Mission trip turns into race to build wells in Guatemala

Hunter Smith didn’t plan to get sick in Guatemala last year – he just signed on with Thomas Road Baptist Church’s youth group to do a week’s worth of missions work, including the dedication of a few wells constructed to bring badly needed drinking water to small villages.

Hunter didn’t expect that he’d come back with a mission to coordinate a 5K race to raise money for more wells in the same country.

Smith said he can’t trace the specific origin of the idea, but he was given a frightening opportunity to empathize with the people for whom a decent water supply is such an elusive commodity.

Smith left for Guatemala late in July on a mission trip coordinated with Forest-based World Help and the related Causelife ministry, which focuses on creating wells in impoverished areas.

“We were able to dedicate like five wells, build two houses; we painted a school, we handed out Christmas for an Orphan Boxes … we worked at an elderly care center,” said 16-year-old Hunter, who lives in Forest.

But only a few days into the trip, he came down with some kind of stomach illness. That mild bout didn’t last, but on Sunday morning, the day the group was set to return, Hunter called his family as they were about to go to church.

“He really just sounded like he was dying. He couldn't breathe, he said because of the pain in his stomach,” said Hunter’s mother, Bonnie Smith.

“We just prayed at that point, and then we went on to church.”

Bonnie Smith said her husband, Randall,  had a valid passport and was ready to fly to Guatemala if needed. But the church’s youth pastor assured them someone would stay behind if Hunter didn’t make the flight.

Hunter made it back after a stay in a Guatemalan hospital. His disease never was diagnosed, though salmonella was mentioned as a possibility.

Hunter said it’s a real possibility that his illness was prompted by the same root cause of many deaths in Third World countries, especially for children.

 “Not all the water we were exposed to was purified,” he said.

“We drank bottled water, but the shower water and sink water and stuff, that wasn’t purified.”

He said his experience has given a new meaning to something that so many take for granted.

“Often, I don’t think we think about how much of a blessing it is to just have clean water available to us, pretty much everywhere,” he said.

“You’ve got tap water, water fountains … you can go into a restaurant and get a free cup of ice water.”

Residents of the villages he visited in Guatemala have a polluted river as a water source.

 “That water source was extremely dirty, and they were cooking with it, bathing, drinking it,” he said.

“It’s not right for people to have to drink that.”

With that in mind, Hunter’s 5K race plans began to take shape just a few weeks after he returned.

Through Causelife, one shallow-water well costs $5,000, and Hunter said that was his original goal.

With a good outpouring of support so far, though, he said he might stretch his goal to two wells.

“It’s definitely taking a lot of faith to do something like this. I’ve never seen five thousand dollars in my life,” he said.

The race is planned for March 31, on Liberty University’s campus.

Registration is $20 per person, and Hunter said he hopes to have a turnout of from 400 to 600 people.

“I want to be able to provide at least one village in Guatemala with the means to be able to do that, just go draw some clean water,” he said.

“I think that getting sick, I was kind of able to feel a little bit of what it’s like for people down there.”

His mother said the family is impressed by Hunter’s faith and what he’s been able to accomplish so far.

 “We’re very pleased with what he’s been doing,” she said. “He’s been doing a lot of legwork ... (he) just got his driver’s license in December.”

The first few solo excursions behind the wheel were related to the money-raising efforts.

 “It’s just been really cool to see God bring in money for this,” Hunter said.

“I’ve always seen Him as providing. So I don’t know if (my view) has really changed a lot — I’ve just been able to more consistently see it.”