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Recap of my travels

Thank you for your prayers and support, especially for the past several months as I have been working in Central America for my role with Adventures in Missions. It has been a great time to depend on God and trust him in the constant travel, planning and ministry.

I am currently in the States, but am still in the middle of my work in Central America and have two months left on the field as I travel to Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Guatemala and Honduras. It has been challenging but rewarding. Travelling in Central America has allowed me to get to know the ministry contacts that Adventures in Missions partners with as well as participate in ministry as a project leader for week-long missions trips.

As my fundraising goal approaches, I still need to raise $2,823 before September 30th. Donations are tax-deductible and will help me to continue serving in my role at Adventures in Missions as I connect over 500 participants to over 100 ministries in Central America. If you feel led to partner in my work through a financial donation, you may do so through the following methods:

  1. Online at adventures.org/give and clicking on staff and writing “Stephanie Ransom

  2. Mailing a check payable to Adventures in Missions with “Stephanie Ransom” in the memo line to:

Adventures in Missions

P.O. Box 742570

Atlanta, GA 30374-2570

 

The youth missions team I led last month in Guatemala

Here is a recap of the first few months of my time in Central America:

March 2016

My first week in Guatemala was spent with a World Race squad during their Parent Vision Trip. This is a week where parents reunite with their kids who are on an 11-month mission trip. There were over 100 participants working in a small village called Xenago Santo Domingo at a wheelchair factory, visiting widows and a school. The next two weeks I spent setting up ministry for teams and taking Spanish classes.

Parent Vision Trip in Xenaco, Santo Domingo and my daily commute to Spanish school

 

April 2016

In April I led a trip in Belmopan Belize.

To get to Belmopan, I took a shuttle to Guatemala City from Antigua, shopped at the Guatemalan equivalent of Sam’s Club for a week’s worth of groceries for the team, visited with ministry contacts in the city and then took an overnight bus to Flores in northern Guatemala. I arrived around 5 am and heard a shuttle driver calling out the name of the next town I needed to go to, San Andres. I hauled my groceries and belongings into the van and rode to this very small town in the Peten jungle. I was instructed to wait for a bus across from a municipal building so I waited… Then someone pointed to a little bus, telling me that was it. So I got on. A few minutes later I saw tiki hut classrooms and knew I had made it to the ministry, Hearts in Action. I spent the day with a missionary there who has been there for over 13 years, teaching kids and facilitating a sponsorship program. The ministry provides education to over 200 children in the jungle, equipping them for quality jobs and offering the hope of the gospel.

I then traveled back to Flores and stayed the night at a hostel on an island in the lake. The next morning I took a shuttle to Belmopan, Belize and met up with the ministry where the short-term team would work. I spent the first couple days getting to know the ministry contact and learning about what we would be partnering with that week. 

During the week, the team ran a vacation Bible school for preschool-aged kids in the community and helped cook and clean at a ministry which provides lunches to kids who might not otherwise have any food during the day. We also helped run two community events where we showed movies, did skits and spoke. For our off time we visited Mayan ruins and went tubing in caves. 

After about 20-hours of bus travel and a 1-hour shuttle, I was back in Antigua just in time to give a safety and security briefing to a World Race Squad. The next day I traveled to Chichicastenango, Guatemala with one of the teams to a ministry contact who was receiving their first World Race team. The days I spent with the ministry were great. The team taught english through the Bible to public schools in the area and led Bible studies with the tourism police as well as sports ministry.

Short-term team serving in Belmopan, Belize

World Race team I served with in Chichicastenango

May 2016

In May I visited home for a few days. To be honest, the constant travel had made me tired, and I found a cheap plane ticket and bus home to Georgia where I was able to visit friends and my fiance. It was very nice to re-energize for a few days. When I returned to Guatemala, I stayed with a ministry contact in Antigua and then traveled with a World Race squad to El Salvador where I met with contacts in El Tunco and San Salvador. I then traveled back to Antigua where I spent a couple weeks setting up ministry for teams and preparing for the short-term teams I would be leading.

The last week of May, my home church came to Antigua on a short-term mission trip. My now fiance Joshua had signed up for the trip when our church announced it, before even knowing where he would be going. The second day of the mission trip was the fun day, and we planned to visit a coffee farm. Before we left, he proposed. That night we joined my church team for worship and outreach with a Guatemalan church. Josh and I went with my friend who is a translator and a couple members of the Guatemalan church. It was great to do ministry with him that day! The next day I joined the team again to pray for people in Antigua and visit an elderly home. Josh and I spent the time at the elderly home talking with one of the residents and hearing his stories. The remainder of the week I concentrated on ministry set up.

 

Joshua’s visit in Antigua

June 2016

The following week I led a team in Antigua as we partnered with a ministry called Nueva Generacion which focuses on reaching, discipling and sending youth in Guatemala. We visited orphanages, schools and an elderly home throughout the week. I stayed the majority of my time at this ministry while in Guatemala, and it was great to get to know the ministry contacts Luis and Mirella and work with them. The team I led was amazing!

The following two weeks were spent on administrative tasks and ministry set up. My role with Adventures in Missions is setting up ministry for teams across seven different programs throughout Central America, and so it was great to have some time to catch up on ministry planning for the upcoming months.

The last week of June, I went to Guatemala City to lead a short-term youth team with YWAM. This was another awesome group. I had never done youth ministry before, and was unsure or how I would do. However, this group was very easy to connect with. This was one of my favorite weeks for teaching on listening prayer. This team was encouraging to me. During the week, YWAM facilitated a mini-training camp where we learned about sharing testimonies, learned skits, prepared crafts and completed an team-building obstacle course. During the week, the team split up into two groups, soccer ministry with skits and children’s ministry. The team focused on intercession for the nation of Guatemala, went door-to-door to share testimonies and distribute Bibles and pray for an impoverished community, and used what they learned the first day to minister at an orphanage, a day care and different communities in Guatemala City.

 

 

July 2016

After the youth team, I was able to come home for six weeks. I am now working ahead on ministry set up for the second half of my trip and preparing for my wedding. This past week has been exciting and Joshua and I have found a house to rent! I will live there until I travel back to Central America and then Joshua will move in while I am gone. We are excited about getting our new home ready!

August-October 2016

Next month I will fly out to Nicaragua to lead one more short-term mission trip for 9 days in northern Nicaragua. After that I will spend a week in Costa Rica meeting with ministry contacts. In September I will host an appreciation retreat for ministry contacts in Guatemala and then travel to visit ministry contacts in Honduras. It will be two months full of travel, but I believe it will result in better partnerships with ministries in Central America and more effective ministry set up for many teams we send through Central America.

Future Plans

After I return from the second half of my time in Central America, I plan to continue in my role at Adventures in Missions, working primarily at the headquarters in Georgia. The time on the field in Central America has been a great help in understanding my region and establishing relationships with the ministries we send missions teams to.

Thank you again for your continued prayers and support!