Students across campus are frequently experiencing ministry trips around the world. In this article, Business student Taylor Rauch shares one of her summer ministry trips.
“A month prior to my high school graduation, I received the opportunity to take part in a medical mission trip to Antigua, Guatemala. My mother is an RN, and I was invited to travel with Team 258 to document a life-changing trip through photography and a daily blog, as well as assist in translating for the local patients and staff. I have grown up going on mission trips, so this was far from my first. However, my heart was the most humbled in this trip as I was able to share the story of the patients through my eyes.
“In Guatemala, many of the impoverished find themselves situated in the jungle on the sides of the volcanoes. The hospital at which we worked and performed surgeries was also an orphanage for children who’s families could not provide the care that they needed, or by special needs children and adults that would not have been able to live in the mud huts and poverty of their families. Walking through the rooms of the orphanage was one of the most eye-opening experiences I have ever had. There were two rooms in particular that just broke my heart. The first was a room for malnourished infants, as well as many babies impacted with cleft lips and palettes. These children were looked down on by the culture, and at times were left at the orphanage because their family simply did not want them, or thought they inhibited a bad omen. In the next room, there were rows and rows of baby cribs, about 40 in all. Walking up and down the aisles, it became obvious that these were not babies. There were people ranging in five years of age to twenty
years of age, each nestled inside their own baby crib. So malnourished and unhealthy that even at the age of twenty, they were still able to fit in a crib. They were still children in means of their mind, but each of them were so happy to see us. It was uplifting to see the smiles spread across their faces as we walked down the aisles and interacted with them.
“This is something that has stuck with me, even nearly two years later. I hope to someday return to Guatemala and continue the work that is continually being done there. Faith in Practice was the group that I traveled with, and the hearts of the people involved and dedicating their life to these children and patients are the most compassionate hearts that I have ever met.
“The cultural differences between our group and the locals were immense and I was touched to see the gratefulness and respect with which the patients treated us. I learned a lot about different cultures and simply about the abundant gratefulness of others when you take the time out of your schedule to help. Trips like these can bear great impact on our lives, especially those who travel to help others.”
Article and pictures by Taylor Rauch














