If you have time, please be sure to watch the video at the end. 🙂

When I told my 10 year old son that we were going on a Mission Trip to Guatemala with Faith Project International, he immediately shot off 3 questions in quick succession:

1)  Is it cold there?

2) What kind of food will I have to eat?

3)  Will I be able to take my Nintendo?

I knew right then that I had made the right choice.  I let him know, that it was not cold there, the food would be tasty and that he would not be able to take his Nintendo.  He pouted and fretted some, but as we got closer to the trip his curiosity and sense for adventure got the best of him.

He still asked as we were getting to leave the house, are you sure I can’t take my Nintendo?

Upon arriving in Guatemala, it was apparent to me that he was literally shocked by all he took in on the bus ride to the Mission House and I could literally see his heart melt as he realized, this is not about me and my Nintendo anymore, there is a big world out here and I am just one “Little Boy” who lives a very blessed life back home.

The transformation continued throughout the week and he jumped in to help wherever he could.  He had a ‘”Big Mission”, he had to learn how to build a brick stove, literally from the ground up and he did.  He learned how to mix the dirt with the water and cement to make the base, how to place the adobe base bricks to provide a strong base, how to soak the red bricks before mortaring them in and how to properly place the ventilation system through the roof.

He listening intently while the stove and family was blessed by Brad Cowherd Owner of Faith Project International and also Infusion Tea in College Park, along with his wife Christina.  He learned that this stove would help the Mayan Family by saving them money, as this stove burned wood much more efficiently and that it would help prevent the myriad of illnesses that routinely plagued the people due to the pollution and particulate matter that was ingested and stuck in their eyes from the smoke from cooking over their traditional fires indoors, even with their ventilation systems, a hole in the ceiling or wall.  He learned that it also helped our planet, as the rapid deforestation that is occurring there also affected the United States and the rest of the world as well.

My son felt really good about what he was doing there, but more importantly, he came home, changed, from the inside out…he wanted to do more for the people there, especially, for his friend, Juane, who he had connected with there, through playing soccer.  My “Young Man”, came home and started a (very) small business, with my help and encouragement, and now gives back 50% of his profit to Faith Project International, through https://www.etsy.com/shop/EriksGarden/about/.  He also earns all his own money to buy his own electronics and does not cling so tightly to his Nintendo. 🙂

One Blessed Mama with a Young Man,  Mission Accomplished

Mom and Son Mission Trip through Faith Project International to build stoves for the Mayan People.