It Takes a Village to Change Another
Aldea Nueva is a village tucked into mountains of The Cerro San Gil of Izabal. From El Faro it is a good 30-minute drive and then a good hour hike in deep mud straight up until you reach a small community of about 40 families, a one-roomed schoolhouse, one church, and of course a soccer field. Many of the men of this village used to work in a teak wood farm near El Faro but two years ago the trees were cut and the farm is now in the growing stage which requires little help leaving the men of the communities without jobs.
Pastor Gerardo, the pastor of the Evangelical church of Punta de Palma and pictured above in the red shirt, gets together with all of the pastor’s once a month to have their denominational meeting. It was in one of the these meetings he heard direct from the mouth of the pastor of Aldea Nueva that the people there were in great need. He took it upon himself to speak with the members of his church and starting five years ago they began to travel to Aldea Nueva to bring what little they have to bless others.
The beauty of this project is that it began in the heart of the local church. They have seen how El Faro has helped many of the villages including theirs and decided to do something themselves. Last December pastor Gerardo approached Luis Pedro Rios, the director of missions, to see if we had any shoes, clothing, food, toys, or children’s activities we could donate to them to give to Aldea Nueva. Throughout the year we have many teams donate clothes or leave clothes behind and we wash and save them to sell to raise money for missions projects. We still had a lot of clothing left over from the year and were able to give them three big duffle bags full of clothing and shoes and the church of Punta de Palma raised money and bought members of their church to travel and bless Aldea Nueva.
It has truly been inspiring to see this small church make such a big difference in another community. The people of Punta de Palma don’t have much and yet they are giving so much. They are looking beyond themselves and their circumstances to recognize that God can use them as much or even more than the people of El Faro.
We want to help Gerardo’s church and encourage them to be the difference. They dream of doing various outreaches each year and we want them to dream big without boundaries. Saying this, there is a huge physical need of the people of Aldea Nueva and the surrounding villages that are even more remote. Puerto Barrios is too far for these villagers to travel to receive health attention so many have lived many years with pain.
In January we would like to team with Gerardo’s church and reach out to these remote villages to meet their physical needs. We will be teaming up with a nursing team from the states and also partner with Guatemalan doctors and dentists to see as many villagers as we can in two days. In order to do this we need help purchasing medical supplies and medications, the hosting of the doctors, and also transportation to the village. These people need to know that they are not forgotten.
If you would like to help support this medical trip and bring physical healing to those who have never seen a doctor before please click HERE