“It’s been a struggle,” says Pilar Castro, leader of OM Guatemala, “But a blessing at the same time.” Castro and her team completed a medical outreach in an area where most of the locals are returnees: people who fled to Mexico during the peak of Guatemala’s civil war and returned during the peace negotiations in 1995. For over a decade, they lived as refugees, forced to leave their country during the bloody fight. Refugee families set up camps in natural reserve areas, only to be evicted by police. According to some witnesses, the police acted violently towards these families and used firearms. Many families left, but 21 stayed in their huts.

These families have nothing, so when the medical team came through, they brought food for each family. “All our cars were full,” says Castro, “so I asked the police officers escorting us to take us to the families with the bags. At that time, I didn’t know about the eviction story.” Seeing police, the camp residents were paralyzed by fear. A pastor tried to explain that these policemen were good ones. “I saw the face of every person,” said Castro. “There was pain and anger.”

She continued, “God placed something in my heart at that moment. I felt like the policemen needed to ask forgiveness for what their co-workers in the police had done to these families.” One policeman had laughed days earlier when Castro shared the gospel with him. But there in the village, he stepped forward to hear the hurts of a local woman and offer apologies for his fellow policemen. The two cried together and he spoke to the woman about God.

For the three policemen escorting the team were deeply impacted. “At the end,” says Castro, “they were very impressed by everything they had seen. They were glad to have participated with us. And they were happy with the way they had been treated by the team. They have learned a different way to do their job: under the guidance of God.”