January 25 - February 3
2025 Guatemala Team
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Madalyn Adams | Senior
I’m a senior at SMLCA. I’ve gone on mission trips with my family and lived abroad since I was two years old. I want to go to Guatemala this year to meet more people and shine the light of Jesus. I’m excited for this experience and to help out anyway I can.
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Elise Barnes | Senior
My name is Elise Barnes, I am honored and blessed to say that I will be going to Guatemala in January! This will be an absolutely surreal experience, serving the lord and those around us. I am thrilled to be a part of this team! Looking forward to this humbling and eye opening experience!
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Stacey Beverly | Senior
My name is Stacey Beverly and I am a senior at SMLCA. I am so blessed to have the opportunity to be a part of this years mission trip to Guatemala. I have always been interested in seeing different cultures. I am so excited to get to share the gospel with the children in Guatemala and I looking forward to see how God works on this trip!
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Ryan Canipe | 11th
I am a junior and I can’t wait to go on this trip for the first time. I am excited to serve and spread the love of God in Guatemala. It will be awesome to see how great this trip is in person instead of just hearing about it from others. I am grateful for the opportunity to go.
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Adelyn Cassady | 10th
My name is Adelyn Cassady and I am a sophomore at SMLCA. This will be my first mission trip. I am so excited to have this opportunity and so blessed to get to serve in Guatemala. I can’t wait to see where God leads me.
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Devlin Cox | Senior
This is my last year at SMLCA, as I am senior. This will be the second time I have gone on the Guatemala trip with the school. I am more than excited to have another chance at impacting and interacting with a different culture and peoples. I can't wait to see how God will use us to impact the community in a positive way. I want to thank everyone for their support and encouragement.
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Sydney Cutler | Senior
I am very excited to be on this year’s Guatemala trip! This will be my first time being on a missions trip out of the country. I am looking forward to serving others, sharing the Word of God, and growing in my faith.
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Abigail Dooley | Senior
Hi! I am Abbie Dooley and I'm a senior this year at SMLCA. I am so thankful for the opportunity to go to Guatemala and spread the gospel! I can’t wait to see what God has in store!
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Mason Fogarty | 11th
This is my second year going to Guatemala with SMLCA and I’m blessed to be able to serve the people in Guatemala again. We have a new team this year and I look forward to working with them to share and experience the love of Jesus in Guatemala.
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Addyson Janney | Senior
This will be my second year going to Guatemala. Last year I saw God move in so many ways and watched him touch the lives of everyone around us. I am so excited to see everything that is in store for our team this year.
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Garrett Karnes | 11th
I’m super excited to be part of the 2025 Guatemala team. This year will be my second mission to Guatemala. It is an amazing country with kindhearted people who make you feel very welcome. I can’t wait to see what this year brings for our team and the communities that we visit. God is great!
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Peter Lignos | 11th
This is my second year at SMLCA. I am very excited to return to Guatemala to serve and create new memories.
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Parker Nichols | Senior
This trip will be the third time that I have served in Guatemala with SMLCA. I am very thankful for the previous experiences. Those trips have played a major role in shaping me into who I am today and I feel blessed for the opportunity to go one last time. I am more excited than ever to see what God can do through this amazing team and what lessons he has in store for us!
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Kassidy Phillips | Senior
Hi my name is Kassidy Phillips. I’m going into my senior year of high school! I’m very blessed to be apart of this journey and I am looking forward to what God has planned for me and my team! I am ready to see how this experience will change my perspective on things!!
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Macie Ramaker | 10th
My name is Macie Ramaker. This will be my 12th year here at SMLCA, I am so honored that I have the privilege to serve others in Guatemala. I am so excited to see how God uses me on this trip for His glory!
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Nehemiah Ramaker | Senior
I am excited to be going on this trip with so many good people. I am currently working a job for F&S building innovations and I look forward to using the experience that I have in construction to serve in Guatemala.
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Judah Robb | Senior
I’m a senior at SMLCA. I’m super excited to go to Guatemala. I look forward to being able to use my talents to serve God in Guatemala.
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Karlee Smith | Senior
I am thrilled to be able to go on this trip for the second time. I feel blessed to have this opportunity to go in my senior year of high school. I experienced God work through me in the last trip and I can’t wait to experience His blessings again this time around!
