On July 16, four members of our congregation set off from Vienna on a mission trip to Guatemala that left lasting impressions. Father Mark, Andi, Lukas and Mateo, together with five men from Spain, accompanied school children for two weeks and helped to build a new church, a chapel. We asked Andi and Mateo to share their experiences from this time with us.

You spent two weeks on a mission trip in Guatemala – what motivated you to go on this trip? What was your Why?

Mateo: “Ever since I was a child, I wanted to go on a mission trip at least once in my life. My desire was always to go to Africa. When I actually had the opportunity to go this year, I found no peace in prayer that the Lord wanted me there. A few days later, Father Mark told me about Guatemala, about previous mission trips there and about the work with the children in the school. I knew immediately that this should be my trip, and the confirmation came quickly in prayer. My WHY for this trip was to see and feel the world and reality from a different perspective, and to speak the truth “God is love and He sees you” into this other reality. The service for the children was very important to me personally.”

Andi: “Father Mark asked me if I would like to come along. The idea sounded very cool and I thought to myself: ‚why not do something good?‘ I didn’t really know exactly what we would be doing at the time, but my motivation was to bring people closer to God.”

What exactly did you do there?

Mateo and Lukas: “In the first week, we went to the Mano Amiga school in Piedro Parada, where we spent time with the children. We celebrated mass with the children every morning, ate lunch together and then prayed at the families‘ homes. The conditions there are very modest and many people are very poor. Not all children have everything they need for a normal kindergarten or school day. That’s why everything is shared at school, with great joy and a deep sense of peace.”

Mateo: “This first week left a big mark on me. Many of the children fought for attention, probably because they often no longer have a father at home. We learned English with them, crafted things, played and laughed a lot. Their joy was very infectious. In the seven days I spent with them, there were hardly any arguments between the children. That really impressed me.”

Andi uses similar words…

Andi: “We were like big brothers and sisters to the children. They appreciated the fact that we were simply there for them. The children were incredibly open, loving and heartfelt. And even though their circumstances are not particularly good, they are still so happy. That really moved me.”

Mateo and Lukas: “In the second week, we were in Chipilinar, where we helped with a church building project. The local community wants to build a new chapel because the existing one is difficult to reach for many people. During this time, we also tried to raise the funds needed to complete the project. At the end, we did a three-day tourism program and visited the area.”

What are you personally taking away from this trip? What can you tell your friends and family?

Andi: “It was an extremely good experience. We lived very simply there, sleeping on camp beds in a slum area. That showed me that you don’t need much to live. The people there live in such modest conditions and are still so happy. We are doing so incredibly well and we are in such a “bubble” that we don’t even see it. The problems we have here are not problems in comparison, and we overlook that far too often. We don’t appreciate what we have.“

Mateo: “The thing I will definitely take with me is gratitude, not only for the material and worldly things I have, but above all for the opportunity to go to Mass every day to receive the one I encountered in these children and also in the many sick people, Jesus. Jesus as a fragile child with an unbreakable openness and love.”

Together with the villagers, you built a chapel, a place of community – apart from this construction, how did you do missionary work on site?

Mateo “We prayed for sick people and their families in the name of Jesus. It was a special experience to see how God heals and how He wants to meet people in their suffering. The openness of the people to the Holy Spirit and His work was beautiful.”

Andi: “We didn’t go out on the streets to preach the gospel, but lived out our faith, practiced charity, spent time with other people, prayed with families. We did missionary work mainly through deeds, not by logically and rationally explaining what faith is.”