Peace Lutheran has made several trips to Guatemala. Some of the trips have been School building trips that were organized by our own Mike Paddock who has been using his engineering skills for years to build bridges, schools and water projects in Guatemala, Honduras and Kenya. As a member of Engineers Without Borders he has led numerous area engineering students to use their skills to help people around the world. Besides building schools, we have also been blessed to work with other mission organizations in Guatemala to build relationships by teaching children, teens and adults about Jesus and making home visits to some of the very poorest in Guatemala.

In 2007 a team from Peace working alongside the men of the community, started a school in the remote town of El Durazno, Guatemala. The community finished the project over several months. The new beautiful brick school replaced a school that had a tarp roof and corrugated metal panels for walls. It was wonderful playing with the children and getting to know the adults of El Durazno.

In 2008 we sent a team to work with the Servants Heart mission. The group had a wonderful time both teaching and playing with the children. Many adults were also served at a mobile soup kitchen. It was humbling to be able to serve those who make their living by scavenging in the garbage dump for recyclables and other objects to sell, and for food to eat.

In 2009 two different teams from Peace went to another remote mountain village in Guatemala called Xol Pachaj to build another school. The first team started the school build in the spring and in the summer a group of college students from Peace went to the same site to help finish the project. As in the first school build, the teams worked alongside the people from the village.

In 2016 we sent another team to work alongside the missionaries of Groundwork Guatemala. The team taught faith lessons to hundreds of children, teens and adults. Sang songs in Spanish and did crafts with the children while bringing joy to all. They made many home visits to meet Guatemalans where they live and got a glimpse into their lives. They prayed with them and enjoyed the fellowship that only comes through Christ.