Stiching Ministery

When we travel to Guatemala, we require each person traveling to commit to only bringing a carry on for their personal use. We then use their allotted suitcases for humanitarian goods. Most people are not thrilled about that idea at first (mostly the girls who want to bring more clothes/hair dryer etc), but once they see all the donations we bring they are excited about it. On most trips we have taken over 1000 pounds of donations. One of the items we bring are sweaters and blankets made by the ladies in the stitching ministry in our church. From the very beginning we have done this.

When we first came into contact with Sister Ana Christina, and asked her what she needed for the children. One thing she asked for was warm clothing, like sweaters. We were shocked by this, after all the center is in Guatemala City, Guatemala. The question was, isn't Central America always hot. The answer is, it depends on where you are at.

The Nutritional center is located in Guatemala City. The elevation is about 5000 feet. A lot of the children live in the mountains and at greater elevations. When we were at the mission in San Lucas, the temperature during the day was in the 60's and 70's and at night 50's and 60's. Great weather, but not what you expect for Central America in July.

The sweaters made by the women in the stitching ministry are beautiful. They are hand made, either knitted or crocheted. They are soft and warm, and we have learned that the kids love colorful sweaters. The brighter the better, and without the American color/gender issues we are used to. This July we let the kids choose their sweater. A boy about 10 years old picked a pink sweater with a bunny on it. He loved that sweater!

The first time Michelle took sweaters to the center there was a boy who was blind. She put the Sweater on him, and his face lit up. He told Michelle, "I can't see, but I feel like I look really handsome. I feel like this is something very expensive."

We gained a lot of insight from Fr. Greg at the San Lucas mission on the last trip. He talked about things that you cannot get a Guatemalan to talk about. One of the things he discussed was the philosophy of the mission. Part of the philosophy at the San Lucas mission is the dignity of the person. These sweaters not only keep the children warm, but they make them feel good about themselves.

The sweaters are very special. We really appreciate the amount of time and love that the stitching ministry puts into making the sweaters. The ladies who make the sweaters, pray for the health and safety of the child that will wear the sweater. They also pray for the child's family. In return, the children at the center pray for them, as well as our church, and all the people who donate to help the Center and the people of Guatemala. The boy in the green sweater with stripes on it is Lester. You can see his photo below in the post from August 11. What and amazing transformation!

We all know how good it feels to have something new. Most, if not all, of these kids have never had a piece of new clothing. You can see how they are feeling by the smiles on their faces.

On a trip a few years ago, there was a girl named Fatima. She was 9 yrs old. She had this "lost" look in her eyes, such a deep sadness, something I had never seen before. We put the sweater on her and she got this big beautiful smile on her face. Sister Ana Cristina looked at us and said, "If there was any child in the world that needed to feel good about themself right now, it's her". She went on to explain that Fatima had come into the center two days before. She had been beaten and raped. I was so proud that someone in our little town of East Tawas had been so kind to make something to comfort this broken child. The person who made that sweater was so loving, to make and donate something that would literally cover this child in love and prayer. Someone she didn't even know.

Leap of Faith

The Cliff

The trip up the mountain

Making the jump

All of our mission trips seem to end up with a name. We don't start with one, we just wait and a name always comes up. It's similar to the way people who go with us are chosen. We just pray and leave it to God. Whenever we decide to do a trip, we put it up and say "God, we don't know who is going to go with us, but you just bring the people who were meant to go with us and we will take it from there."

Our mission trips have had names like the "Guatemala seven," and the "Guatemalan wedding crashers." Each name came up while we were in country and without much thought, it just happened. With the Guatemala Seven, that was just a play on the magnificent seven, that one of the men in our group just started calling us. As for the wedding crashers, during our free time we visited several churches. The country is filled with beautiful 500 year old churches. As we visited the churches, many times we walked in during a wedding. Of course we were in Guatemala, not the U.S., so it wasn't a big deal to have people milling around during the service. My family was invited to a wedding a couple of years ago, and most American brides would have flipped. A child walked up on the alter and strolled between the priest and the couple. Another kid did a cartwheel down the middle of the aisle, and one of the bridesmaids showed up 45 minutes into the service. None of it was a big deal and the ceremony just went on without interuption.

