Our Family
Isaac & Kelsey Baeza
Meet our founders, Isaac (Chako) and Kelsey.
Chako was born and raised in Guatemala City, Guatemala. He was raised in the church as a pastor’s kid. When he felt a calling to become a full time missionary, he quit his job and trusted the Lord in every step. He took action on the things God placed on his heart by searching for places to serve. God called him to Chimaltenango. With no team around him or an in depth plan, he simply took his car and drove there. His visits became consistent as he sought to care for the orphans and widows. God was faithful to bring the pieces into place with each step of obedience. He also dreamed of a place for people to rest and seek the Lord on a mountain without knowing God had put the same desire in his future wife, Kelsey’s heart. Kelsey was a missionary in Guatemala for six years before she met Chako. They got married in 2020 and now have two beautiful boys.
David Rodriguez (Chicho)
David, or as we call him, Chicho, began serving with Dar Para Dar in 2023.
Chicho, the son of a pastor, grew up in the church. After many attempts to escape his call to ministry, he finally, willingly, surrendered to serve the Lord. He decided to be full-time missionary by serving with Dar Para Dar (Give to Give). This is something it’s not common in Guatemala.
Chicho has a plethora of skills including playing the guitar, photography, and graphic design. He has a gift for connecting with and shepherding people, and he finds great joy and fulfillment in serving the Lord and His people. Through his journey and the skills he has developed, he learned how to use the gifts the Lord gave him and now leads worship, guides groups, helps with logistics and so much more. He desires to impact people’s lives in the name of the Lord.
Chicho felt God put a calling and a passion for the nations on his heart since he was a kid. God has been faithful in allowing him to take part in what He is doing throughout the world, while remaining in Guatemala. Serving the nations has come to fruition as he has opportunities to train and equip others to go to the unreached, as well as being involved in intercession ministries that seek to intercede on behalf of the nations.
David Chicol
David Chicol was born and raised in Patzún, Guatemala, in a pastoral family that shaped his early foundation of faith and service. After a season of walking away from the Lord, David experienced the faithful pursuit of God and, like the prodigal son, returned fully surrendered to His calling, an encounter that now fuels his passion for the Gospel and the nations.
Since 2021, David has been serving alongside Chako, and in 2023 he began consistent ministry in the village of Chimachoy and Popabaj focusing on children, youth, and families through sports-based discipleship and community engagement. His ministry carries a strong generational emphasis, seeking not only to reach individuals but to disciple families and raise future leaders rooted in Christ.
David serves as a full-time missionary in Guatemala with a growing vision to equip, send, and activate pastors and leaders. He is currently working toward the training and sending of pastors as a catalytic strategy to mobilize the Church in Guatemala for the nations. His heart is set on seeing the Guatemalan Church awakened to its missionary identity and actively engaged in God’s global mission, particularly among unreached peoples in the 10/40 Window.
Wherever the Lord leads, whether in the mountains of Guatemala, houses of prayer, or unreached regions. David’s desire remains the same: to proclaim Christ, strengthen the Church, and see generations transformed by the love and truth of the Gospel.
Benjamin Sirín
Benja, Benji, or as his family has called him since childhood, Minchis, is from Chimaltenango, Guatemala. He was born into a Christian home which allowed him to know God from a young age. He enjoys sports, books, music, all forms of art and entertainment, nature, and animals which led him to study Biology in college.
Following the example of love and service from his parents, he began serving in his local church by leading in the youth ministry and participating in other social outreach ministries in Chimaltenango. However, it wasn’t until June 2024, while participating in a leadership development program called Hineni that God awakened his missionary heart and asked him to give up everything to serve as a full-time missionary and be a light to the nations. He now serves in his local church more intentionally, works full-time in nearby communities and in God’s time, will serve in other nations as well. Benja traveled to Turkey in 2025 and served in a House of Prayer there for five weeks.
Sophie Smith
She grew up in a small town in South Carolina, where she developed a love for reading, listening to music, and spending time at the beach or lake. From a young age, she knew who Jesus was, but it wasn’t until 2018—during her time on the World Race—that she began to truly understand what a relationship with God could look like.
One of the places she visited during the Race was Guatemala, and it was there that she first deeply sensed the presence of God. When her parents came to visit her, they experienced the same thing. After finishing the Race, the busyness of life and work caused her to lose some of that connection. Still, Guatemala remained on her heart, even though it often felt out of reach.
Her dad led several mission trips to Guatemala through their home church, and she eventually joined one of those trips. As she got to know the local staff better, her parents were offered positions with Adventures in Missions. She had no doubt that she would go with them.
In December 2024, she, along with her parents and three siblings, packed up their lives and moved to Guatemala. Since arriving, she has felt a burning passion to grow closer to the Lord and to help raise up future generations of Guatemalans to know Him as well.
Dar Para Dar has been an incredible opportunity for her to connect with the local community. Through this ministry, she’s had the chance to serve alongside friends, build relationships with families in the village, and use her gift of worship to show others that everyone is worthy of God’s grace.
Aubrey Riehl
Aubrey was raised in a Christian home in Pennsylvania with her parents and 2 younger siblings. She enjoys baking, going hiking, snowboarding, and being with friends and family. She accepted Christ at a young age but didn’t truly have a passion and heart for Jesus until 2024 when she went on the World Race. It was there that she first came to Guatemala and fell in love with the people and the culture.
It was in Guatemala that she was awakened to the power and holiness of the God who perfectly made her. As she watched the team from Dar Para Dar serve with humility and kindness, her heart grew in love for ministry and for the lost around her.
She has a deep passion for kids ministry and for teaching new believers about Jesus and watching them grow in their faith. Aubrey also hopes to go into full time ministry sometime in the future, serving God in the nations.