During the week of May 16-23, the Emmanuel Singers led by Trés and Rachael Ward traveled to serve and minister to the people of Guatemala.
The group traveled to the province of Escuintla in the Pacific coastal region of Guatemala to visit schools, churches, and homes in La Prosperidad, Sipacate, La Gomera, Peña Flor, La Democracia, Colonial Maya, La Sultanita, and Siquinalá.
While there, the team visited schools in La Prosperidad and Peña Flor, where they shared skits, songs, and bible stories with the school children.
Each afternoon, they would visit homes in the communities to pray and invite residents to the church services held each evening. In the evenings, the team led worship songs in Spanish and students shared their testimonies and preached.
“We had powerful prayer times in the altars where people came forward to receive healing, deliverance, and have encounters with God,” Trés shared. “We know of at least four people who came to Christ for the first time and one person who recommitted her life to Christ during the trip. Most of them were people we visited in the afternoons as we walked through the local neighborhoods.”
When asked what his favorite memory of the trip was, Trés didn’t hesitate.
“Watching students pray for people in the altars is probably my favorite memory,” he said. “I love seeing students break out of their comfort zones, and to minister cross-culturally to people in another country was very exciting to see. For many of the students, this was their first missions’ trip out of the country, first time flying, first time so far away from home. It was thrilling to see them encounter God in another country and culture while connecting with the people we were there to minister to and serve.”
He came home with a renewed desire to see students step away from the familiar and experience worship in another culture for the first time.
“A lot of times, people are afraid to take the risk because of the cost of paying for a mission trip, but we have had so many testimonies of how students raise even more than the needed amount,” he said. “I would encourage every high school or college student to jump at the next opportunity to go somewhere outside the United States because God always provides for the need and the benefits are priceless!”