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Lily Terral | 10th
My name is Lily Terral I’m a sophomore at SMLCA and I got to go to Guatemala last year. The people of Guatemala are very loving and spending time with them is so fulfilling. I’m looking forward to seeing God work in the lives of the people as well as our team.
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Timothy Wagner | Senior
I’m Tim and this is my fourth year attending SMLCA and my second time going to Guatemala. I am looking forward to seeing what God is calling me to do and share His love in Guatemala.
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Jorden White | Senior
My name is Jorden and I am going into my senior year of high school. Seeing how last year's team impacted so many people and how they all came back changed made me realize that I want to take this opportunity to shine God's light in Guatemala
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Matt Cragun
Team Leader
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Becky Fogarty
Team Leader
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Jaxon Hill
Team Leader - 2022 SMLCA Alumni
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Shelley Kist
Team Leader
We partner with Impacto Ministries in Guatemala.
Use the drop-down menu to explore the outreach opportunities in which our team will participate.
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A ministry for the elderly. A nutritious breakfast is provided, stretching exercises, weaving, gardening, and sharing the love and saving grace of Jesus with these wonderful people who are living the last part of their journey here on earth.
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Our team will host a family friendly event for the San Juan community. We will have a variety of fun carnival games, activities, and more while we share the love of Jesus with all that attend!
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Construction projects vary. Impactico’s main emphasis this year is to complete the new abuelitos building and a retaining wall around their garden plot.
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An after-school program for children in vulnerable situations providing a nutritious meal, a monthly doctor check-up, tutoring by licensed teachers, teaching good personal hygiene, and most of all, learning about the Gospel of Jesus and His saving grace.
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Groups gather and deliver food, toiletries, and goodies for families that need them in the local San Juan community.
Day 1 — Arrival
Day 1 started with our team meeting at Roanoke airport at 4:30am to check in our students, team leaders and our 25 carry-on suitcases with all of our donated and purchased supplies for the week. After a very quick stop in Chicago our team was off for the last leg of our trip to Guatemala. We had several first time flyers, some going out of the country for their first time and a few new to Impacto! Our adventure really took on new meaning with the 4 hour bus ride to San Juan around some hair-pin turns where our co-captain had to "listen" out for oncoming traffic. Luckily this part of the trip happened during the late evening so we couldn't see what was just over the side. Our faithful driver, Manuel has been navigating these back roads since he was 12 years old, we are thankful for his driving skills! We arrived at Impacto around 9:30pm (10:30 EST) and were greeted by The Impacto staff and Mr. Mackell Philips along with his students from Xela .They will be with us until Tuesday afternoon. We quickly unloaded ALL of the suitcases and found our new living quarters for the next week! The Impacto compound and the surrounding area suffered a power outage at 8am so we hurried onto bed anticipating what our scenery would be when we awoke.
Day 2
We woke up to the sounds of San Juan with roosters crowing and church bells ringing. Our air felt more like home, crisp and cool. We have a volcano outside our back door. After breakfast and devotions with Pastor Luis we set out to explore the city. Peter and Paola were our guides around the area, stopping by the local community court where some of our guys and team leaders participated in Mayan Ball by using only their hips. We made our way to the Catholic Church, some stopped to take pictures and pray. Sundays are a day of rest so many families were out enjoying the beautiful day. Sunday is the busiest shopping day of the week, some of our crew shopped while others stopped for coffee and gifts. We made our way back to the Impacto compound, had lunch and got ready for our 5pm church service. We heard a translated Spanish to English message from Pastor Marlin on Genesis 5. After dinner we all gathered around to reflect on our day and discuss our plans for tomorrow. Most will be getting up to hike before sunrise. Afterwards we will head off to meet the Abuelitos (grandparents), and the kids in the Happy Tummies program. Our student groups will take food, supplies and gifts to families in need with the most important gift of love. Our senior girls; Jorden, Karlee, and Kassidy will give our lessons and activities tomorrow that will follow our SMLCA Walk Worthy mission.
