Mission Discovery coordinates short term missions, hosting journeys for about 4 to 7 days. Over spring break, 10 students had the opportunity to travel to Antigua, Guatemala.

“I was not sure what the trip would be like since I had never been on one [a mission trip] before,” senior Ty Crawford said, “but I was looking forward to the trip nonetheless.”

The Argyle Methodist Church staff, Nathan Bryant, Karla Rogers, Chris Schoolcraft and his wife Gracie who acted as translator, guided students each day.

A typical day spent in Guatemala consisted of us waking up and being served breakfast by Sergio, the kind hotel cook, then traveling by van either up the hill to El Hato (a poverty-stricken schoolhouse) or down into the village near the Jeremiah Project headquarters, a building simply for feeding, tutoring and hanging out with local kids. At each place students and church staff work to make it a safe place for neighboring children.

After arriving at the worksites students would paint walls, move boxes, stir and lay cement, shovel rocks, and sometimes kick balls with the kids at recess.

After working in the heat for most of the morning, everyone would eat lunch in the form of sandwiches and be allowed water.

In the afternoon, everyone would gather all the Guatemalan children and construct a bible school for them; this involved a game, worship, testimony, crafts, and a snack. This is the time that the student volunteers, enjoyed the most because of the smiles on the kids faces.

After bible school, everyone would drive back to the hotel, take a shower, and then dive into the dinner.

“I would do the trip again in a heartbeat,” Crawford said.

Lizzy Surratt, joined the journey to Antigua and said her mission work was simply “rewarding.”

“This mission trip changed my current mindset in a positive direction,” Surrat said, “and I hope to continue taking what I learned in Guatemala and use it as an expectation for my daily choices.”

Overall the Mission Discovery organized trip to Antigua, Guatemala over the week of spring break was successful and rewarding.