In 1999 three people came together. Dr. Gary Pitts, Sally DeWald, and Jeff France, didn't have much in common. They were from different worlds. Gary was a practicing physician. Sally was a homemaker. Jeff was a middle school assistant principal.
While in medical school, Gary had been part of a short term missions team to Guatemala. On the 1993 trip, he felt that he had a calling from the Lord that there was a job for him there. The only thing he had to do was be obedient and go. The country impacted his life so much that he continued to go with teams annually.
Sally had enjoyed being a missionary kid for 3 years in Guatemala City. One day at church, she discovered that there was a woman named Maria who was from Guatemala. Immediately, Sally wanted to meet her. As they spoke, Sally couldn't help but wonder how this Mayan woman had gotten from a primitive mountain village to Warsaw, Indiana. The answer came when Sally was introduced to Gary who helped bring Maria from Chiqua Segundo, Guatemala for treatment.
Gary wondered what Sally's interest was in Maria. As they spoke Gary discovered that Sally loved Guatemala and her experiences there. He asked, "Do you want to go back?" Without hesitation, Sally looked at him and said, emphatically, "Yes!" Sally traveled with the Indianapolis team and Gary. By the end of the trip, she made the same commitment that Gary had: Short term missions would always be a part of her life.
Sally wasn't the only one Gary talked to about Guatemala. One of the many places he spoke at was Lakeland Christian Academy. Caleb France was a junior in high school who heard the talk. Later that night, he came home fired up about the trip. His father, Jeff, had one question for Caleb and the question was "Can I go too?" He had always dreamed of going on a short term mission.
Jeff and Caleb packed their bags and
headed to Guatemala with Gary, Sally and nineteen other
strangers. The original plan was to travel with the
help of the Indianapolis team. The Warsaw team
had grown so large that Indianapolis couldn't
accommodate a team that large. The trip dates were
set, people had marked that week for their vacations and
moving the trip was an impossibility.
Gary talked with several other missionary organizations, but
no one was able to help with a team that big. Sally and Gary
talked at length, comparing their visions, the burdens the
Lord had laid on their hearts. They had been asked to
consider going to places other than Guatemala.
Their hearts were planted in Guatemala. They started listing
their resources and recognized that the Lord had
provided enough to go alone.
The first team from Warsaw set out on a trip of faith.
The original 23 couldn't have been more different.
There were doctors, nurses, homemakers, teachers, bikers,
Hindus, teenagers, believers, non-believers. The group
saw more patients, more salvations, and became such a
unified tool that it was certain God was working through
them. It was amazing to watch as He made the impossible trip
successful. It seemed that every little item not planned
for, every twist not foreseen, added to the trip because the
Lord had already worked out that particular detail in a way
that they couldn't have counted on or preplanned. It whetted
everyone's appetites for more of what the Lord had in store
for them.
On the ride home, Jeff and Gary had a discussion about
organizing. When that amazing troupe returned to the
States they didn't want to disband. Several asked how they
could stay together. After talking at length, they decided
to form an organization devoted to short term missions.
Three of the original group, Jeff France, Sally DeWald, and
Gary Pitts met and hammered out the overall structure. They
brought their plans to the rest of the group, it was
approved, and Hands of Hope International was born.
The Lord continued to bring amazing trips, amazing people,
and amazing circumstances, and the group simply evolved to
what it is today.
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