James 1:27 says, “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.” I cannot think of a better way to describe the ministry that we had the privilege of being a part of last month in Guatemala. We spent the first 4 days getting to know our contact Dave and the ministry that he runs. He was only with us for those 4 days, but during that time he cast a vision for the month and it was apparent that his heart was for the widows of the small town he lived in called Xenacoj.
Xenacoj is a very small, 100% mayan town. The hierarchical system in Guatemala is as follows. Latinos’ are the highest, then Mayans, followed by women, and finally are the widows. They are the lowest of the low. The ministry’s view of a widow is a woman without a present in husband for any reason. Many of the widow’s husbands have in fact passed away, but there are many woman who have husbands who have simply just left, found other women to marry and have children with, or simply take no responsibility for the woman or the children she had from him.
After Dave left to go back to the States, we worked with German who ran the ministry day to day in Guatemala. German is probably the sweetest man that I have ever met and his love for the widows and children in Xenacoj and the surrounding villages seems to have no end. In the first week we hosted 3 Mother’s Day parties for the widows. We roasted 2 pigs, gave the women small gifts, fed them, sang and prayed over them. They were so appreciative and seemed to have a blast. We celebrated over 300 widows at those parties and almost every single one made it a point to come and hug us at the end. They were so sweet and a gift to us. Along with the Mother’s Day parties, we spent most afternoons walking around Xenacoj with German and visiting widows in their homes. We met some incredible women and were blessed just to spend a little bit of time with them. We had the privilege of singing and praying for them in their home.
Along with celebrating and visiting widows, we did a lot of work with orphans and children. We would spend the mornings going to a couple of different villages to play with kids and visit classes in school. The first time we went to a village called Cruz Ayapan and we got to feed the kids at school. We spent a lot of time in that village developing relationships with the kids and teachers. The kids were slow to open up but after a few visits, they really grew to like us and interacted with our team so much more. On the last day in that village we brought piñatas for the kids and it was a riot. I will never forget those little kids going to town on the piñatas and making a mad dash for the candy.
All and all my month in Guatemala was nothing short of incredible. I have so many more memories that I know I will never forget! I met some incredible people, got to love on women that have nothing, but still pour all of the love they have into us, and experienced God in a new way. If Thailand is even half as good as Guatemala was for me then it will be a fantastic month. Till next time, be blessed.
With love, Brent
