Here we go!!
I can’t believe it has been 4 years since we took our first group to Guatemala! The goal at that time was to lead a group at least every other year to build relationships, learn, and serve. It all seemed to be going well! Partnerships with local Guatemalan non-profits were successful. We had built a beautiful relationship with Hope Worldwide mobile medical clinic and Habitat for Humanity. Plans were being made to return in 2021.
And then March 2020, the world shut down over the pandemic…
And everything changed.
The needs have not changed, the relationships have not changed, and the desire to build relationships have not changed. But everything around those did dramatically change. Travel was shut down, businesses changed, people lost their jobs or moved on to different opportunities. And we patiently kept waiting for the right time to bring another group who was ready to continue building relationships!
And now in June 2023, it is all coming back to life!
Our local community, our home parish of Church of the Holy Angels, and our family and friends have all encouraged and supported this next step of resuming trips! We have a group of 13 pilgrims who are coming with us to back to the original service area of Chiquimula and also to a new area of Puerto Barrios in Izabal, Guatemala.
In 2019, God led us to a Maltese priest living and serving in Izabal for over 25 years! He graciously led our pilgrimage to Esquipulas at that time and he has become a wonderful partner to us. He is inspiring as he has spent 25+ years building relationships in his parish and living and serving in Izabal growing his ministry and outreach. He is welcoming our group to come and spend time with him!
Everyone is asking - what will be DOING while we are there?
As we have learned from previous experiences, this is less about “doing” and more about “serving and 'learning”. We have learned over time that the needs WE think the community has is not the needs that THEY actually have. We will be praying with the people, walking alongside them in their projects, having fun and fellowship with them, and developing a long term relationship between our parish and theirs.
Father has identified some ways we can help his communities:
Funding to construct a medical clinic to provide quality medical care and serve as a location for future medical missions.
Sustainable menstrual kits and teaching for the women and children in the communities to alleviate “period poverty” where girls often miss up at a week of school a month due to not having items needed for their monthly cycle. Coupling this with solid biological teaching about their bodies and cycles which may have not been previously taught.
Securing Items to stock the medical clinic such as dental items, vitamins, and medical equipment.
Starting a fund to help one community who would like to construct their own church.
We will visit villages with Father, bring food to the poor as needed, and address any other needs that the community and Father identifies.
Please pray for our safety in traveling, to have open hearts to receive all that God has in store for us, and to listen to His people and learn about lives which on many levels are very similar to ours and on many levels, very different than ours.
“People and Processes, Not Projects and Products
The goal is to see people restored to being what God created them to be: people who understand that they are created in the image of God
with the gifts, abilities, and capacity to make decisions and to effect change in the world around them;
and people who steward their lives, communities, resources, and relationships in order to bring glory to God.
These things tend to happen in highly relational, process-focused ministries more than in impersonal, product-focused ministries. ”