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| Missouri resident returns from life-changing trip to Central America
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Greg Bushman builds “Thrivent Builds with Habitat for Humanity” homes and meets adoptive son for first time during travel to Guatemala |
When Greg Bushman was selected to represent his colleagues from Thrivent Financial for Lutherans on a special home-building trip to Central America, he was certainly qualified and understandably excited. Bushman, a financial consultant serving Lutherans and their family members in Concordia and the surrounding region, demonstrated the necessary sales performance. He has also volunteered time toward the Thrivent Builds with Habitat for Humanity alliance in Missouri, assisting in the construction of some of the 8 Thrivent Builds Homes being built in his home state during 2007. Beyond all that, though, he was planning to adopt a son from Guatemala. Greg and his wife Risa expected to have adoptive son Daniel living with them in Missouri for a month or two before Greg’s September volunteer building opportunity to Guatemala, but delays in the adoption process kept Daniel from leaving his home country on schedule. The couple was told to wait a bit longer, so to lesson their impatience, the Bushmans planned a trip to Guatemala to meet their adoptive son in conjunction with Greg’s special volunteer trip. Bushman traveled in a team to Guatemala Sept. 8-16 to build homes with families in need, thanks to an alliance between Thrivent Financial for Lutherans and Habitat for Humanity International. This Thrivent Builds Worldwide trip was a reward for more than 30 Thrivent Financial for Lutherans representatives from across the nation. The team worked in the city of Panajachel with Habitat for Humanity Guatemala. The volunteers performed the heavy manual labor required to construct a home in Guatemala, including shoveling, sifting and carrying sand uphill to the home site, transporting and laying concrete blocks and tying rebar. The cinder block homes will be a much-improved living condition for the families who currently live in huts and crowded rented rooms, like the many in Guatemala in need of better housing. |
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“The family we were building with was thrilled at the prospect of living in the cinder block home with a tin roof and concrete floor, knowing that it would be a stark improvement over their current living conditions,” said Bushman. “The Guatemalan people are incredibly content with what we in the United States would consider so little. It was humbling to witness the joy of those living such a simple lifestyle.”
As the four homes were built, so were commitments to help alleviate poverty housing throughout the world. For Bushman, though, the growing relationships with the Guatemalan people went beyond the Habitat partner families. The week of building in Guatemala helped Greg strengthen his connection with his adoptive son, Daniel. “I know the Guatemalan Habitat partner families have no tie to Daniel other than being from the same country and ethnic background, but the building experience gave me an emotional tie to Guatemala that I could not have obtained in any other way,” said Bushman. “For me, personally, this was an opportunity to say ‘thank you’ to the people of Guatemala for giving me the opportunity to become a father.” After the week of volunteer building, Greg’s wife Risa arrived in Guatemala and the two of them finally had a chance to meet Daniel, the son they will soon be bringing to Concordia. “Our visit with Daniel can only be described as incredible and I could not have hoped for anything better,” said Bushman. “He readily came to Risa and me and had no concerns when the foster mother left him with us. He played with the toys we brought, he laughed and giggled, crawled all around the room and on the bed, pulled himself up to stand and could walk by holding on to your finger. We ventured out with Daniel the next morning by walking a few blocks to a nearby mall so we could purchase a stroller that the foster mother needed for him. While our visit with Daniel was short, it was still perfect and we hope to bring him home in the next couple of months.” Upon his arrival back in Concordia, Bushman reflected on his emotional experience in Guatemala. “I very much appreciate Thrivent Financial for providing me with the opportunity to participate in this Thrivent Builds with Habitat project. I am so proud to work for an organization that gives back not only to its members, but to people in need throughout the entire world. I truly believe that God has led me to the work that I do for Thrivent and the experiences that I have gained as an employee.” |
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