Guatemala Missions Trip Preparation

By Carter Woodrow ('25)

I am especially excited for the Guatemala missions trip this year. This will be my 4th mission trip with JRHS, as well as the second year that I have gone to a country in Central America working with the organization, Christ For the City International, which “is committed to the multiplication of ministries that impact cities in strategic populations of the world." This year in Guatemala, Alyssa (‘25), Meredith (‘26), Faith (‘26), Elliot (‘25), and myself (‘25) will be led by Mrs. Hyvonen, Srta. Cataño and Mr. Samuelson. We will primarily be doing ministry through directly connecting with other people. We will be working on various construction projects, but our primary focus will be supporting local churches, connecting with and praying for women and families, teaching Bible lessons to kids, and mentoring young men through devotionals and soccer.

Our team has been holding 1-2 meetings per week for preparation, as well as writing bible lessons as part of our Spanish classes. Our team has been diligently working to gather resources such as soccer equipment, clothes, makeup, and other products to donate to the people we will be ministering, too. In our meetings we have been talking with our hosts about the culture and the needs in the area, as well as praying for the trip and discussing all the logistics of the travel.

I am most excited about two things for this trip. First, the soccer camps with young men. Soccer has been one of my personal passions throughout my life, and being able to use that sport in order to develop a connection with other young men to encourage them in Christ is a way I can use a personal hobby and skill to the glory of God in missions. Second, I am excited to put my Spanish skills to use. I have put significant effort into learning Spanish for the last 2 years and desire to be able to use it in a career and missions in the future. For that reason, I am excited to use my Spanish to be able to talk to the people we will be ministering to in their native language. 

There are three primary things that we have been praying for in our meetings. First, that God uses us to be effective witnesses for Christ. Second, we have been praying for the people we will be ministering to. Lastly, we have been praying for the ministries and missionaries already in Guatemala, such as our host Giovani and his family. Your prayerful support throughout this journeys is very appreciated.  

On behalf of the Guatemala team, 

Carter