Leslie is eleven. Her shy smile hides a rough life that has many times been dark and lonely. During the school year, she wakes up, gets her uniform on and walks an hour to the other side of town to go to school to pursue her dream of becoming a doctor. She said she chose …
Christmas is the time for…back to school?
In Guatemala, the school year runs from January to October and in the town of Chichicastenango, December is the time of the annual festival that can wipe out much of a family’s savings. The Guatemalan ministry we work with called ASELSI has been putting on a Christmas party for years. They invite people to come, …
Team From Faith Church Put Love In Action
Seven team members from Faith Church in Kansas, came down to help us reach out to our community and beyond late last month. Their hearts to serve and bless the people of Guatemala was awesome. They made a difference in many, many lives through all they did. While it’s not a complete list, here are …
Lights for El Esfuerzo
The sun hadn’t risen yet when I left Chichicastenango at 4:20 a.m. to head for the Pacific Coast and the small village of El Esfuerzo — Spanish for “The Effort.” This was a village where about 65 families were putting their effort into scratching out a living on a mountainside in the Guatemalan jungle without …
A Walk in the Dark
It was just getting dark as we left our yard with our four kids in tow. We walked about five blocks chatting with each other as Leslie guided us off the main road down a dusty two-track and then through a narrow pathway that led to the adobe and wood structures she calls home. As we …
A visit to Villa Hortensia La Antigua
Dec. 28, 2016 Chichicastenango, Guatemala It was the day after Christmas and the cold night air had yet to be chased away by the rising sun. There I was at 5:30 a.m. in front of our home in Chujupen while my family slept in their warm beds inside. I walked out the gate and met …
Feeding hungry babies: Jose Manuel
Jose Manuel had a tough start at life. When he was born, Jose’s mother was sick. She had very high blood pressure and went into a coma during his birth. That was four months ago and she still is not awake. With no mother able to feed him, Jose’s aunt stepped in to help out …
Helping babies grow: Azuceny
Azuceny Graciela is four months old. She came to the milk program at ASELSI — the ministry we work with here in Guatemala — 4 months ago still weighing only 6 pounds. When Azuceny was born, the doctors did a C-section but found that baby Azuceny’s mother had cancerous tumors in her stomach. Things were …
Summary of 2015
Outreach to the shoeshine boys of Chichicastenango
No one is really sure how many shoeshine boys work the streets of Chichicastenango, but estimates reach into the 50s. Sometimes these boys start working to make a few dimes worth of profit when they are as young as the age of five. They wander the streets with a small wooden box of shoe shining …
