Unforgettable
Bailey Riva’s passport may have been stamped for La Aurora International Airport in Guatemala City, but for the Worthington Christian seventh grader, last summer’s mission trip to Guatemala was about much more than a destination.
Bailey joined her father Andy, her grandmother Mary Riva, and her uncle Matthew Riva as part of a 12-person contingent from St. Louis’ Crosspoint Church that spent June 6-13 in Joyabaj and Antigua, Guatemala.
“It was my first trip outside of the country,” she said. “My dad had gone on two mission trips there, but I didn’t know anything about Guatemala. It opened my eyes to see how much we have, and I have a much closer relationship with God (now than I did before).”
Joyabaj is located in the Sierra de Chuacús mountains, approximately 30 miles from Santa Cruz del Quiché. While the textile industry is gaining ground and the area is considered an important transportation hub, its economy relies on corn and coffee crops.
According to globalpopulations.com, 70 percent of the area’s population lives below the national poverty line. Guatemala ranks among the highest in the world for malnutrition, with 80 percent of indigenous families experiencing food deprivation.
While those statistics paint a grim picture of the area, they only tell half the story. The living conditions made a lasting imprint on Riva, but so did the joyfulness of the people who lived there.
“Most of the people lived in poorly built wooden houses or tin lean-to houses with dirt floors,” she said. “We had to hike down these steep, rocky trails to reach them. Kids walked up and down these hills each day just to get to school.
“But the thing I remember the most was the kindness of the people. We would drive past them in the truck, and they would wave at us. It was overwhelming to see these kids come and hug you. I don’t think we’d do that here.”
The trip made Riva look at little things differently. Crosspoint prayed with families and handed out food, soccer balls, and frisbees at Ray of Hope, a clinic in the mountains of Joyabaj.
“One of the hardest things was realizing all the stuff we have versus what they have,” Riva said. “You see frisbees in the trash all the time in parks here. They had a blast with them. It was cool to see how much they appreciate the simple things. I think we need to do that sometimes, too.”
Another powerful moment was visiting a widow’s village in Guatemala, where Riva not only shared her testimony but put it into practice. She and another teenager dug a three-foot-deep trench to lay the groundwork for what would become a wall.
“That was really fun,” she said. “I like being able to do actual work.”
The group was able to work through the potential pothole of a language barrier. While 93 percent of Guatemalans speak Spanish, most of the people of Joyabaj speak K’iche’, an indigenous language. Often, members of the missionary group used body language and hand signals to communicate or simple sentences to talk with them through translators.
Crosspoint members also spent time with Bill Vasey, a missionary who translated the Bible into K’iche’.
“He shared a lot of stories with us around a campfire,” Riva said. “He talked about when he first came there with his wife and kids, how difficult it was to adjust. However, he met up with a friend who helped him translate the Bible.”
The trip not only gave the middle school student a look into Guatemala but also provided her with a better understanding of her family.
“It was good to connect with them in a different way,” she said. “My grandmother lives in St. Louis, so I don’t get to see her much. But we stayed in the same room, prayed together, and I got to see her love for Jesus in a way I hadn’t experienced before.”