Day 3
This Morning we started off our day with an impactful devotion from Pastor Tony. After this we walked down to the Impacto ministry center and worked with the Aubelitos and got to hear some stories from their lives and shared crafts with them. We even had the gift of listening to an Abuelito play his guitar and sing for us. After this we went to minister to the people of Guatemala through Home visits. We sat and talked with them and asked them questions about their lives. We then headed back to the Impacto compound to eat lunch and to get ready to head back over to help with happy tummies. The Happy Tummies children also were given a lesson and a craft and after we spent some time dancing and playing games with them. When we got back to the compound we had dinner followed by an evening devotion and planning for our day tomorrow.
Submitted by Addy Janney
Day 4
Day 4 started with devotions with Pastor Luiz and our students sharing their favorite memory verse and why. We had a delicious breakfast and split up to visit with the abuelitos and some of the guys stayed back and worked with the construction crew. Delvin led the lesson today talking about the fruits of the spirit. Red is love, orange is joy, yellow is peace, green is patience, teal is kindness, blue is goodness, purple is faithfulness, lavender is gentleness, and pink is self-control. Living in God we need to possess all of these things to totally fulfill our lives with him. Our group led an activity of making bracelets with all of these colors! Once the team got started and handed the project over to the Abuelitos, they took right off and were better than the kids. Some of the women sew and weave as their daily job so it came easy and natural to them. Each day our students connect with the people here In their own way (see pictures) and to our surprise one of the gentlemen asked for our translator to stand and give us his words. He thanked us for coming and for taking care of his people. He told us he does not have anything to give but what he does was, a bag of coffee made here in San Juan. He specifically has touched so many in just a few short meetings!
Some of our girls stayed back and held a meeting with new and soon to be moms. It was the first ever that Impacto has ever hosted here on the compound. The new moms and moms to be were very happy to be able to sit and chat freely about their thoughts, questions and insecutities. Moms were given diapers, wipes, swaddling blankets, pacifiers and a Bible for their little ones.
After lunch we hosted the kids at Happy Tummies again. Abby and Parker lef the lesson speaking of how to Walk Worthy in the Lord. Our same, SMLCA theme for the year. The Chica's (girls) tied ribbons on their new flip flops while the boys (Chico's) enjoyed splattering paint on their new slides. We hope these new shoes will help remember to Walk Worthy with God!
One of our girls teams stayed back to help the Impacto Team construct a concrete wall. Our girls showed their physical strength by moving HUGE bags of gravel to help the mason prepare for the bricks to be laid. Some of our other girls helped move the wall along quicker by filling in the joints between the blocks. The brick mason told the leaders, the girls actually moved faster and were more efficient than the boys.
After dinner we all packed our Carnival items up and walked to the local community center to host a huge event that was free to everyone! We had a great turnout and the kids of young and old were excited to try their hand a "junk in the trunk", Nerf gun knock down, Flip Cup and several others. We even had some of our Abuelitos come out and try bowling! They were estactic when they knocked down all the pins for a STRIKE! Pastor Marlin lead a message that brought 13 boys and men to give their lives to the Lord! Paise God!!! We were seeing the "fruits" of our labors all day today!
Mr. Mack led the days wrap up, Pastor Matt gave our nightly devotion and we bid farewell to our new friends from Xela who left at 4am to return home.
Day 5
Once again we started our day with Pastor Luis for devotions and revealing our favorite verses with him. We spoke of the words in 1 Timothy 4:12, Let know no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers in example and speech , in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. We talked about the cultural differences between Guatemala and the US, how we should greet everyone we come in contact with and use manners to show love. The conversation made us all rethink how we act when we are at home vs when we are here.
After breakfast we boarded the bus to go UP the mountain to meet new friends. Our bus driver, Manuel carefully maneuvered us around the turns while we watched the lake get further away. I believe one of our leaders said we were 7000 feet above sea level. The drive up and down the mountain is NOT for the faint of heart and many of us popped a Dramamine before we left to not be sick along the way.
