The pandemic has affected thousands of people in Guatemala. Many have lost their jobs. This lack of work has continued to aggravate the crisis for many families.
In response to this disaster, we have been working with local churches to distribute food baskets to families, widows, single mothers, the elderly and those under active quarantine. Throughout this project, we shared the gospel with more than 1,500 people, five of whom made immediate commitments to Jesus.
In one of the communities served, an elderly woman spent each day collecting aluminum cans and iron scraps she’d found on the street to sell in order feed her family. As she passed by my house, I gave her a food box and shared the story of God’s love with her.
Tears began streaming down her face—she couldn’t contain her gratitude for the love she was shown! She shared that she had never received similar help before, let alone from a church.
I offered a food box to another woman who was surviving by selling chocolates on the street with her two small children. She told me that she was forced to leave her husband due to physical abuse at home and now, she was left to support her three children alone.
Each day, she had to travel by bus to go to another community to sell her products, earn money and purchase a small bag of food to take home to her kids. Along with the supplies, we shared the hope of the gospel, and she was able to return home that day with enough food to keep her family fed for two weeks.
Please pray for job opportunities for those who received food boxes, as they struggle to find work in the midst of economic turmoil, and pray for the local churches we partnered with to continue finding ways to minister to their communities.
Published September 8, 2023