HANDS Teams Build a School in Guatemala

April 16, 2007

Holland Marsh HANDS Team from Ontario, Canada

Volunteer work teams (HANDS) from Ontario, Canada travel to Guatemala to do "a dusty job" building a Christian school.

Loren Anderson, along with his wife and sons, were missionaries for over 30 years in the western highlands of Guatemala.  The Andersons now head a division of Worldwide Christian Schools called EduGuate which focuses on the development of Christ-centered education in Guatemala.  Here is an excerpt from a letter written by Loren after three WWCS HANDS teams from Canada worked on the construction of Colegio Juan Wesley, a Christian School in the western highlands of this Central American country.

Easter is over, the three groups of Canadians are back in their snowy land and we are looking toward this summer.  In it all God has been good, and His works make us glad, as the Psalmist said.

We appreciate the cooperation of WWCS in making available to our school project in Guatemala the capable and dedicated work of the Canadians.  I was with each team and came to appreciate them and their commitment to building Christian schools in other lands.  On a number of occasions they gave public testimony of their conviction that such schools were one part of the church/family/school triangle. 

The last team in March asked our Guatemalan construction leader what needed to be done.  Even though it was the day after their long journey here, he said, "I want this place cleaned up."  The team set about moving chunks of broken cement blocks and pieces of old wood, and cleaned up the two-story building.  It took them all day to finish that dusty job.  They simply told us, "We came to serve."

On the last night of devotions the pastor brought out a water basin and washed the feet of the Guatemalan leadership.  Again, "We came to serve."  This was the attitude of all three teams.  We were impressed.  Some laid blocks and could see the walls rising, others moved dirt to level off the front terrace, and others bent steel for the upcoming third-floor concrete pouring. 

I want to thank Worldwide Christian Schools for sending down those three teams.  I don't know where we would be without them.  Who can calculate the price of the work and contribution of these teams?  We believe we are now halfway done with the school building!