During the week of 07/12 to 07/20, I will be travelling to Santa Cruz Baja Verapaz, Guatemala with a LIFE missions team to serve the people of that town. Santa Cruz is a town of approximately 1000 people located about 4 hours north of Guatemala City, the nation's capital.

Why are you going to Santa Cruz?

I'm going to Santa Cruz because I believe that one of the roles that God has give me in life is to serve other people. When I'm in the United States, I have the opportunity to work with the people in my workplace during the day, to lead a small group Bible study through my church, and to spend time in Fellowship with my friends. I treasure my time spent in all of these places, but sometimes it's hard to really focus on serving the people I'm around. More often than not, I'll find myself focused more on myself than the people I'm trying to serve.

When I went on a missions trip to San Antonio Aguas Calientes, Guatemala last summer, I had the opportunity to put myself aside and to really focus on the people I was working with. I didn't understand a lot of the words they were saying, but I could see the smiles on their faces and knew that they honestly appreciated what we were doing.

I hope that by serving in Santa Cruz this summer, I'll be able to bring some of the same blessings into the lives of the people of that town.

How can I help?

There are two ways that you can help. The first is to pray for both me and the team I'm going to Guatemala with. Here are some of the main needs that we have:

• Pray for safe travel down to Guatemala: Right now we plan to fly down to Guatemala by way of XNA in Northwest Arkansas and DFW in Dallas, Texas. There is a lot of turbulence in the airline industry right now, and our flights seem to be changing on a regular basis. Please pray that we are able to fly to Guatemala safely.
• Pray for the supplies we'll need: I'll be working with the construction team around town. The town has some major drainage problems that often lead to standing water and the spread of airborne illnesses from the insects that live in that water. There are also too few bathrooms to go around in the town. A bathroom is something that I take for granted every day. To help the people of Santa Cruz, we'll need to bring tools to help dig ditches. We'll also need money to help build the bathrooms. For each $400 we raise in addition to the cost of our trips, we'll be able to build an additional bathroom.
• Pray for the hearts of the people in Guatemala: The mission I'll be on down in Guatemala will mainly be service-based, rather than preaching or more traditional outreach. Please pray that the people will see our efforts not as just another group of foreigners coming in to help build in their city, but that they'll see us as fellow brothers and sisters in Christ fellowshipping together. Pray that through our efforts, Jesus Christ will be made known in the lives of the people of Santa Cruz.

The second way you can help is to provide financial support. The cost of airfare, food, and lodging totals $1200. We'll need $400 for each bathroom we build in Santa Cruz. If you feel that you would like to provide financial support, please fill out a check to the Amistad Foundation, and mail it to the following address:

Amistad Foundation
P.O. Box 72
Rogers, AR 72757

Any donations to my trip will be tax-deductible, so please also fill out the following form, and send it along with your check. At the end of the year, the Amistad Foundation will send you a form for inclusion with your taxes.

Amistad Foundation Donation Form

Please fill free to contact me as I would love to share more about this tremendous opportunity! I'll try to keep this page updated with my preparations for going to Guatemala. Thanks for your support!