Helping the Church Take Action during COVID-19

Knock! Knock! Knock!

That’s a pretty regular sound we hear these days as people come to our door to sell us things or asking for a job so they can buy a few pounds of corn, basic food items, or medicine that their family needs. We try to help as we can.

We realize that many people need the help. So, we’ve bought plants and flowers, wild orchids that a single mom scavenged out of the forest, clothes, shoes, fruits, and eggs.

We also have given away about 400 pounds of corn, rice, beans, oatmeal, and basic food items to help keep families fed during these difficult times. You see, COVID-19 restrictions on gatherings have heavily impacted people here in Guatemala.

COVID-19 restrictions on gatherings have heavily impacted people here in Guatemala.

With tourism and related activities closed, people aren’t buying many of the handicraft items that were a regular part of income for families in this area. Family-run manufacturing plants have shut down.

People have lost jobs. That means they have less money for food.

Some families have told us of how they don’t have food at home so they’ve been going to other family members and asking to share a meal so that they have something to eat.

Local women who normally would keep their hands busy sewing detailed designs into blouses and other products for the market have no place to sell their work. Normally, these women didn’t make more than a few dollars for their hard work, but it was something. Now they can’t sell what they make. That means there’s less money to pay for food to feed the hungry kids who can’t go to school. Plus some food costs have increased by about 20% from their normal costs. This makes it hard on families especially as the impact of the pandemic lingers on without a clear end in sight.

We’re glad to help with those who come to our door, but as we evaluate the needs around us, we’ve realized that working with local churches and ministries will have the biggest immediate impact and help long-term discipleship for these hungry families.

Although churches can’t meet together right now, we have contacted several local pastors to evaluate how we can help them provide for the most needy in our communities.

Already we’ve distributed 180 pounds of corn through one local pastor who helped over 20 families by dividing up the corn and adding other food items to make food packets to take to widows and needy families.

We’ve personally visited homes and delivered food packets to nearby kids, single moms and families who are part of our Little Disciples Bible Study.

Now it’s time to do more.

Working with bulk and local suppliers, we found we can buy rice, beans, corn, and other items for families in need. At current prices we can feed a family of five for about $4 per day. This won’t make for a fancy meal, but covers basic food items that families normally eat here. These staple food items can help keep families fed, and hungry kids from sleeping on empty stomachs.

In the next two weeks we want to purchase a bulk load of grains so we can start distributing to families through local churches who can help follow up with these families and show them that they are not forgotten–that the Christ we represent sent them this help.

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Will you join us? 

At current rates:
$30 helps feed a family of 5 for a week.
$60 helps feed a family of 5 for 15 days
$120 helps feed a family of 5 for a month.

Our target is to get enough food for 50 families to have 15 days of food.  That means we need $3,000 to buy food for these families. Additional donations will help us get more food to help more people.

$3,000 provides 15 days worth of food for 50 families

Will you help us?

What does this actually look like?

Based on conversations with locals, we’ve found that a family of five will eat between 3-6 pounds of corn (tortillas, tamalitos, or other corn products etc.), 1.5 pounds of beans, and 1 pound of rice and noodles per day. (They will often add in eggs or tomatoes or other item to add variety.) We based our cost projections on the local cost of grains that will provide the main basis of these meals.  Our “meals” are based on 5 pounds of corn, 400 grams of rice, 600 grams of beans and 360 grams of noodles to feed a family of 5 for a day (3 meals).
This is intended as a baseline meal that helps these families stay nourished while they are facing the struggles of the pandemic so that they will be more able to add in other food items like vegetables and eggs to their diet.

By working with local pastors and ministries we can deliver these supplies to where the needs are the greatest and where ongoing discipleship connections can continue.

Please pray for Guatemala and consider a donation to help us provide food to these families in need.

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