GUATEMALA - DAY 3
Day 3 has come and gone - the time is flying by. Today was full of meeting new people, of hearing their stories and their deep, humble and heartfelt appreciation for God and all that He has done and is doing through the ministry of Hope Renewed. I am running out of adjectives to describe it all. How do I explain how incredibly comfortable and at ease I feel? How do I express the overwhelming feeling of gratitude I feel that God has allowed me to be a tiny part of this ministry? How can I truly explain that while the life I have could not be further from the experiences of the people I am meeting, I am more aware of our “sameness” than our differences?
The best way I know how to share my experiences is to walk you through the day and to introduce you to some of the people I met.
SEWING CENTER
Our first stop of the day was a visit to the Sewing Class to meet some of the students at the Sewing Center. Ruth and Giovanni introduced us to Pastor Aroldo and Karina. I have shared about their commitment to serving as the instructors for our sewing students in a previous post. This was the first time anyone on the Board had met them in person. They were as lovely as I had expected. They have an obvious rapport with the students, moving smoothly and patiently about the rooms instructing, assisting and guiding them. Each student came to the classes at varying levels of skill and are working at their own pace and ability to improve their proficiency.
MEETING CECI
Ceci overlooking The Dump
The first student I met is a woman named Ceci. She was sitting at the front machine and Ruth introduced us as she showed me an adorable PJ set Ceci had just finished. I asked her if I could take her photo and she quickly agreed. She smiled easily and laughed along with Ruth and we continued our broken English/Spanish conversations and I thought, this is someone I could be friends with.
We were planning to visit with the students for a few minutes, tour the preschool and then head out to see the Cemetery in Zone 3 that overlooks the Basurero (The Dump). Rob and Janice explained that they always take Mission Teams to the cemetery to a particular spot that provides an overview of the work that many of the men and women living in Zone 3 do 6 days a week, week in and week out.
Ceci, who has lived in the area her entire life, shared with Ruth that while the cemetery had been closed for most of the pandemic, it was now open. Thankful for the information, we planned the itinerary for the remainder of the morning and began making preparations to head out. Before we could leave, Ruth called us all back into the sewing room and told us that the students had prepared a gift for us. The women gathered around us and presented us with T-shirts that they had sewn right there in that small sewing classroom in a preschool in their neighborhood. I looked around at the faces of these women (some under 18 and some closer to my age) and could see the appreciation they felt. They expressed their gratitude with smiles and hugs, some full and hearty, some shy and reserved but all with a sincerity I could feel in my bones.
After many more hugs accompanied by whispered blessings, we walked back out to the street and loaded into the van. As we piled in, I was happy to see Ceci was joining us! I don’t know how that came about, but it provided me with the opportunity to hear her story.
THE CEMETERY
We drove the few blocks to the gate of the cemetery and Giovanni parked the van. We all piled out and walked together into the walled cemetery full of free standing family mausoleums and wall after wall of public mausoleums. The details of the Guatemala City cemetery are fascinating, sad and even morbid and one I will share at a later time.
CECI’S STORY
We walked through the cemetery, found the overlook, and stood there reflecting on the back breaking exhausting work that thousands of people do to provide for their families. As we stood there one of our group said to Janice and I, Ceci’s husband works in the dump. Ceci began sharing her story with us. She said that she and her husband have 4 children and 2 grandchildren. They live in Zone 3 and raised their family there. She worked in the garment industry up until 5 years ago when she was let go because “she was too old”. So now she is trying to improve her skills in order to bring in additional income for their family.
The current conversion rate
I asked her how much her husband typically makes in a day - 125Q. She said, without self pity or shame, that is what provides food for us. I wish I could explain how I felt - not pity, not even my typical need to “fix it” but an appreciation for this woman who seemed to face the difficulty of her situation without letting it define her. We chatted like friends (though in broken Spanish and with much translation) about husbands coming home from work and needing to change out of their work clothes before walking into the house. She talked about the difficulty of the work he did - rain or shine. She shared about the way even the garbage truck drivers would sometimes take advantage of their position to get the best items from the garbage before allowing the workers in the dump access. We shared pictures of our kids and grandkids - she laughed heartily when I showed her my “nieto”. As we were parting ways she spoke sincerely of her appreciation for Hope Renewed providing the sewing classes for free. She said she had been wanting to improve her skill but even the least expensive training she could find was beyond their means. She said God was truly providing Hope through HRI and she was very grateful. She hugged me tight and laughed again about me showing her a picture of my daughter’s dog as my “nieto”.
