'Until we were strangers no more... '

Emmie Thomas was a stranger in a foreign land that night in 2008 when she first arrived in Guatemala.

She felt every minute pass with uncertainty — from stepping off the plane into a busy Guatemala City Airport with 19 teenagers in tow, to being jostled on a bus through crowded towns and around harrowing turns as the sun sank behind distant volcanos, to finally arriving at Unbound’s offices in San Lucas Tolimán.

She had done all the research and planning. She had talked to others who had experienced the successes and failures of chaperoning large groups abroad. Still, the fear of the unknown had been heavy on her mind as she led her church’s youth group on their first Unbound Awareness Trip to Guatemala.

But by the time Emmie’s head found her pillow that night, she felt like her heart had begun to sing with joy. She thought to herself, “This is amazing, Unbound staff are incredible, and we can do this! It’s safe and loving here. We can take people out of their bubble and connect them to others in Guatemala. This is what we’re going to do!”

Over the course of their more than 15-year partnership with Unbound, that’s exactly what the congregation of Woodmont Christian Church has done, sponsoring an estimated 450 children and elders and funding homes for over 75 families in Unbound’s Guatemala program. Throughout 11 total awareness trips abroad, they’ve embraced Unbound’s mission as if it were their own, learning how to walk alongside and listen to families living in poverty.

Relationships, however, have been at the heart of the greatest impact to their congregation. Relationships have changed hearts and minds and connected church members in unexpected ways to their faith, to the Unbound community and to each other.

A church 'inspiring courage for this life'

Woodmont Christian Church is in the heart of Nashville, Tennessee, in a community located less than a mile from the Music City’s legendary Bluebird Café. A diverse congregation of 2,500 members, Woodmont was founded in 1943 as a missional church and dedicates more than 22% of its budget each year to support nonprofit organizations in and outside of Nashville.

The church has a large and enthusiastically engaged youth group. It was there that the relationship between Woodmont and Unbound, described as “like the planting of a mustard seed,” took root and began to grow, beginning with a 13-year-old member’s simple act of kindness.

In 2004, Emmie’s daughter Ellen, then 13, approached her mother about child sponsorship. The teenager was determined to use some of her own money to support a child in a developing country.

Using sites like Charity Navigator and Guidestar, Emmie researched trustworthy international sponsorship organizations online and discovered Unbound, then known as Christian Foundation for Children and Aging (CFCA).

The Thomas’ sponsored their first child. A few years later, having found the experience to be meaningful, they brought the idea to Woodmont’s youth group leader about collectively sponsoring a youth from another country, similar in age, with whom the group could build a relationship.

“We thought this was a way for the youth to step into missions and that maybe, someday, we could all go visit,” said Emmie, who believes the teen years are pivotal times for a youth to grow in understanding of issues like global poverty. “The whole reason for sponsorship was to allow them to learn how to be good stewards in this world.”

Using their own funds, the youth group began sponsoring a young man from Unbound’s Guatemala program. He would be the first sponsored friend they would meet in person.

Their experiences laid the groundwork for a unique partnership that blossomed into a sustainable and meaningful relationship between their whole church and Unbound.

An organization committed to partnering with all people of goodwill

Founded by lay Catholics in 1981, Unbound is rooted in Catholic social teaching to put the needs of the vulnerable first.

Since the founding of Unbound’s Catholic outreach program in 1991, more than 130 priests have served Unbound, preaching on the organization’s behalf about sponsorship at parishes across the U.S.

But Unbound has always endeavored to build relationships between all people of goodwill and families who live in poverty, bridging cultural, religious and economic divides.

Unbound’s Ecumenical and Interfaith Development Manager Diana Loera has been with the organization for a decade and is dedicated specifically to building bridges between Unbound and other Christian denominations and faith groups.

“Partnering with Unbound to walk with the poor and marginalized of the world allows members of a church community to answer the Gospel call to serve the poor, to put their faith in action and to embrace the global Church,” Loera said. “Our founders’ vision has always been to invite all people of goodwill to partner with families, to encourage and empower them.”

Loera reaches out to local pastors and ministers at churches of any denomination and those considered non-denominational as well, to invite them to visit Unbound’s Experience Center in Kansas City, to begin the conversation about introducing their church communities to Unbound.

In addition, Unbound has more than 35 years of experience hosting group awareness trips abroad for sponsors, staff, priests and faith groups. Unbound Awareness Trips give supporters the opportunity to see firsthand the organization’s programs in action. For faith groups, Loera said, an awareness trip has the potential to deepen their faith in God and humanity while changing their worldview.

This was the kind of experience Emmie was dreaming of for Woodmont’s youth group when she reached out to Unbound over 15 years ago.

