S3 E34: Love One Another: Feeling the Holy Spirit in Guatemala

What does it actually feel like when the Holy Spirit is at work within us? Terri Schroeder reflects on that question through her long-awaited experience serving on the Guatemala Stove Team, where she arrived excited, nervous, and armed with resurrected 7th-grade Spanish that mostly failed her when it mattered. Yet what she discovered was that the Holy Spirit doesn't depend on fluency. Through gestures, smiles, good humor, willing hearts, high fives, hugs, and shared purpose, strangers became partners in bringing life-changing stoves and water filters to families whose homes would no longer be filled with smoke. Terri describes the powerful moment each stove was lit and the joy that spread across a family's faces, along with the quiet blessings exchanged between the team and the families they served. In those moments of connection, she recognized the fruits of the Spirit—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control—alive and moving among people who on the surface seemed so different, yet were deeply alike at heart. This moving reflection reminds us that when we open ourselves to others and let the Spirit guide us, we become light for one another and discover the deep truth written on the team's shirts: love one another.

---

Terri has lived in Midland the majority of her life. She has three amazing children who are married and happily are living in the state of Michigan along with one grandson she adores. Terri earned her Bachelor of Education degree and her Master’s in Administration from SVSU. She retired from teaching in the Bullock Creek School District after 31 years. Her retired life now consists of spending a few hours a week at the reception desk in the Parish Center at Blessed Sacrament where she has been a member of the parish for over 34 years. She also loves to tend to her yard and gardens, participate in multiple outdoor activities, watch birds, and learn new music. When she slows down, reading a good book is her favorite quite time activity.

---