Best Laid Plans
God's timing teaches that His ways are above our ways time and again.
The college students and the trip leaders held on tight as their driver wound through narrow streets in Guatemala. Rundown, colorful buildings crowded the lane. People and vehicles clogged the way ahead, with cars indiscriminately using both sides of the road. Dogs and chickens added to the chaos, but somehow everyone kept moving forward.
Just like that Guatemalan street, the team’s entire path to this moment had been full of obstacles and unexpected twists and turns. But when their van finally reached its destination, they were humbly ready to let God work through them.
THE WAITING GAME
Many students at Woodmen had planned to go on a mission trip to Guatemala in May 2020. COVID shut down plans for that date, but not for the entire trip. The students continued to patiently meet every month to prepare and eventually they got the word: Their trip was rescheduled for January 2021. They would be the first Woodmen mission team to travel internationally since the start of the pandemic.
Though some of the original team members weren’t able to join the new trip because of scheduling conflicts and the continued risks of international travel, many were able to take a leap of faith and make the journey. Their preparations now included additional COVID protocols and contingencies to protect the safety and health of all involved.
Hannah Douglas, one of the trip leaders, explains that the team handled every challenge with grace and flexibility. “The team was smaller than we initially planned. We could have canceled the trip or been really discouraged. But instead, there were things we got to do that wouldn’t have been able to do with a bigger team,” she says. “The students, and my co-leader, Karen Wilson, were completely openhanded with what God was going to do through the week.”
REST FOR THE WEARY
God worked faithfully during the trip as the Woodmen team partnered with a local ministry called Unum Guatemala. Unum focuses on serving people in need through nutrition and education, along with sharing Christ-centered values.
The team visited a total of 78 families, each of whom received a large bag of food. They also shared conversations with the families and sang worship songs in Spanish. Team member Maddie Huddle says she saw the Lord work through these key interactions.
“Some of the women said that because we were outsiders, a lot of people were more willing to listen to what we had to say, instead of people they see every day. That was powerful learning that God could use us outsiders,” she says.
A conversation in one home stands out in Maddie’s mind. She was talking with a mother and daughter. The mother desperately hoped for her daughter to find Jesus, but the daughter thought following Him would just be too hard. Maddie shared Matthew 11:28 with them: “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”
“It was a perfect verse for her,” Maddie says. “Christianity can be hard, but if you give that burden to Jesus, He’ll carry it for you.”
PERFECT TIMING
Hannah says the team experienced plenty of these moments where God showed up.
“There were a lot of family visits that felt like God-ordained moments. We bought food at the perfect time for some of them. They told us they weren’t sure where their next meal was going to come from. We brought a big bag that provided over 200 servings,” she explains.
Maddie knows that her teammates served with the right mindset – a heart to serve the Lord and spread his love. She continues to pray for families they ministered to in Guatemala and to trust in God’s plan for each person they served.
Maddie sums it up like this, “It was a totally different experience than we had planned for or expected, but it was exciting to see how God used us.”
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