“We really didn’t know how to organize international missions at the time,” Emmie said. “There were no photos or information online about group trips. It was a leap of faith.”

Emmie connected with Karen Allemang, now Unbound’s development director and, with encouragement from Unbound’s late co-founder Bob Hentzen, Woodmont Christian Church became the first non-Catholic church group to travel with Unbound in 2008.

Experiences that alter perspectives

The youth group’s first trip to Guatemala was so impactful that their excitement had a ripple effect with other members of the congregation. In total now, Woodmont has taken 11 group trips abroad with Unbound — five youth group trips, five trips for adult congregation members and, most recently, a special trip for families. Woodmont already has two additional awareness trips planned for 2025.

During the trips, which can take Unbound staff anywhere from six to 10 months to organize, group members receive a daily agenda that includes visiting different communities throughout Unbound Guatemala’s programs, learning about the culture, meeting and hearing the testimonies of families within the program and taking part in hands-on activities. Unbound Guatemala provides spaces where the group can come together to pray, reflect and worship.

Many group members get the chance to meet their sponsored friend or find a new friend to sponsor. Such was the case for Hallie, the 14-year-old daughter of Woodmont’s director of missions Jerry Johnson. The Johnsons currently sponsor four individuals through Unbound, including a 5-year-old girl that Hallie bonded with during the family awareness trip in March 2024.

Seven Woodmont families took the family awareness trip with children ranging in age from 7 to 17. Johnson, who has taken three Unbound trips abroad with Woodmont, said the family trip impacted the group members in different ways compared to other trips. At the end of each day, the group gathered to pray, sing and reflect on what they had experienced and learned.

“The stories we brought back to the congregation were extraordinary,” Johnson said. “It was eye opening for the younger children who went to experience a different lifestyle, to see other children in Guatemala who live so simply but are so happy.”

Johnson has met all his family’s sponsored individuals in person and thinks of them as family.

“That’s what happens over time — it becomes like family members of ours in Guatemala,” said Johnson. “We’re all shy at first, and there’s a language barrier, but we eat together, play board games and dance.”

According to Johnson, Woodmont has experienced growth in new, young families over recent years, and the church is always looking for things for families to experience together. As Woodmont’s director of missions, he sees the partnership between the church and Unbound as a blueprint for how successful, sustainable ministries can grow and evolve.

“Mission and ministry are at the absolute foundation of what Woodmont does,” Johnson said. “The desire to take care of the poor, the homeless, the hungry, the children — that’s the part of Christianity that I’m most attracted to. We love that we get to meet those we sponsor through Unbound. That personal, human connection makes a big difference.”

Woodmont Senior Minister Clay Stauffer took the family trip with his wife and three children. Stauffer’s son Wade, who was 7 at the time, was the youngest child on the trip. Stauffer said the trip was a great bonding and spiritual experience for his whole family.

“None of us came back the same way that we went because of what we saw, because of what we experienced and because of the bonds that we have with those families,” said Stauffer about the 31 members of his congregation who went on the family trip.

Unbound’s Allemang said that over the 15 years she’s supported the partnership with Woodmont, she’s been impressed with the congregation’s desire to reach out with love and respect to those in need.

“Their ministries were already focused on people first and outreach [based on] listening,” said Allemang. “But with and through Unbound, they really are walking with our families, giving encouragement, but also receiving wisdom and learning about themselves from the experience. That’s why I think it’s a beautiful partnership.”

From the March family trip, 18 additional individuals from Unbound’s Guatemala program were sponsored by members of Woodmont’s congregation. It’s currently estimated that 450 individuals from Unbound’s programs are sponsored by members of Woodmont.

But sponsorships are not the only way Woodmont Christian Church is bringing hope and light to families in Unbound’s Guatemala program. As the partnership with Unbound evolved over the years, the congregation began listening directly to the families in need and responding with sustainable solutions.

Building homes and generational change

One of the greatest needs of families in Unbound’s Guatemala program is safe and secure housing.

Emmie and other members of Woodmont learned this during their 2011 youth group awareness trip when they asked Unbound Guatemala Program Coordinator Francisco “Chico” Chavajay if there was more they could do beyond sponsorship.

“Chico said housing was the greatest need,” Emmie said. “Housing provides such generational change, and we had already seen some of the families’ examples of housing — mud floors, walls made of corn stalks, tarps and tin for roofs — we’d heard their stories, and we said, ‘We’re going to figure out how to do this.’”

When the youth group returned from the trip, they began fundraising to support the construction of homes in Guatemala; they had bake sales and sold pumpkins during the fall. Their enthusiasm made such an impact on those around them that others in the congregation got involved.