Maude making the jump

This year the trip became the leap of faith. This was both a literal and figurative name. On our last day of the trip we went cliff jumping. We went off a 30 foot cliff into Lake Atitlan. If was a major rush, and I would do it again. I would get all chest puffed about this, being 42 and doing crazy stuff, but two moms, both of whom are older than me went, and my sister in law Angela, who is afraid of heights and water went. In the face of that type of competition, its hard to be a tough guy. It was still and incredible thrill.

Whatever you do, Don't look down

The leap of faith goes deeper. When you go on a mission trip with us, many times it is not what you think it will be. A lot of people thought that they would go and spend a week doing hard labor. Trust me the people who go get the opportunity to do the jobs that an everyday Guatemalan gets to do, but it is also a spiritual journey, and an opportunity to face the unknown and even a few fears.

Some of the kids making the jump

Many people who go do not come back the same. Once they have had the opportunity to meet some of the people in Guatemala, they find that they have such a personal relationship with God and know more about faith than we can even imagine, it is hard to come back the same.

Yeah that's me

The trip truly is a LEAP OF FAITH.

This is the famous scene where Michelle broke her ankle. She was walking off of the mountain after we went cliff jumping. Michelle opted out of jumping. She stepped wrong on a rock, and slipped breaking her fibula in two spots. She is the toughest person I know. She walked off of the mountain, and then another two days with her foot just wrapped. The mission has a hospital, and the doctor checked it. They didn't have an x-ray tech until late in the afternoon, and we were scheduled to go to Guatemala City that morning. She decided to leave and if it got too bad she would go to the hospital at the nutritional center. It was interesting in the hospital room, because the doctor only spoke a Mayan dialect, so he had someone interprete to Spainish and then a person who interpreted from Spainish to English (I can only speak basic Spainish, anything complicated and I need help).

The scene of the crime

Lester, the child not worth saving

People who have heard us make presentations about the nutritional center in the last couple of years have heard of Lester, the "miracle baby." We had the pleasure of seeing him on our trip in July. He is a very healthy 5 year old.

The first picture of Lester from Sr. Ana Christina

In October 2005 Sister Ana Christina called our house in a panic. She had just received a new baby who was in very bad condition. The baby was one year old and only weighed 9 pounds. His name is Lester.

Lester's family went to three different doctors, before being sent to Sr. Ana Christina. Each of the doctors told his Mother the same thing. "This child is going to die, there is nothing I can do for him, so take him home and let him die, he is not worth saving." As a parent in America, this would be appalling how could a doctor say such a thing? But in Guatemala, this is reality. They don't have health insurance. There is no Medicaid to help. If you didn't have enough money to feed your child, you certainly don't have money to pay a doctor or hospital.

The worst of the worst

The last doctor did say that there was a nun in this Santo Hermono Pedro hospital, who might be able to help. He made the referral to Sr. Ana Christina, and we got the call. Sister called and told us of this baby, and that she needed help. The child was so sick that she needed to hire two people to care for him. The ladies would work 12 hours shifts, and their only job was to take care of Lester. Lester was in such poor condition, that they could not just feed him. He was filled with parasites and his digestive system was a wreck. All he could handle was 1 teaspoon of a nutritional drink (similar to our our baby formula) every 15 minutes. He was so weak that if he even caught a cold, he would die. His breathing was labored and Sister wasn't even sure if he would make it through the night. She stayed at his bedside on her knees and prayed over him all night long. In the morning he was still alive. Each day he got stronger.

