WHO WE ARE

The Paradise Bound Project

"...and they set out from village to village, proclaiming the Good News, and healing the sick." - Luke 9:6

A special Thank You to Soapbox Pictures and their incredible capturing, editing, and donating of this film!

Christ Centered

Guatemala and Latin America

PRAYING - PARTICIPATING - PARTNERING

Donate. Volunteer. Proceeds directly support our Lord's work through PBM.

About Us

MISSION STATEMENT

The essence of Paradise Bound is to continue the earthly ministry of Jesus Christ. Accomplishing this through His primary example of ministering to physical needs first—thus earning love, respect, and the opportunity to present His word. Ultimately, we strive in everything we do to radiate the name, the essence and the gospel of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.

OBJECTIVES

Our goal is to do ‘whatever it takes’ to bring the gospel of Jesus Christ to the lost and dying in Guatemala. We strive to weave the gospel of Jesus Christ through and through every Paradise Bound program: physically through building relationships by meeting needs, verbally through spoken word, spiritually through much prayer and discernment and everlastingly through distribution of our Lord’s Living Word! Recognizing our dual calling of 100% to the Guatemalan people and 100% to the team members and supporters serving alongside us, we exalt the name of Jesus Christ and challenge our constituents into a deep personal relationship with Him.

”I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow” 1 Corinthians 3:5-6 We recognize that we are absolutely nothing and give all the glory and honor to our Almighty God for allowing us the privilege of being a part of His kingdom through salvation in His son Jesus Christ, and as a small part of Him, fulfilling His great commission here on this earth.

STATEMENT OF FAITH

We believe the Bible to be the inspired, the only true infallible, authoritative Word of God (2 Timothy 3:15-17).

We believe that there is one God, existing in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19; Ephesians 4:4-6).

We believe in the deity of Christ, in his virgin birth, in his sinless life, in his miracles, in his vicarious and atoning death through his blood, in his bodily resurrection, in his ascension to the right hand of the Father, in his present rule as Head of the Church and in his personal return in power and glory (John 1:1-4; Matthew 1:12; Philippians 2:5-11; Hebrews 1:1-4 and 4:15; Acts 1:11 and 2:22-24; 1 Corinthians 15:3-4).

We believe that, for the salvation of lost and sinful men, repentance of sin and faith in Jesus Christ results in regeneration by the Holy Spirit and that Jesus Christ is the only way of salvation (Titus 3:4-7; Luke 24:46-47; Ephesians 2:8-9; John 14:6; Acts 4:12).

We believe in the present ministry of the Holy Spirit whose indwelling enables the Christian to live a godly life (Galatians 5:16-18; Romans 8:9).

We believe in the resurrection of both the saved and the lost; the saved unto the resurrection of eternal life and the lost unto damnation and eternal punishment (Revelation 20:11-15; 1 Corinthians 15:51-57).

We believe in the spiritual unity of believers in our Lord Jesus Christ and that all true believers are members of his body, the Church, with equality across race, gender, and class (Ephesians 1:22-23; Corinthians 12:12,27).

We believe that the ministry of evangelism is a responsibility of both the church and each Christian (Romans 10:9-15; Acts 1:8; Matthew 28:18-20; 1 Peter 3:15).

Paradise Bound Ministries Board of Directors

US Paradise Bound Ministries

Board members receive no financial compensation for their services. Each director has visited Guatemala numerous times with Paradise Bound and fully captures the vision that began in our Lord Jesus Christ, was received by founders Dan and Heidi Smith, and now extends to the thousands who have served alongside them in Guatemala. The PBM board of directors are an extension of Christ’s heart for these precious ones He so longs to hold.

Brad Lanser
Board President

Steve Bagley
Vice President

Rod Huisingh
Treasurer

Lisa Bauman
Secretary

Darren Herweyer

Scott Gray

Cal VanderZwaag

Guatemala Asociacion Mision Paraiso

To receive the benefits of a nonprofit ministry in Guatemala, it is necessary to be registered with the Guatemalan government and have a resident board of directors, thus Asociacion Mision Paraiso.

Martin Chavez

Jesus Giron

Yohana Lara

Estuardo Morales

Guatemala Refugio la Puerta

(Open Doors Children’s Home) - To receive the benefits of a nonprofit orphanage in Guatemala, it is necessary to be registered with the Guatemalan government and have a resident board of directors, thus Refugio la Puerta.

Martin Chavez

Jesus Giron

Elizabeth Hernandez

Estuardo Morales

Sonia

Our Missionaries

Dan and Heidi Smith

Founders

What started as a calling of our Lord Jesus Christ in the hearts of Dan and Heidi Smith and only $200/month pledged in support to date has touched over 100,000 lives. From that small seed Paradise Bound’s vision has been embraced by over 3,000 team members serving alongside each other on short-term mission trips.

Dan and Heidi Smith, Paradise Bound’s founders, both grew up near Hamilton, Michigan. They visited Guatemala in 1995 on a mission trip, and out of a deep calling from our Lord Jesus Christ within their hearts founded Paradise Bound Ministries in 1997. They have four children: Malachi, Benjamin, Haven, and Elijah. Go to Our Founders to read more of their journey.

Staff

Anya

Anya has been an intricate part of Paradise Bound Ministries for the last few years and is currently our Mission Teams Construction Coordinator. She is originally from Rockford, Michigan.

Jesus Giron

Hermano Jesus—as he is lovingly known to our mission teams—has pastored several churches in his native Guatemala, becoming the full time pastor/evangelist of Paradise Bound in 2003. One of his main privileges is to pray several hours a day, specifically that our Lord would utilize Paradise Bound to win souls unto Himself through each of our many programs. He is our primary evangelist for outreaches and oversees our Discipleship program. He is married with three wonderful daughters.

Pablo Lopez

Pablo is one of the teaching pastors within our discipleship ministry. He is a key figure in the Timothy Leadership Training, he helps with the construction of the houses, and is a lover of jokes.

Estuardo Morales

Estuardo Morales began working with Paradise Bound in 2007, and handles a multitude of tasks which include village investigation, staff oversight, vehicle maintenance, financial controller: He is basically Dan’s right-hand man! Estuardo has a son and a daughter, Emanuel and Deborah.

Yajayra Surin

Yajayra works as a nurse in our base camp and also helps Maria in the kitchen preparing food for the mission teams and Open Doors.

Maureen

Maureen is the Administrator for Paradise Bound, and works from our main office in Michigan. She and her husband have 5 children: Paige, Madison, Brandon, Megan, and Evan.

Jeff Nienhuis

Jeff has worked with Paradise Bound for many years, but joined the staff November of 2017. He has been to Guatemala 4 times and is passionate about the work of PBM. His role is to build relationships that assist in the growth and vision of PBM for years to come. Jeff and his wife, Jamie, are blessed with seven children. Their family verse is Jeremiah 29:13.

Lisa Berghorst

Lisa is the bookkeeper for Paradise Bound. She lives in Hamilton, Michigan with her husband, Dan, and two boys: Brandon and Justin.

Yojana Lara

Yojana began working with Paradise Bound helping in the kitchen and cleaning. However, she had always carried a calling in her heart to become a nurse and serve the poor of her native country. With assistance from PBM, Yojana has attained that dream and is now living out her calling within our permanent and mobile medical clinics.