Our team arrived just an hour away and prepared for our Happy Tummies to arrive soon. All of our teams visited families in their home, sitting down talking to families, inquiring about their lives, sharing information about our team and praying with them before we left. Each team received a bag of food prepared by Impacto that included rice, dry beans, peanut butter, cooking oil, and eggs. Each family also received a bag from SMLCA of toiletries, a jar of Virginia Dinner peanuts, hard candy from The Homestead creamery and other goodies. These items were much needed and even more so appreciated. After lunch we jumped right in with the ladies helping to serve vitamins and lunch to the little ones. This group of littles spent time painting water bottles too as we gave them the Living Water message through our translators. Once the bottles were painted we moved outside to enjoy free time. The kids and their new teen friends ran around to get rid of some their energy. Our boys were amazed at the level of soccer talent some of the boys under 10 had while the little girls enjoyed being pushed by our teens and staff. When it was time to go our teens were sad to leave our new friends but many hugs were given and pictures were taken to recap the times.
Our SMLCA worship team was excited to lead the Wednesday night service with two songs: one in English and the other in both English and Spanish. They will did a wonderful job singing and playing for God!
Tomorrow we will prepare our last day with the Abuelitos and Happy Tummies with a lesson and crafts that will leave them with knowledge of how to Grow with the Lord.
Day 6 - Last Day in San Juan
Today is Thursday, our last day here at Impacto and with our Abuelitos and kids at Happy Tummies. Pastor Luiz spoke from 1 Corinthians 13:13, So now faith, hope and love abide, these three, but the greatest of these is love. This week we have given and received love in every aspect of our trip. We met with our Abuelitos where Tim shared a message about Growing In God's Word from 2 Peter 3:18, But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.
Our Abuelitos made flowers from sticks and cupcake holders while their teenage friends helped them along. Once again their creative side came out and many beautiful flowers were made! Our friend Zechariah played his guitar again and sang two of his own songs for us. You could feel his love as he serenaded the room.
Each of our four groups split up at some time today to make another home visit. The home visits are to a family or Abuelitos who come to the Impacto program. One of the visits was to a single mom of a young girl and when we arrived the girl was at school and her mom had been next door taking care of her sister who is sick. The sister Carmen, has three children, 28 years old and was diagnosed with Stage. 3 cancer back in October. This is just one of 16 families we have provided food for, gave local Virginia gifts, learned more about their family and prayed with.
Today we had shared a meal with our Happy Tummies friends for lunch. Abby and Parker spoke to them about Walking Worthy with God and then the girls were treated to foot baths, painted nails and hand massages! Before they left the girls were given dresses and each girl and boy left with a bag of toiletries, a jump rope, candy and a photo of their SMLCA friends. The guys stayed outside today and played water games that were supposed to mirror a carnival but when you give boys water guns everything gets crazy! They all had a fun time and most went home soaked!
We ended the night with a send off from the Impacto Team where they compiled pictures and videos from throughout the week of our time together. We celebrated Pastor Luiz and Rebecca's birthdays and spent a few minutes with Pastor Luiz's father who is 105. What a blessing to hear and see someone who has loved the lord for so long and raised such a generous man and family to start and run Impacto! The Impacto Team will be traveling to Africa in the coming months to look at starting a Spanish speaking Happy Tummies. With the help of a donation of $35 per month, they can feed one child, provide Christian learning, assist with homework and possibly change their lives forever! You can find more information at www.impactoministry.com.
Thank you to everyone at SMLCA, Eastlake Community Church, family and friends of our team to help us be the feet on the ground to minister and love on so many people this week.
Day 7 - Leaving Impacto
Today we packed our bags, loaded the bus, had our last devotion with Pastor Tony and boarded the boat to Panajachel! Today was the start of our last leg of our trip that will include learning more about Guatemalan history, zip lining at the Reserva Natural Atitlan and touring the Iximche Ruins.
Our team enjoyed a quick scenic boat ride from San Juan across Lake Atitlan to Panajachel where most of the team hiked to the top of the mountain and descended back down by way of eight cable zip lines. A first for the majority of the team to hike this far up and cable across the lake! Everyone enjoyed the views and used it as another bonding experience!
Tomorrow we will meet the bus and the rest of our bags to travel to Antigua where we will tour the city, and learn more about the history of such a beautiful place.
We depart on Monday at 2am to head back to Moneta. Please pray for our team to take all that we have witnessed this week and apply it to our lives when we get back home.
