The Lord showed Himself faithful as five guys departed their “normal” lives and headed down to Guatemala to serve with Potter’s House. Potter’s House is a ministry directed toward the individuals (they call them Treasurers) who make their home in the Guatemala City dump. More than 11,000 people live and work in and around the dump, with over half of them being children. Potter’s House helps them by providing basic needs such as education, health clinics, financial assistance, shelter (building and renovating houses) and food, all so that they can present the greatest need, Christ Jesus. Everything Potter’s House does is undergirded with the Gospel of Jesus Christ – because it’s in Him that we find our true value, worth and dignity as we realize God’s desire to have a relationship with us.

Our main project for the week was to renovate a house for the family of Hortensia Ramirez, a single mother who has lived all of her 54 years around the city dump. Her home was in need of great repair and the team was able to install a new roof; scrub, wash and paint the interior and exterior walls, install a new toilet, stove pipe, windows, replace several electrical fixtures and repair her concrete floor. When we arrived you could see the desperate look on her face and as the week unfolded  the entire community could hear the joy in her laughter as her home was made new. Hortensia is excited about using her home as a witness for the love of God – she is  a dear sister in Christ and openly proclaims that her life and her home have been transformed by God’s grace.

For “guys” who enjoy working with their hands, you might think this was the most powerful way that God could show Himself faithful – but that’s not the case. God showed up in every aspect of the mission trip. He was there in the mornings as they gathered in devotion and prayer, He was there on the prayer walks as broken and contrite people trusted in and gave their lives to Christ; He was there with the children in the midst of a youth worship time and He was there in the evenings as these men shared their lives together, becoming real with one another before the Lord and His Word.  This mission trip was not about what these guys could do for the people of Guatemala. It was all  about what God can do – Soli Deo Gloria!