Ours is a story of a missionary family coming on a short to trip to Guatemala to serve for three months, and ended up spending a lifetime here.

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The story of how we came to be a missionary family serving in Guatemala is unique, to say the least. In 2002 we went on a short-term trip, we had two daughters at the time, aged 3 years and 5 months. We had planned to stay for 3 months, but after spending some time here, we felt called to full-time service and made the decision to stay.

 

We had little money, spoke almost no Spanish and had no support, but we stuck it out, and 21 years and four more kids later, we are still here.

 

For the first several years we worked with youth groups doing street evangelism, assisting with outreaches, doing food distribution and distributing humanitarian aid and working with a small orphanage in zone-7 of Guatemala City

 

What started out as teaching English and Bible classes to 12 girls grew into vocational training and discipleship programs for more kids as we followed them from orphanage to orphanage ending up at a large children's home in San Jose Pinula in 2008.

 

As we expanded our ministry to serve more children in the orphanage we began to realize that most of the children were not orphans but had families.

 

They had been placed there for their protection, because of abuse, negligence, and maltreatment.

 

This led us to evaluate everything about our ministry and led us to start working in the communities where these children come from, with the belief that if these children and their families were better served in their own neighborhoods, then we would see more of them at home with their families and fewer children placed in institutions.

 

This led to the opening of the Cadaniño (every child) community centers, first in Colonia Santa Fe and then in San Jose Pinula.

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Through this ministry we work to serve vulnerable children and families in through Spiritual Formation, Academic Reinforcement, and Family Strengthening programs.

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Our two Community Impact Centers serve hundreds of students and their families through a Gospel-centered holistic approach, working to strengthen the family unit at home in the communities where they live.

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The challenges of those we serve are many. Poverty, crime, gangs, drugs, and extortion are overwhelming, causing many to lose hope.

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We have found that by providing services they need in an accessible manner in areas like education and nutrition, focusing on discipleship and development, we can inspire and equip people to discover their God-given gifts and abilities and use them to their greatest potential in a way that glorifies Him.

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Over the past years, we have seen incredible results in the lives of our students. In 2023, 31% of our students, many of whom live in abject poverty, made the honor roll at school. Children who have never touched computers learn web design and programming. Shy, quiet kids are gaining confidence, the teenagers in our youth programs are going out, serving and evangelizing in their communities, and, best of all, children, parents, and families are coming to a personal relationship with God.

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Key to our ministry is the hiring, teaching, training, and discipling of local teachers to serve in our ministry. They do a fantastic job teaching, training, encouraging, inspiring, and ministering to the students who come in daily. Our programs demonstrate that when you meet people where they are, with the services they need, it is possible to bring about genuine change.

 

Currently 200 children attend our after school programs where they receive Bible classes, computer classes, nutritional assistance and tutoring.

 

What started out as a simple missionary couple saying yes, when God called them to a life of service has grown into a ministry that is far bigger than them and which is having a profound impact in the lives of vulnerable children and families in Guatemala.