Just One Week
Physicians, nurses, and other members on our Servant Team from Traverse City, Michigan, held medical clinics and built water filters in Coyolate with Healthy Communities. So much can happen in just one week. God bless our Servant Teams!
Construyendo Corazones
Construyendo Corazones reaches children through Bible classes, in the Public Elementary School of the community called La Libertad. Also, nearly 100 children gather every other week for Bible Club in the village El Rejón, near Sumpango. There they can play, pray and learn about the Bible and God. Core values and christian principles are taught to junior high students in the town of Magdalena. German Velásquez also supports other MI Ministry sites such as the water filters and fuel-efficient stoves project with Healthy Communities. Our Mission Impact staff serving Construyendo Corazones is German Velásquez and Kara Baker.
We are fuel efficient!
This past Tuesday with the help of the Mission Impact main office, the different ministry sites working with fuel efficient stoves (Healthy Communities, Vida & Esperanza School, Hechos 2:8 [Acts 2:8], Construyendo Corazones [Building Hearts] and, Appropriate Technology) got together at the A.T. workshop in Santa Maria de Jesus to share their chanllenges, standardize criteria on models of stoves, discuss new objectives for 2016 and spend time with the Lord as they make new plans.
Knowing that each leader, from each ministry site, works very hard and has little time to spare in their day, it was rewarding to see them to come participate in the event.
After all the hard work, they had a small celebration to keep in mind that it is only God who makes this possible and allows our works to bear fruit.
You can be also part of this team. Click here to find out more.
COYOLATE: “An inch wide but a mile deep”
Last month was a time of celebration and dedication in Coyolate, but the story actually began many years ago. Coyolate is a small coastal village comprised of less than 200 families and what makes Coyolate unique is that the residents come from other villages throughout Guatemala. Tragically displaced during the 36 year civil war, they found refuge here and began to rebuild their lives in peace.
Life in Coyolate is humble. Most homes are made of dirt floors, wood and corrugated tin. There is no indoor plumbing or hot water and electricity is not guaranteed to work every day. Although water maybe abundant in this coastal town, it isn’t usable for cooking and drinking.
In 2010, Healthy Communities, a Mission Impact ministry, was approached regarding a water filtration and fuel-efficient stove project. After meeting with several of the families, it was clear, this wasn’t to be a one-time project, but rather a long-term relationship.
Healthy Communities ministry leader, Gerber Perez, frequently communicates his mission to the servant teams who visit. Many times ministry projects, no matter where in the world they are located, serve in a way that goes a mile wide but only an inch deep. His vision and purpose is to make an impact for eternity not just superficially. “I would rather reach only an inch wide but go a mile deep,” says Gerber.
A couple of years ago a servant team from Coastal Christian in Ocean City, New Jersey came to do just that. For one week they served the people of Coyolate but little did they know, the Lord had special plans for this team and in particular, Bruce Funk.
In addition to installing water filters and stoves, the team visited the Coyolate schools and if it wasn’t for the “zona escolar” sign outside, they would have never known this small shack with broken wooden slats was home to nearly 25 kindergarten students. The students may use pieces of crayons to color and there are no windows for natural light, but from the smiles on their faces and their desire to learn, you would never know the challenges they face.
The ambition to work and learn goes beyond the children – it permeates the entire family unit. The families of these young children saw the need for a new building and negotiated the donation of a small piece of land across the road. They wanted to volunteer the labor and invest in the community, but they needed some help with resources. Upon returning to the U.S., Bruce, who was deeply impacted by the community of Coyolate, reached out to the people of Coastal Christian and raised the funds for the building supplies for the new kindergarten classroom. The new room has a cement floor, block walls painted white and windows for natural light and air.
This past July, Coastal Christian returned to Coyolate for a week of water filter and stove installations and one very special dedication. A few of the servant team members put finishing touches on the classroom by painting colorful murals and stocking it with new supplies for the children to use.
At the end of the week, a dedication and celebration was held. There was music, dancing, speeches and prayer. It was time for Coyolate and Coastal Christian to celebrate God’s provision…together.
Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. Galatians 6:2
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