Lester 2006

We had a friend e-mail us photos of Lester, and took them to Fr. Don Geyman. His response was to have a special collection this week and we will send her the money we raised. We went to the church with it that weekend and raised over $3,000.00! The members of Holy Family parish heard the call and saved this child. All of the prayers and financial support came just in time to make the difference in this one child's life.

Lester is still at the center, he is very healthy and very much a 5 year old boy. His fine motor skills are delayed but they said he seems to have normal intelligence.

Sr. Ana Christina has never lost a child

The only sad news is that his families condition has not improved. Lester will stay with Sr. Ana Christina until things turn around for his family. Lets pray that comes soon.

Lester today with Sr. Ana Christina and Michelle

Fr. Francis Rother, the martyr

When we planned the mission trip for July 2008, I was a little concerned because we always schedule some tourist time for the people who come with us. Because of the flight schedule we were not able to do this. Since we had never been to this mission before, we did not know their philosophy about mission work. I was please when we arrived to find out that the mission plans an excursion on the lake for the missionaries.

The trip consisted of two stops the first was in Santiago and the second was in Panajachel. We had met this group from California. Absolutely great people, friendly, kind, helpful, and they had been to this mission before. Their group was headed by Deacon Pat Kearns (I stole the idea of a blog from him, We all know that no lawyer has ever had an original idea, they get it from someone else). You can read more about Pat, his family, and San Lucas Toliman on his blog http://www.patkearns.blogspot.com/.

Pat said we should go to the church in Santiago and then shop in Panajachel. We took the approach of , hey you know the neighborhood, we will just follow your lead. Church at Santiago

He took us into a side garden, and then into this tiny room, and I was thinking ...OK this is nice but what is in here, other than a restroom, and I really needed one. He said "This is where Fr. Francis Rother was martyred." I immediately had chills.
Fr. Rother came to Guatemala, in a manner very similar to Fr. Greg. It was a call by the Bishop of Guatemala for priests. When he got there he really connected with the indigenous people. He learned their language, and transcribed the Bible into their native language. The first thing he did when he arrived was plant corn. No priest had ever done this before.
The Maya loved him. Lake Atitlan was a hot bed for the civil war, in Guatemala. From what I've read and heard, the Maya took the brunt of the civil war. It was close to an attempt at Genocide. Fr. Greg became their voice and protector.
Because of this, he was placed on a death list. When word got out about this, he was forced to go back to Oklahoma by his Bishop. He stayed in the U.S. until they thought the heat was off and then he returned to Guatemala.
After he returned, he remained on the death list, and he was warned that he remained in grave danger. In June of 1981, his top catechist was abducted from the steps of the church, and was never seen again.
On July 26 1981 three masked men came to the church. They found a man in his room and forced him at gun point to take them to Fr. Rother. As they approached Father's room, the man warned Father that they had come to get him. Fr. Rother knew that if he allowed these men to take him, he would be tortured, killed and his body would never be seen again. The army would then use his disappearance against the people in his parish. He decided to fight the men. They shot him. The bullet hole is in the picture on the right. We saw the blood stains which still remain on the wall.
The Maya wanted him to be buried at the church. His family wanted his body here in the U.S. They came to an agreement, his heart and a gallon of his blood (both are very important to the Mayan people) would be buried in Guatemala and the rest of his body would be buried in the U.S.
Ten years ago the church was being renovated and his heart had to be moved. Fr. Greg was present . When the heart and blood were removed
His heart was still pink and fleshy, and his blood was still liquid.
They have applied for Sainthood for Fr. Rother. The beatification of his heart and blood is the first miracle, and they are looking for two more.



The plaque dedicating the chapel

The Chapel

Leap of Faith youth mission trip San Lucas Toliman work

In San Lucas Toliman we did physical labor assisting in the construction of the Women's center and also at the reforestation project. The Women's Center construction project is being built as a place where women in the community can go and learn skills for both the home and vocational skills. It has been under construction for a couple of years.

