Shining Light Abroad Ministries

On one hand it seems like we have been waiting forever for the day, but on the other hand it seems like we just started planning for this day.

Soy and I both know that God has given us a heart to serve in a foreign land, however, three years ago He began to give us a specific burden for the people of Guatemala.  We spent one summer in Guatemala to really seek God and where He wanted our family to serve Him.  We can honestly say that we used the summer in Guatemala as a time to seek His direction and did not have any idea that God would call us to live there permanently. We have been traveling to Guatemala for years and in many ways it had become very comfortable to us.

One day we asked Lazaro to take us to visit a typical dump in El Tejar.  Although we had numerous trips to Guatemala, we had never actually seen the dumps.  We really just wanted to say “been there, seen that” and go back to the house.  This specific trip to the dump will forever be etched in our memory as it is one of the times that God used to break our hearts for the people.  For me, it was my first trip to Guatemala as a mother and my perspective on life has changed in many ways!  When we saw the children playing and working in the dump they were no longer just a child living in poverty, they were our daughters.  Our hearts broke as we looked at the faces of moms and dads trying to make enough money just provide a small meal for the family.  The normal trip to the dump was the moment God began to give us a stronger, greater burden and passion for the people of Guatemala. El Tejar Dump