take a second to admire the view and the creation of God. I feel like I get too caught up with my busy life at home and never take time to just be still and admire what God is doing for me and what He has created.

Despite the language barrier, everyone has been patient with us and communicated the best that they can with us.

We got to experience the town’s first defibrillator at a ceremony today. They don’t have the money for AED’s here, so this one was such an honor to them. Something that we have all over our hospitals, etc. is something that they don’t have access to.

It’s been such a learning experience for sure and I can’t wait for what the last couple of days bring!

-Taylor Burket

We got to our work site and were immediately welcomed with open arms. We are working on building a house for Isabel and Roberto and their two younger sons, Anderson and Elvis. Roberto’s uncle had originally loaned a house to Roberto and his family. As his uncle gets older, he is looking for someone to care for him and with that, the caregiver would live in Roberto’s current house. That’s where we come in.

We are helping build a house for this family of four, and we were so honored when they called us “family” when we first met them. They were so grateful to have us here helping. Roberto and his sons were so willing to help today, despite the language barrier. Isabel had just recently dropped a pot of boiling water on her leg, so she is still recovering from that.

Kids around the neighborhood also came to greet us, which later lead to us playing with them and them helping us move rock, etc.

Everyone we met today were so kind and determined, we are so excited for the relationships and connections we will build.

God is so good!

We made it! The high school youth & adults have made it here to Guatemala for our week of building, both houses & relationships. After a travel day that started at 3:30am at the church, we made it to the city of Panajachel yesterday at 6:30pm local time, CST (8:30pm EDT). After such a long journey yesterday, we took today to rest & enjoy the beauty of this amazing country! Some highlights were our brunch on Lake Atitlan at Casa de el Mundo, finding an amazing local gelato shop, a meaningful worship experience, and meandering the streets of the city together! We are looking forward to the rest of our week here in Guatemala in partnership with Porch de Salomon!

Today we went to a place called Room In The Inn. Their mission is to “provide programs that emphasize human development through education, self-help and work, centered in community and long term support for those who call the streets of Nashville home,”.

We helped moved some things out of their storage unit, and into a building right by their organization. After we got done with our work, we got a tour of their organization’s building!

Later that afternoon we walked the streets of Nashville, exploring and looking for hostile architecture and how it could potentially impact our neighbors on the street.

We then got hot chicken for dinner! We ordered Hattie B’s to go, and surprised the youth with going to see a movie, Inside Out 2!

It was a very eventful day!

Wednesday we split into two groups and went to Martha O’Bryan. This center helps empower those who are in poverty to help transform their lives.

The two groups worked in shifts and worked throughout the food pantry helping make cards to go out to seniors, helping individuals and families shop, and also helping pick up sticks around the property.

While one group worked 11AM-1PM, the other group walked around some shops in Nashville. Then the groups switched from 1PM-3PM.

After working, we went for a fun treat at Jeni’s Ice Cream! We enjoyed our dessert and headed over to Centennial Park for some activities to better understand housing injustice. We got to walk around and even see the famous Taylor Swift bench in the park.

It was a great day of helping and learning!

Here’s a look at our day of serving and learning in Nashville yesterday with By Faith Farms & Safe Haven. Check back later to learn more about our experiences & to see our adventures from today.

Bus Selfie!