Johnson remembers an experience that solidified for him the importance of their homebuilding efforts in Guatemala. During one of his first awareness trips, he met a young woman who was widowed with an infant and a toddler, living inside a shelter carved out of tin.

“I walked out of there hurting, and I said, ‘We can’t let her continue living like this,’” Johnson said. “To know that just such a small amount of money can take someone from basically living in tin and thatch that blows over or leaks when there’s a storm or is muddy inside half the year, to know that you can build them a concrete home — oh, what a difference it makes in their lives.”

Woodmont’s youth group kicked off the effort by raising funds for four homes for Unbound’s families in Guatemala. Since 2011, Woodmont Christion Church has funded the construction of 75 homes in Guatemala. In 2023 alone, Woodmont supporters gave $70,000 for homebuilding.

According to Chavajay, currently, the cost to build a standard three-bedroom cinderblock and brick home in Guatemala is $5,500. Unbound Guatemala staff identify families in most need of housing in the program, make a cash transfer to the identified family’s bank account, and then guide them through the purchase of materials and construction work. Around 25% of the fund is spent on labor, which is typically done by the father or other family members with masonry experience — essentially providing the family member with a paying job for the few months it takes to construct their home. Members of Woodmont receive a report on homes as they’re completed.

“Through home construction and the [jobs] that construction generates, Woodmont Christian Church is supporting another way beyond sponsorship to dignify the lives of families,” Chavajay said.

Emmie said Unbound’s ability to listen to communities and help them rise up, honoring their dignity instead of giving handouts, has been impressive to Woodmont and something they’ve internalized.

“Unbound says it’s about building relationships with every person you meet and, in terms of homebuilding, it’s providing [the families] the funds to build the home that they know they need,” Emmie said.

So, we’re not coming in to fix something but to listen and to build relationships and to help them be the best that they can be.”

A sustainable partnership for generations to come

Allemang said Unbound’s partnership with Woodmont is special because it’s ongoing. Even after the youth group members graduate and go to college, they remain connected to their church, motivating congregation members who come after them with stories of how their own lives were changed by answering God’s call to walk alongside the families in Unbound’s Guatemala program.

Emmie has seen the tangible impact of the experiences over a generation.

“I’ve read their college essays about these trips,” Emmie said. “I’ve listened to song lyrics they’ve written. I’ve seen them work to learn another language, to go on and volunteer at other nonprofits dedicated to eradicating poverty. I’ve seen them become teachers for Teach for America. These trips are informative opportunities at an important time in a young teenager’s life.”

Woodmont regularly shares the mission of Unbound with all ages of their congregation through sermons, their newsletter and special events.

Stauffer said he’s proud of the impact his congregation has had on the families of Guatemala and of the longstanding partnership with Unbound.

“One of the hardest parts about doing international missions is that you have to have a partner with a ground game in place,” Stauffer said. “Unbound brings that to the table for us — they’re trusted, respected, and they were already doing great work. That kind of partnership makes all the difference.”

Emmie is most proud about the sustainability of the partnership, that it started from such a small seed and grew into a relationship that has become truly significant to their church community.

“The Unbound staff — they’re more than staff; they’re friends,” said Emmie, who was most excited during the March family trip to get to meet Allemang face-to-face for the first time. “With Karen’s help and guidance, we have all done good work and grown together.”

“The relationships we’ve built with the Unbound families, with staff, with even their bus driver there, it’s personal,” Johnson added. “It’s a warm friendship, and I think that’s part of why it’s sustainable.”

In an appreciation letter to Woodmont members that Chavajay wrote in 2022 after the construction of the 50th home in Guatemala, Chavajay said he was convinced that “this movement is a product of God’s love.” “Woodmont’s support has been far-reaching in Guatemala,” Chavajay wrote. “It is not by chance that Woodmont and Unbound are walking together — it is the answer from God to the faithful prayers of families in the midst of hardship.”

In 2019, Woodmont dedicated the entire November issue of their church magazine to the stories of how Unbound Guatemala families had touched their lives, calling it “The Guatemala Edition.” One congregation member summed up the greatest, most sustaining part of the partnership when he wrote about visiting the families.

He wrote, “We were strangers and they welcomed us in, over and over again, until we were strangers no more.”

To come to truly know one another, to walk alongside each other recognizing we are all God’s children, to bring hope and restore dignity, to offer love, understanding and friendship, is the most enduring gift of all.

Are you interested in learning more about how you or your church community could make a difference in the lives of Unbound families living in poverty around the globe? See how you can get involved with Unbound or reach out to Ecumenical and Interfaith Development Manager Diana Loera at [email protected].

Regional reporter Oscar Tuch contributed photos and information for this story.