Each year God provides amazing individuals who want to come to El Faro to offer their time and gifts to serve the people of the communities. God continued to surprise of this year with volunteers who went far and beyond to build relationships, teach, and also approach their experience with open hearts to learn. Here are some of their adventures over the summer.

Bethany Van Trier Bethany came to El Faro earlier this year with a short-term missions trip and decided to return to use her gift of music to teach children in the villages. Bethany has a heart for children and was able to set up a singing camp to teach kids singing exercises and learn songs to be performed in a recital to family and friends. The daily classes that she gave for two weeks were a struggle at first with the kids being feisty and goofy, but Bethany quickly gained their respect and many of them looked for her out of class to visit with and be friends. The recital was a huge success and the family members of the children in the choir were taken aback by listening to their children perform songs that they learned in only two weeks. We are so thankful for Hannah and the love that she shared with so many. She also was able to visit the children’s hospital, youth group, and children’s bible club and also sang for a wedding at El Faro. Thank you Bethany for your kindness and stepping out of your comfort zone to be used by God.

Hannah Van Trier Hannah came to El Faro for the first time in 2013 with her high school. Hannah came to El Faro for the first time in 2013 with her high school. After beginning at the University of Pennsylvania she came to El Faro to serve in wherever she could be of help. This included being an assistant art teacher, youth leader, Bible Club volunteer, and a large mix of other things. Hannah was lovable and a joy to serve with. She was a willing participant in anything that we needed help with and she left a beautiful mark with her smile and presence.

Jon Keehn Jon is a youth leader who brought down youth from his church in January on a short-term mission trip. When he was out in the local villages with the group he noticed that a large portion of the men were not very active in their families and God began to break his heart about this. When he returned home to Illinois, he couldn’t stop thinking about the families in Punta de Palma and Santa Maria with non-existent or distant fathers. After praying for months, he made a one-month commitment to serve at El Faro. Being a natural youth leader, Jon helped with the Saturday youth group, Sunday Bible Club, and traveling with the team that goes every Monday to the Children’s Hospital in Puerto Barrios.

The Chinn Girls

Mary Chinn

Mary Chinn has been coming to El Faro for six years. Mary came down with a sewing machine and fabric to teach sewing basics to women in the village. On their first day at El Faro they trekked through the village to invite women to the workshop and on the first day three women were in the morning class and four in the afternoon. By the second day word spread and there were 9 women in the morning and seven in the afternoon. Women who had never touched a machine before were making aprons on the first day and by the end of their second and third day had already made shorts and dresses. Learning to sew is a huge blessing and the women were beaming with joy making finished pieces to take home and use. Mary is a wonderful and loving teacher and we hope that she can come back to continue the sewing project and help the women be able to use their new skill to help their families.

Amanda Secor Amanda is Mary’s daughter and has a huge heart for Guatemala and after visiting for the past two years has been wanting to return to serve. She has a beautiful project called Live 6:10 and makes jewelry out of paper to raise money for different projects around the world. During her time at El Faro she was able to teach girls how to make paper bracelets with paper she brought down. The girls went crazy and enjoyed not only making the bracelets, but also visiting with Amanda and encouraging each other. Towards the end of the week the girls were told to bring their own supplies from home so that they could understand that they could use material found anywhere to do the project. The girls brought different paper and cardboard pieces from their homes and made beautiful neck laces and bracelets. We hope this can be a project that the girls can continue and we are so thankful for Amanda and her love for the people.

Isabella and Carli Isabella (10) and Carli (8) were our youngest volunteers yet and were a blessing to so many. While many mothers were sewing, Isabella and Carli kept their children occupied with games, dolls, coloring books, and also holding babies! They were the best helpers and baby sitters with the limited Spanish and can’t wait to see where God leads them and their beautiful servant hearts.

The Jenista Family

This beautiful family have a heart for missions and came to El Faro for two weeks to serve. Janine had been to El Faro on medical missions trips while her husband Todd has visited El Faro with Champions In Action helping coach soccer to kids from Red Zones in Guatemala City. This time they were able to be at El Faro during the same time and also with their two children, Wesley and Sophia.