Sponsorship opportunities!

Groundwork Guatemala's sponsorship projects offer an opportunity for you to connect your heart with that of a Guatemalan child or missionary! You will receive correspondence from them four times a year along with their love and gratefulness for sharing your blessings with them. They love to hear from their sponsors, so we encourage you to write notes, send cards or pictures as you get to know each other! Your correspondence would be sent to the stateside base in Arizona, which would then be translated by Rachel and brought down to Guatemala the next time we come back.

Your donation can be made monthly, bi-monthly, quarterly or yearly by check, PayPal or arranging an auto-pay with your bank. If you feel called to sponsor one of our children or missionaries, please contact Rachel Stauner at sponsor@groundworkguatemala.org and she will help you get started!

Catch the slideshow at the top right of the blog to see the current opportunities for sponsorship! Click on the little text bubble in the bottom left corner to view names and sponsorship needs.

Water of Life!

If someone offered you a cup of water in Buena Vista, in many cases you might think you'd been handed a cup of tea. The water that the people in this little remote village have been drinking comes from either a well or the river, which is also the place where they wash their clothes and themselves. So from milky white to muddy brown, the water that is ingested by babies, children and adults is far from pure. By the grace of God and a wonderful grant from the Oklahoma LWML, in addition to a generous personal donation, Groundwork Guatemala was able to purchase 120 water purification systems.

For several months and with the help of two of the local teens receiving education scholarships, Julián has been installing about ten systems per week in homes throughout Buena Vista. Off they go with twenty 5 gallon buckets and lids, asking families if they would like to receive a free water filter system. A few have said "No, gracias." Perhaps they're afraid to try it because it's "something new" in this village back in time. Makes me wonder what's holding them back from receiving this free gift. But most people are quite eager to have one installed in their home. Julián goes through the process of putting the system together and talks about how the impurities in the water can make us sick. As the muddy water is poured into the top pail, then goes through the filter into the bottom pail, everyone in the room takes a turn at looking in and is amazed at how clear the water is! Finally, Julián asks for a "clean" glass and has the pure water run into it. He takes a drink to show the family that the water is safe to drink...no tricks. Odd to think they might be afraid of the pure water, isn't it?

When we think about how many times we had told people to "drink more water" in the past, we realize that, while they may have been more hydrated, they were probably ingesting who knows what into their systems. How thankful we are that 120 families with all those little kidlets will now be drinking safe, pure and life-giving water!!

But wait! There's more!! As Julián talks with the family about the need for them to drink pure water, he also takes the time to get to know them a bit, to see if they have need for prayer and to see if they know their Savior, Jesus Christ. What joy to find that so many have a relationship with the Lord! If you've ever gone on a house visit with Julián you've seen his gentle, but passionate way of sharing his faith with his people. So, seizing the opportunity, he uses these filters that take out the impurities from their water as one of the best object lessons I've ever heard. Julián shares with those who don't know Christ how He is the Living Water, purifying us from all our sin so that we can enter into God's holy presence blameless and without impurities. No tricks. Nothing to be afraid of. We don't have to wait until we are "clean" and have our act together. Jesus has done it all for us!!

So, through these filters our friends in Buena Vista are receiving life-giving water for their bodies and Living Water through Jesus for their souls!!

Rainy season? Bring it on!!

There's been a construction boom in Buena Vista!! With the approaching six month rainy season beginning in May, we are very excited that those coming to the Groundwork Faith Lessons will be a bit drier this year. In the past we have set up tarps and pop-up canopies to shelter us from the sun or rain. But with larger numbers attending and our January move to the ministry's little plot of land, we're now meeting every Wednesday under the newly constructed shelter. Chochi, ever on the look out for a good deal, managed to have some of the lamina (corrugated sheets of tin) and posts donated, keeping costs down for the ministry. We're always looking for ways to help the local people provide for their families, so Francisco, along with several other Buena Vista men were hired to do the construction.

As you can see in this picture, our shelter came with a built in (and quite unplanned) sun roof. With a bit of "adjusting" all is well, and will keep the raindrops from falling on our heads!

