Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”  – Romans 5:5

My name is Terry Cook, and this is the story of how I came to live and to serve in Guatemala.  My journey to Guatemala started as a vague shadow in 2014, when my daughter Jordan worked as a summer intern at a children’s home (Eagle’s Nest) in Guatemala, and she met two very special siblings, who had just arrived at Eagle’s Nest.  Ingrid and Erick both had cerebral palsy.  Erick captured my heart, as I heard his story and saw his pictures!

In December 2015, my husband Brian, daughter Jordan and I went to Guatemala to visit Eagle’s Nest.  All the love that had been building up in me gushed out in tears of joy when I saw Erick for the first time.  A dream had literally come true for me!

Jordan and I visited Eagle’s Nest again the following summer.  God was impressing in me that it was His love for Erick that was drawing me to love Erick so deeply.  I was thankful to be a vessel of that love!

Later, Erick and Ingrid returned home to their loving mother and older siblings.  The family was now more financially secure and able to care for them better. 

I was happy for the kids, but at the same time, my heart was broken and I honestly could not understand what God was doing.  Why had God given me this deep love and desire to be with Erick, if I couldn’t be with him?  All of my plans for future trips to see him were vanishing in thin air, like a vapor.

But the deep desire remained.  The desire to love, and to be a voice for the voiceless, and to be someone who remembers the forgotten ~ all the things I wanted to do and to be for Erick, I realized I still wanted to do and to be those things for other “Ericks”!

So my journey to Guatemala continued, as I sought for other ways to support children with special needs there.  I had heard about Hope for Home ministries, because Eagle’s Nest had received wheelchairs from them for Ingrid and Erick ~ wheelchairs that would fit them specifically.  (The ministry does many other things, besides helping provide wheelchairs!  Hope for Home now also operates 3 group homes for children with special needs, with a fourth children’s home opening soon, as well as operating one home for adults who have “graduated” out of the children’s homes.)

I followed Hope for Home and its director, Daryl Fulp, through Facebook, and when given another opportunity to visit Guatemala, my daughter and I went to visit Hope for Home.  (At that time they had 2 children’s homes open, both of which we visited.)  I fell in love with a little guy we will call Enrique (his name is being changed here to protect privacy).  

Enrique reminded me of Erick, although he was in a much more fragile state than Erick had been in.  He had lost his ability to eat, and was being fed through a tube, and his brain would forget to tell his lungs to breathe.  I had a few scares with Enrique during that visit, as he would stop breathing for periods of time.  He had not smiled for a couple of months, but while I was there I got to see a few smiles.  I believe Enrique was getting to see angels or maybe Jesus Himself ~ at least that was my prayer!

Enrique continued to persevere far longer than anyone had imagined his little body could last, even with repeated episodes of non-breathing.  One day he passed on to eternity and into Jesus’ arms.

Again, Enrique symbolized for me something God had planted deep in my heart.

But, for the next year, I still saw living in Guatemala as a “someday” dream.  I think we saw it as a bucket list item that we would do “after retirement”, which was still 5 to 10 years away, depending on the level of retirement we were aiming for.  But in early 2019, my husband Brian and I took part in a church sponsored marriage conference where the topic was “visioneering”.  It was a God-ordained opportunity for us to lay our dreams out on the table, and we asked each other and God, “Can we do this?”  And the answer was, “Why not?”  God was obviously tugging on our hearts in this area, and we chose to pursue it.

So, in July 2019, Brian and I visited Hope for Home ministry in Guatemala, with the intention of seeing if it would be a good fit for us to work there long-term.  While visiting, I met another special boy named Rey (name changed to protect his privacy), who once again tugged at my heart strings! 

We believed that God was saying, “Yes!”, so we applied to join their team, were accepted, and began the process of preparing for this big move!    Finally, we officially moved to Guatemala in 2020. (Covid restrictions gave us some bumps along the way, but we made it!)

Besides the residential homes and the wheelchair ministry which I have already mentioned, the ministry also serves in a variety of other areas, including a malnutrition center, a birthing center (now 2 clinics are open!), a community feeding program, formula and nutritional assistance to sponsored families and communities, and medical assistance.  And recently some new ministry team members have started a “finca” (small farm), and we have another young couple who eventually want to raise some livestock.

Brian plugs into the ministry through helping with driving, helping organize the warehouse of wheelchairs, and in whatever areas his help is needed.  I currently work with Home 1, and help with some of the feeding times, which keeps me connected to the little guys (including Rey) that I so enjoy!

I feel strongly that the spiritual growth I experienced through Visionwriters classes, and from Jaque Banas Shank, brought me to the place where I could recognize myself as a vessel, being filled with God’s love and I just needed to pour out what He put inside me.  It’s been such a process of reminding myself that it’s all really “Christ in me as me.”  This is not about Terry, but this is Jesus in Terry’s form!

We are all on a journey ~ a journey of faith.  It looks so different for each of Christ’s vessels, but it is always an opportunity to practice the obedience of faith.  I feel like I am still learning what this phrase actually means, but I think of it as “doing what you hear God tell you to do.”  We are simply responding to God’s voice ~ be it a loud shout, or a still, small whisper in the soul.  When I felt called to Guatemala ~ and to this special little boy ~ I just felt like I could not NOT go.  There was no decision involved.  It was merely moving towards what God had already placed in me!

This life journey is a continuing process of learning and growing.  And this wonderful foundation I’ve built on Christ and His Word, through Visionwriters International, is going to be a strong foundation for whatever He chooses to build upon it.  But I totally believe that VI was for ME “for such a time as this”!  Visionwriters truly helped me to write the vision that God was placing in my heart!

Terry Cook, Visionkeeper and Visionwriter