Greetings from Guatemala
Guatemala
It’s the New Year, but for some, it still looks like 2020. Or 2018!
Last fall, ARDF gave COVID relief funds to Cristo Mi Rendentor. This was our first partnership with the church in Guatemala!
Cristo Mi Redentor (Christ My Redeemer) is a Guatemalan mission effort of the Anglican Church in Guatemala, led by Rev. Dana Craft. This ministry is bringing the transforming power of the love of Christ to those in greatest needs in and around Guatemala City. It includes a vibrant and growing church plant, and an outreach ministry which provides medical outreach, catechesis, and sacramental ministry to severely impoverished families who live in the city dump. The need is great, in part, because of past natural disasters.
A volcanic eruption in 2018 devastated local villages, killing and wounding thousands. Some are only now receiving the medical care they need!
But November 2020 brought a double disaster. Hurricanes Eta and Iota slammed Central America in quick succession, killing hundreds and displacing more than half a million people, according to Reuters.
Rev. Dana and his team have faithfully continued their relief efforts in the communities in the devastated region of Cobán. Not surprisingly, cases of COVID have increased since November, as villagers crowd into shelters.
Dana tells the story of one woman they helped. This pregnant woman had a severe case of COVID. Even though she is only 29 years old, she needed oxygen. At 26 weeks pregnant, she was airlifted to Guatemala City, where she was given the last available ventilator! Thankfully, the woman is now doing well in a hospital.
So despite the overwhelming need, Rev. Dana and his church are seeing the Lord’s immeasurable grace time and time again.
Back in Cobán, flood waters from the 2020 hurricanes have not disappeared. And a complicating factor is that all the crops in this region have been lost due to the floods. These crops were to support the people during all of 2021. This presents the most challenging of obstacles to overcome.
Rev. Dana has a plan to assist the villagers, but he needs our help. His goal is to provide 150 families with new gas stoves and beds with bedding.
“We are joining with local pastor in Cobán to help 150 families get back on their feet. Our desire is to provide each family with a new gas stove, new bed and 50lbs of foodstuffs sometime within the coming weeks. This relief project is similar to what was done in Alotenango after the disastrous eruption of the Fuego Volcano in 2018. We will walk alongside these families, as we did for those who survived the Fuego eruption, for the next year. Our aim is to provide spiritual, economic, and emotional support to our brothers and sisters in this beautiful region of Cobán. Please consider joining us in this critical mission to help these 150 families.” – Rev. Dana Craft
The work of Cristo Mi Redentor is a perfect example of how the lines between relief and community development often blur. Disaster relief efforts are a quick - and necessary - response to those in crisis. What the church brings is the opportunity for longer lasting relationships, ones that can follow up in the year to come with the support necessary to keep a community thriving into the future, despite the past. Especially in places like Guatemala, where secular culture is suspicious of the evangelical church, it is so important that the people see that it is the Anglican Church caring for the hurt and broken.
Apostles Anglican Church, Knoxville took up a Christmas Eve collection for this effort. And ARDF is matching their funds – up to $5,000. You can join us. If your church (or small group, or bible study) would like to know more, or contribute to this as a special project to kick off 2021, contact us!
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