Of course, we all know that where two or three are gathered together, there needs to be a baño (bathroom)! So, after digging a deep hole and laying the ridiculously heavy "throne" over it, sinking a few posts and adding metal lamina, we have an official one holer!! I guess the two or three need to wait in line! Speaking of two or three, in true Guatemalan fashion, at one point Ody managed to get two or three pieces of 4'x8' lamina transported via bus from Santa Lucia to Buena Vista...I can't begin to know how she pulled that off...

About three weeks ago, a truckload of black sand (looking suspiciously like volcanic ash, in my opinion) arrived. Another of Chochi's deals, to be sure. Keeping in mind that Buena Vista has no running water...just a few wells...Francisco will lay a cement floor under the shelter. He will accomplish this huge task in exchange for some leftover lamina sheets that he will use to put a roof on his house. Much more effective at keeping the rain out than the plastic that he currently has, to be sure.

All in all, this has been quite a project! How blessed we are to have willing servants like Chochi and Francisco and others on our ministry staff to give of their time and energy. And how God has blessed us with the resources to make it all possible!!

Check out our Groundwork Guatemala facebook page for more pics!

Bienvenidos a Ody y César!

Welcome to Ody and César!

We are excited to introduce to you two new friends who are now working with us in ministry.

Ody and César joined Groundwork Guatemala in January 2011. We are blessed to have both of them on staff and part of our family!

Ody, her baby, Friseida, and Kristen, one of her sponsors

Ody oversees the scholarships for all of the children who are going to school. She makes sure that the children have all that they need for their school year. She fits them with shoes and uniforms. She purchases any supplies and books that they may need and makes sure that their tuition is paid. Ody's goal is to develop relationships with the children, parents and schools showing her passion for these children and her desire for them to succeed and move forward in their education.. We are so happy to have her with us!

César and Minor in Buena Vista

César was one of the young men who had a scholarship with us and graduated from high school last year. He had been working elsewhere until he felt called to join the ministry at Groundwork Guatemala. He says that he sees the needs of people and that he wants to be a part of helping them. César is a hardworking young man and will do any job that he is asked to do. He desires to learn English so that he can better communicate with our mission teams. César brings his sense of humor with him every day and it is such a joy to have him as part of our Groundwork Guatemala family.

For those of you coming to Guatemala on mission teams this year, we look forward to introducing you to Ody and César!

Interested in sponsoring one of our missionaries? Contact Rachel at sponsor@groundworkguatemala.org for more information.

Kids, kids and more kids

Eareckson Kendall

We often say that God is running before us at Groundwork Guatemala in such a big and exciting way, that sometimes it's hard to keep up with Him! It has been evident from the beginning that He chose educational scholarships as a big part of how we were to be ministering to the needs of the people we serve. Although public school is said by the government to be free, the reality is that the students need uniforms, shoes and supplies. I would venture to say that for most of us a price tag of $70-100 for a year's education is well within the affordable range, but for most of the families we serve it is a price tag in the "impossible" range. 

Isis Alondra

Hernan Ismael

Vilma Consuelo

So, 2011 has found us with a gaggle of kids!! Or maybe I should say herd? or swarm? Well, anyway, we're very close to 100 beautiful children who are receiving assistance to attend school this year. From the public school in Buena Vista, to the Christian school in Amatitlán, to the private and Christian schools in Guatemala City, and various other schools in each of our sites, we are very excited to offer these children and their families the opportunity to move forward through education. We primarily work with families with which we've established a relationship so that we know there are genuine needs. Throughout the year we work with the families and children to encourage and do all we can to help them have a successful year in school. Given the culture of poverty that defines most of the population of Guatemala, we feel privileged to be called to assist these children and young adults to move forward in their lives, to rise above the high rate of illiteracy and failure.

