Kirwood College Health Sciences Dental ServiceTeam Free Day at Iximche Mayan Ruins
Kirkwood College School of Dentistry, Iowa
University of Wisconsin Green Bay Group
University of Mary
What happens when members of the University of Mary’s (Bismarck, ND) School of Physical Therapy get together to take part in a GOD’S CHILD Project ServiceTeam Experience in Guatemala?Quite simply…… WONDERFUL things!
“I have participated in several other missionary projects but all within the USA. In addition to helping people in great need, this week gave me the ability to gain first hand knowledge of a different culture through the experience of living with a local family…I hope I never forget the smiles on the faces of the children of the family as we turned over the house to them .” – Bob Wagoner
St. Peter’s Church, Nantucket ServiceTeam clothing distribution
Matt Miller, is a regular ServiceTeam Experience volunteer in Guatemala
For me this is a great experience. I enjoy the Guatemalan people and like working with them.”
– Betty Plag (2007 St. Louis, MO, USA)
St. Louis Missouri volunteer Gloria Besterfield building bunk beds
Additional Testimonials
“The GOD’S CHILD Project helps to fill the needs of the desperately poor in Guatemala. I am extremely proud to be a part of it.” – Pat Lobdell
“This is a very interesting and satisfying experience. I learn more about myself each time. The staff of The GOD’S CHILD Project and Asociación Nuestros Ahijados programs are wonderful people. The Guatemalan people are wonderful.” – Laraine St. John
“Be ready for an adventure – be ready to be a changed person. Guatemala is a beautiful land with very kind and caring people. Oh yes – how about knowing some Spanish – it will make for more adventures.” – Thomas St. John
“For me this is a great experience. I enjoy the Guatemalan people and like working with them.” – Betty Plag
“The GOD’S CHILD Project offers anyone an opportunity to live with host families and build homes for the poorest of the poor. You interact with families and learn their ways as well as offering ideas to improve these lines. We bring clothes, health, and beauty products, etc to share with every our families. The children are so wonderful and are always smiling even though these people are poor, they always have a smile on their face. By educating the children and elevating their standard of life, they are lifted out of the chains of poverty and are given hope for a future.” – Dale Besterfield
“I used to recruit team members for trips to Haiti. One of the major concerns, rightly so, was safety. I felt safer here then in Downtown St. Louis. The people here are genuinely and thoroughly friendly. The food is excellent and the experiences are exciting and non-stop.” – Mike Hutter
“We loved it. Very well organized. Dedicated team. We stayed VERY busy. “We’re glad we came on this GOD’S CHILD Project ServiceTeam Experience because tomorrow we leave knowing we helped a lot of very needy people.”Thank you for making this experience happen!”"I had no idea it was going to be this much fun…and this hard of work. “We helped A LOT of people.” Kirkwood College School of Dentistry, Iowa
St. Mary’s Central High School in Bismarck, North Dakota, offers various pilgrimage opportunities to its students each year. Seniors have a chance to tour Europe. There are trips to St. Thomas University in Minnesota. And juniors occasionally have the chance to travel to Antigua, Guatemala, to be part of service teams for the Bismarck-based organization The God’s Child Project.
Over the course of a few days, each service team builds a home for a poor family near Antigua. In addition to construction work, these students may witness poverty in a homeless shelter or orphanage. They will interact with the children of the God’s Child Project who have suffered so much. And they will see the beautiful countryside in Guatemala.
In August of 2006, I was given an opportunity to participate in one such trip to Guatemala as a chaperone. Thirty of us, led by Father James Shea and Mr. Jerry Richter, went down to participate in God’s Child service teams. It was an amazing experience. In this web page, I share it with you as best I can.
As always, I appreciate comments or questions. E-mail me at jason@jsignal.com.