Not the normal mission trip.
That’s how Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Jarrett Hall describes the trips Plant City’s Church on the Rock takes annually to Guatemala.
This year, Church on the Rock will be in Guatemala from Saturday, July 16, to Friday, July 22. On these trips, church members assemble one house for a single mother and her child, work with the children and elderly and share their faith with the citizens of Guatemala.
But it’s not just church members who attend the trip. Officers from the Plant City and Tampa Police departments, the Florida Highway Patrol and the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office also hop on the plane to Guatemala.
The officers provide defensive tactics and training to the Guatemalan National Police, along with Bible study classes.
For Church on the Rock pastor Jeff Howell, the annual trip is a way to provide necessary training while sharing his faith.
“I’m about the work of the Lord,” Howell, who has been the chaplain for the Plant City Police Department for 17 years, said. “That is why we are there. That is the driving force.”
A New Kind of Mentorship
Howell’s first trip to Guatemala, a country of over 15 million people, was in 2010. After meeting the chaplains for the Guatemalan National Police, he saw the police force’s poor living quarters.
“On site in the barracks, there are very crude living conditions,” Howell said. “We got involved in cleaning. We cleaned toilets and built shower stalls, trying to improve their living condition.”
The mission has expanded since then to include training for the Guatemalan National Police. Typically, the members of that police force don’t receive further training or refresher courses after they have graduated from the police academy.
During the mission trip, the Guatemalan officers are trained in the morning on defensive tactics and active shooter training. At the end of the day, they participate in a spiritual component or attend Bible study.
Hall, who has been a deputy with HCSO since 2011, met Howell in 2013. He’s been attending the trips to Guatemala every year since.
“We train them on defensive tactics, such as putting them in handcuffs,” Hall said. “In 2014 … we brought in airsoft pistols to train them on.”
As the years progressed, so did the amount of training the officers received. While most of the training takes place in Antigua, Florida law enforcement officers were also able to provide training in Escuintla, a town of about 68,000, and Panajachel, a town of about 15,000.
“It’s pretty interesting,” Hall said. “I see different faces every year. We’re looking forward to going down. We’re very fortunate in the United States that we push that law enforcement needs to be well trained.”
This year, six officers, including Howell and Hall, are going from law enforcement agencies. The church funds one-third of the travel costs for the first four officers who sign up for the trip. The rest the officers pay for it out of pocket and use their own vacation time.
“I’ve seen it do such good work in the officers we take as well,” Howell said.
Officers who receive training — often over 150 officers per year — receive a new Bible and are invited to a catered breakfast at the end of the week of training.
“We go for two reasons, or at least I do,” Hall said. “It’s a great opportunity for them. They are limited in their resources. And the second reason is the eternal impact … these people are going through the same stuff I am, just in a different language.”
Howell agreed.
“I love to invest for the kingdom,” he said. “I just have a deep gratitude. I’m thankful for the Lord for allowing me to build these relationships.”
Contact Emily Topper at etopper@plantcityobserver.com.