THE SCHOLARS
We returned to the Preschool where the Scholarship students were gathering. Kimberly and Ruth had planned for the students and their families to join us for a drama presentation, church service and a pizza lunch.
The preschool hallway was buzzing with voices. They had lined up chairs in the long hallway and a stage had been set at one end. After greeting everyone, Ruth called the room to attention - introduced us and then started the program. The older scholarship students had been working on their drama and were in costume and ready to go on. The scene opened with a young man getting tangled up in sin and unable to find a way to escape the grip of it. The many different “remedies” that the world offers tried to get him “unstuck” but each were unsuccessful. He remained bound by his sin until he learned of the free gift of salvation through Jesus. The story of God’s love offered to each person, portrayed by the students in a noisy Guatemalan preschool hallway, was as beautiful as anything I have seen. THIS is what God offers, eternal HOPE. The mission and calling of Hope Renewed International is to share that hope with the people we serve in Guatemala - our students, our mission teams, our staff and each other.
CHURCH SERVICE
After the program, Rob shared a heartfelt message on John 3:17 (Rob will tell you, God provided the content and words since this was the first time he had shared a message in Spanish). Pastor Giovanni followed Rob with a message and Ruth closed out the church service with a time of worship. While the program, messages and worship were all in Spanish, I was blessed by God’s presence in the room and thanked God for allowing me to be there.
PRESENTATION OF GIFTS FROM THE YOUNG SCHOLARS
Our littlest scholars (those who our donors provide school supplies and uniforms for) also had a presentation for us. Each of them had made a Mickey Mouse card which they presented to us individually - followed by many hugs and smiles. Take a look at the gallery below and you will see how much appreciation these little ones have for the support they receive from our donors through the program. At the end of their presentation, one of the fathers came and asked if he could pray over us. His heartfelt prayer over Janice, Rob and I brought us to tears (even though I could only understand a few of the words) the passion and power of his prayer was moving!
PIZZA AND FELLOWSHIP
As the formal presentations ended, we were able to mingle with the scholars and families. Janice and Rob were able to catch up with families and scholars they have known for years. It was great to hear their stories and see the reconnection between them. We were thanked profusely by scholars and parents. It was all very touching - many hugs and heartfelt thank yous. The stories were so moving - I wish I could put into words each story, each emotion I felt as I heard them but I will close today’s blog with Camila’s story.
CAMILA
Sweet little Camila. Our first student with an IEP (An Individualized Educational Plan). She is an 8 year old shy little girl with autism. Her limited language skills have made it difficult for her to get the services that she needs. Having a child with special needs is difficult in any culture or financial situation. But there are no words to describe the difficulty for families of a child with special needs who live in Zone 3 in Guatemala City where educational resources are already in short supply and those that are provided free of charge are basically non-existent! Yet in God’s grace Camila’s family found Hope Renewed. Kimberly approached the board asking if we would be willing to take on Camila as a scholarship student but instead of providing tuition for school, to provide for autism services. While the board wanted to say yes immediately, the scholarship program was already underfunded and the uncertain future of mission teams traveling to Guatemala made it difficult to know if yes was the wise answer. But the decision was agreed upon, yes we would bring Camila into the program and trust that God brought this family to HRI in His timing and that He would provide.
Today Janice and I met Camila and spoke with her father. His love for this little girl and his appreciation for the support for her through the HRI program were intense. He gently led Camila to us time and time again for a hug and a thank you. His eyes were so filled with pride and gratitude for the opportunity that it touched my heart deeply. His tenderness and love for Camila reminded me that God sees me and my limitations through those same eyes. Gracious, loving, kind and “FOR ME”. I feel privileged to be a part of helping Camila’s family know that just as they love Camila, God loves them perfectly. He sees them, loves them and will support them in unexpected ways - like providing the first ever autism IEP through HRI!
Well it is off to bed to rest up for Day 4.
If you want more information about Hope Renewed - check out our website hoperenewed.org
If you would like to talk to someone about sending a mission team or just more information about missions - please email our Mission Team Coordinator at megan.twadell@hoperenewed.org
If you feel God is leading you to support HRI financially - please click here or go through the website to donate.