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Featured Story

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Sharing Faith, Friendship and Opportunity

A woman smiles while hugging a young boy in front of a green wall. The boy looks off to the side, and the woman wears a T-shirt with a cartoon character. Both appear content. For more than two decades, Heritage Christian Services has shared a partnership in Guatemala grounded in faith, friendship and a belief in the dignity of every person.

The connection began in 2001, when the first volunteers traveled to Guatemala through Heritage Christian Services’ International Ministries program.

Through the agency’s long-standing partnership with Bethel Ministries International, teams return each year to expand opportunity and belonging for people with disabilities. Since beginning, Heritage Christian volunteers have built 17 homes, distributed roughly 600 wheelchairs and have served more than 3,400 people through camps and related programs.

A smiling man with glasses sits beside a young girl in a wheelchair. They are indoors at a table. The text says he is Wade Blackman, a long-term volunteer in Guatemala and an LPN at Heritage Christian Services.

Our trips in 2025 included building homes, distributing mobility equipment and supporting three weeklong camps welcoming children, teens and adults of all abilities. During that trip, volunteers supported the distribution of wheelchairs, walkers, canes and crutches that offered greater mobility and independence to 80 people.

Two children, one in a wheelchair, smile and pose together outside at a camp. The girl hugs the boy, and both wear warm clothes and hats. Other people and buildings are visible in the background.

The camps are filled with simple moments that grow into lasting connections, including daily activities, games, worship and shared meals, creating space for laughter, confidence and belonging. The volunteers who participate represent a wide range of roles across Heritage Christian Services, and each brings home experiences that deepen their connection to the mission and influence their daily work.

For Matt Smeltzer, success coach, one of those connections began at a drawing table when Edgar, an aspiring artist who had lost his hands in a fire, joined him to sketch.

“It was really empowering for him,” Smeltzer said. “He saw that someone believed in him and that he had a real talent he could develop.”

Joan Levato, associate director of quality advancement, experienced a similar moment with a man named Gudy. One evening, Levato paused to pray with a mother. “Gudy came right up next to her and put his hand on her, and his other hand on her son,” Levato recalled. “It was just a beautiful moment.”

Three women volunteers, smiling and holding masonry trowels, pose together at a construction site. They wear work gloves and casual clothes, with building materials visible in the background.

Joe Starling, a faith community inclusion specialist, has traveled to Guatemala more than 16 times and continues to be moved by the spirit of collaboration that defines each visit.

“It’s hard work,” he said, “but it’s amazing how everybody gets together to become one team.”

For the people who gather each year in Guatemala, those connections remain at the heart of it all.

To read our full 2026 Spring Spirit Newsletter, click here.