United Church of God

United Youth Corps Sends 19 Volunteers to Guatemalan Orphanage

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United Youth Corps Sends 19 Volunteers to Guatemalan Orphanage

An international team of United Youth Corps participants, sponsored by LifeNets International and Good Works, served at the Eagle’s Nest orphanage in Sololá, Guatemala, teaching English and other activities.

The project took place from Dec. 27, 2013 to Jan. 10, 2014. Volunteers from the United States and Australia joined young adults from Guatemala to work at the orphanage to make this project a unifying international effort.

Walking into the orphanage you don’t see sorrow. You see happiness. You see normal kids with smiling faces, children playing running, girls laughing, boys wrestling. The children at Eagle’s Nest are safe and happy, and they are healing. Some of them are healing from abuse or threatening living situations. At Eagle’s Nest they have love, food, and safety—things that do not come easy in Guatemala.

Guatemala is a country that has faced many challenges in the past few decades. It’s still recovering from a 36-year-long civil war that ended in 1996. More than half of Guatemalans live below the poverty line, and in some rural areas this number is as high as 76 percent. Many children are neglected, abused or abandoned. With international adoptions currently being closed, the orphanages in Guatemala are full.

Eagle’s Nest Orphanage is a privately run orphanage that strives to provide a safe, loving, and happy home for the children.

When the volunteers reflected back to the main lessons they learned at Eagle’s Nest, many expressed the desire to use this experience as a stepping stone and continue to look for opportunities to reach out to those in need. They learned that this can be done in both big and small ways and often right in your own back yard.

“Serve, but make serving a part of who you are,” said Kyle Bornhorst, United Youth Corps participant.

“There are always ways to serve—you just have to find your strengths and apply them,” said volunteer Alyssa Diggins.

Others were struck by the resiliency these children showed.

Dana Moss said: “I have better learned resiliency by the example from the kids. Despite their uneasy lives, they are continually bouncing back.”

All were challenged to step out of their comfort zones. The volunteers learned valuable lessons of how to be better leaders.

“The most important thing is gaining their trust and love, and then you will be more successful in leading in whatever project you have,” said Garrett Fenchel.

The primary goal of the trip was to work together to show God’s love to the children at Eagle’s Nest. Each day volunteers ran activities similar to a summer camp schedule. They taught English lessons, music, and enjoyed outdoor games and a pool party. Each activity leader had planned their lessons to reflect the daily biblical theme.

In addition, they helped to refurbish over 120 desks and chairs for the New Day School, which is located at Eagle’s Nest Orphanage. This school serves not only those children who live at the orphanage, but also children from the community.

The trip was a success, and Youth Corps accomplished its goal of sharing God’s love with the children and striving to follow Jesus’ command to “visit orphans and widows in their trouble” (James 1:27).

Mrs. Moss reflected on her time serving the children: “I think I never understood how much God loves us until we met these kids. I never felt so much emotion as I did in those days we spent with them. I think about them like they are my own family.”

To learn more about the project, review our blog and video at http://goodworks.ucg.org/blog.

If you want to get involved, these kids could still use help. Youth Corps hopes to return again next year with another team. (Be listening for  announcements and check out the Youth Corps website at www.ucgyouthcorps.org where applications will be posted.) You can also support the project with donations. Both Good Works and LifeNets will be helping support the project next year. You can also see pictures of the children and learn more about them at Eagle’s Nest website: www.eaglesnestint.org.

Most importantly, please pray for the orphans, and pray that this project continues to be blessed by God and serves the children of Eagle’s Nest.

The participants in the project were Amy Bates, Kyle Bornhorst, Alyssa Diggins, Garrett Fenchel, Katrina Hansen, Courtney Horvath, Linda Merrick and Dana Moss from the United States; Timothy Blick from Australia; and Evylin DeLeon, Helen Gole, Judy Gole, Werner Solorzano, Andrea Robledo and Freddy Perez Zelada from Guatemala.  UN