Construction in Guatemala is very different than in the United States. In the U.S., we borrow the money and build it as fast as possible and then worry about paying for it later. In Guatemala, we find that they save their money, build a little, save their

money build a little more, and eventually your project Women's Center
is complete.

We did a couple of thing at the women's center. First we mined Lava rock out of the side of this hill. Then we took the rocks up the hill to a cistern by the Center. The Lava rocks are going to be used as a filter for a rain collection cistern.
We also filled bags of dirt from the volcanic soil in this hill. Volcanic soil is incredibly rich and will grow any thing. The center has several gardens surrounding it. Some the the gardens provide nice relaxing spaces, others grow fruits and others have medicinal plants.
The goal of the center is to build the self esteem of the women in the area. It does this by giving them a peaceful and safe place to go and learn.

We also worked on the reforestation project the mission has. This area was hit hard by mudslides from a hurricane. The mission has been running this project for 27 years. They start the trees from seeds and grow them

until they are small trees. They then take them out and plant the trees where ever there is bare ground. They teach the people the importance of planting strong trees with good roots. They also go into the schools to teach the kids.

We dug dirt from a compost pile, sifted it and then filled the little bags with the dirt. The compost dirt was made from a mixture of coffee shells and manure.

I'm told that filling the bags is very relaxing. I couldn't tell you, because I spent the day digging and sifting dirt.

The hand sifter we used was tough work, although the Guatemalans made it look easy.


Taking a break with Jesse

Sharon Maude Jordan and Alyssa Filling Bags

Jesse hauling dirt

Bailey, McKenzie, Eva, Michelle and Shelly Alex and Michelle Sifting dirt

Sophia filling bags

Alex and Jesse

The bags we filled

Our pile of rocks

Me, Jesse, Craig and Alex taking a break from digging dirt.

Church in San Lucas 2008 Youth mission trip "Leap of Faith"

We had our second youth mission trip to Guatemala earlier this Summer. We had previously taken adults and another youth group and my family has gone several times on our own on vacation/mission trips. This time the trip started in San Lucas Toliman Guatemala. Located on Lake Atitlan, it is one of the most beautiful places on earth.

We had a group of 16 people that went. Included in the group is my wife Michelle, Daughter Sophia and sister in law Angela. It is always fun to introduce a group of teenagers to mission work. They are so open and they absorb the entire experience.

We started the trip in San Lucas Toliman Guatemala. The mission is run by Father Greg. He has been at the mission for 45 years. He out lasted the countries 33 year civil war, while living in the hot bed of the revolution. He is one of those truly Holy people, you can feel it in his presence.


The mission has several projects that they are working on. They have a hospital, school, a coffee co-op, and a reforestation project. It really is a great mission. We really liked the mission and its philosophy. One of the pillars of the mission is the dignity of the person. We could see that with the way the Guatemalans treated us and especially in the way they responded to Fr. Greg.
Michelle and I overlooking Cielo
D'Oro
Mass was incredible. I have never seen a procession take so long, because Fr. Greg was stopping and talking to his parishioners, hugging them and blessing them. I compared it to Mass here, and I could imagine people here getting mad because he took time for for the people he was tending to. The at the sign of peace I think that every child under 10 years of age ran to the front of the church to hug Fr. Greg.

We arrived for mass about 15 minutes before it began. The place was packed, and it looked like every seat was taken. All of a sudden people started squishing in (no ushers, the people in the pews just did this) and started calling us over. We couldn't sit together, but they accommodated our sixteen and I think another 30 people.




Inside the church at San Lucas Toliman

Mass was packed and people kept arriving all throughout the service. The incredible thing for our group of Americans was that it was not an issue if you came late, or didn't have a seat, or Mass went late, or Father Greg spent additional time with the people who came in.
The Mass was vibrant. The music was beautiful and everyone sang. We usually sing loud enough to be heard, but not loud enough to offend the person sitting next to you. But in Guatemala, singing ability is not an issue, praising God is, and they belted it out, without shame, because their purpose was greater than who has a good voice. It was great.