On Giving Tuesday, May 5, 2020, we asked people to give to the work of All Nations’ frontline missionaries who are actively responding to the COVID crisis. We received a bit over $4000. 100% of those funds have gone to our missionaries who are actively providing relief in response to COVID.
Through this relief, our frontline missionaries are bringing the hope of Jesus to those filled with fear and despair. This is the second of four reports from the field relating how these funds have been used, from Greg in Guatemala.
Rural Guatemala: Serving the Neglected
We have been working in rural Guatemala for close to 20 years. Our team now serves the poor, neglected and those with disabilities near Canilla, Guatemala, and also adult seniors at our full time care center called House of Refuge. We are currently working towards opening a second care ministry for homeless families, specifically single mothers with young children. This will be called Good Samaritan House, and we hope to have it functioning in mid June. It will have an agricultural business component of vegetable farming that will involve the resident families.
Our COVID response.
The COVID situation has been a huge challenge for those we serve and for others here in rural Guatemala. Things really intensified in mid May. The government has imposed a complete lockdown on the country. This includes all forms of transport – even people on bicycles are being stopped by the police. Our ministry just purchased a new ambulance bus with which we are able to serve the rural population by transporting them to regional medical clinics and hospitals. This has been a blessing for them especially during this time on the ban on all forms of public transport.
We have continued actively serving through this crisis. In mid May we completed a food distribution project to the surrounding areas here in Canilla. In total we were able to bless 1061 vulnerable people in 36 communities mainly focusing on widows, single mothers, special needs and the elderly.
The funds you sent went into this effort of food distribution. Thank you for your generosity and for being part of the effort to love and serve others as Jesus commanded…. and, in doing so, to love and serve Jesus himself.
Below you can click through to a short video which we made. The scripture written in Spanish throughout is this: “Then the King will say, ‘I’m telling the solemn truth: Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me—you did it to me.’”
This team is now responding to the collapse of hospitals in the country (due to large number of cases). They are converting one of their facilities into an emergency hospital and recovery center for patients. They have 35 beds in the current stage, and are in need of funds to provide medicine and equipment.
If you would like to link arms with frontline missionaries who are bringing the hope of Jesus to those filled with fear and despair, you can still give to this fund here.