Llymi Adan

It's just amazing to me how excited these kids are to just be able to go to school. Recently, Llymi (pronounced "yimmie") left for school in El Rincón with a big smile and his backpack. He is 14 years old and in the 3rd grade. It's not unusual for older children to be in lower grades because many have not been able to attend school every year, or at all, unless they had some type of assistance. Kevin said that shortly after Llymi left, he came back home again. Most people here don't have a clock or watch, so it's hard to know what time it is. But Llymi had left for school at 11:30 in the morning. His classes didn't begin until 1:00 in the afternoon! So excited to be able to go to school that he didn't want to risk being late!!

Many have been asking about how they can begin to sponsor a child's education through Groundwork Guatemala. Because there are children attending both private and public schools, there is a wide range of options from which you can choose. From $7 to $30 or more per month, you can choose what amount you feel God has called you to donate and whether you would like to send your donation monthly, quarterly or yearly. Donations can be made by check, bank auto-pay or PayPal. How can you get started? Contact Rachel via email at sponsor@groundworkguatemala.org and let her know what dollar amount you would like to donate, your method of sending your donation and if you have any preferences as to age, boy/girl, location of your sponsored child. She'll take it from there!

Fidelia Esperanza

Four times each year you will receive communications from your sponsored child and soon you will discover how much you have become part of your child's family.

Connecting hearts. It doesn't get much better than that!

School Supplies for Guatemalan kiddos!

It's been a busy January and February at Groundwork Guatemala as the new 2011 school year begins. (The school year in Guatemala begins in January and ends mid-October.) Throughout 2010, our mission teams with the help of their support congregations, friends and families collected hundreds of pounds of school supplies.

Because the public schools here receive little or no funding for supplies or books for the children (an average of less than $5 per student for the entire year), we keep our ear to the ground to find the schools that are most in need of these basic supplies. There are often adults and children who walk great distances to come to the Faith Lessons that Groundwork Guatemala offers each week. So, it is frequently to the remote schools close to where they live that our staff distributes to these children and teachers any donations given above the needs of our sponsorship project kids.

You wouldn't think that a backpack or a Ziploc containing pencils, glue, crayons and scissors would bring such big smiles, but both teachers and students are thrilled to receive these little bags of blessings. So, after Oscar and Ruth told each class that what they were receiving was, indeed, a blessing received from God, hundreds of school supply bags were given to these eager, smiling children.

We are grateful for the gifts of love that so many of you have given to support God's work in Guatemala. Gracias!!

Dancing with all her might!

Her name was Carmen. I never saw her walking without crutches and I always thought hugging her was like hugging a skeleton. We first met Carmen down in La Libertad six years ago as she came for food each day. Or we would see her standing on a busy street corner, supported by her crutches, begging for a quetzal here or fifty centavos there. As the years went by Carmen had been hit by various vehicles, buses, motorcycles...causing injuries that eventually left her completely bedridden...except when her children would put her in a baby carriage and wheel her up to the same busy corner to beg. Nice. As we visited her in her small cement block room, she often burst into tears just because someone came to see her. Her body, now seriously just skin and bones had curled into an almost fetal position. One bone in her leg was sticking out in a strange way that...well, we won't describe that or her bedsores that caused so much discomfort. No longer able to walk, her bed was a disgusting combination of dirt and well, we won't go into that either...

A visit with Carmen always left us feeling a lot of emotions. At times we would cry together for how hard and painful this was. We would laugh together just because we were together. But what always amazed us was when Carmen would read God's Words of hope and peace or would sing a song that showed that, in the midst of this physical pain, she knew her Lord was carrying her frail, contorted body through this earthly life. He was truly her refuge and strength.

And now, He has carried her into her heavenly home. Carmen died in December. I admit, as I would think about her lying there day after day, night after night, that I often prayed that He would take her soon, to free her from this earthly existence filled with pain and agony. But I also had to trust His perfect will and timing. Carmen's life touched the lives of so many of her people as well as the Americans who had come to visit her. Until His purpose for her life on earth was completed, she needed to stay. But now and for eternity, Carmen is no longer in pain. Her body is whole and new and she is dancing with all her might!!

Sorrow may last for the night, but joy comes in the morning! Psalm 30:5b

Dance, Carmen, dance!!