Maggie was 13 years old when dear friends asked her to join them on a mission trip to Guatemala with their church. Our family had a Compassion child and a World Vision child on our refrigerator that we had prayed for many years, but letting my little one get on a plane and fly to Guatemala felt really scary to me.

After praying about it I decided to let her go but I’d go too. And then my oldest daughter wanted to go also! So we left Dad and the boys home in Atlanta, and we embarked on a week that was to change all of our lives forever! That was 2011. The next year the boys wanted to join us. Now we’ve been to Casa 7 times and have fallen in love with Mike and Dottie, the staff, and most of all the beautiful children.

We have taught Ballet lessons, put in tile, led Bible Studies, Art Projects, rocked babies, helped with meals, sponsored movie nights, painted dorms, dressed up like Elsa and taken photos with kids, taken a group to the zoo,… and prayed for God’s provision and protection over Casa. We’ve come with groups as big as 42 and we’ve come just our family of 6. We always feel welcome and the children remember us by name and we remember them by name as we pray for them and support them throughout the year.

Casa has blessed thousands of children in beautiful Guatemala for 30 years, but I can say that my family has grown in our love for the Lord and all His children because of our time at Casa. We have been blessed!