El Faro Team Board of Directors, Missionaries & Staff in Guatemala

Leadership rooted in Guatemala

Day-to-day ministry is led close to the people and communities El Faro serves. David Vasquez serves as Director in Guatemala, helping connect staff operations, program priorities, visiting teams, and the relationships that sustain the work throughout the year.

Missionary and ministry leaders including Jon Keehn, Karlita de Gomez, and Mirza de Keehn help guide programs, care for visiting teams, and keep ministry grounded in the daily life of local churches, families, and communities.

• David Vasquez — Director in Guatemala
• Jon Keehn — Missionary and ministry leader
• Karlita de Gomez — Ministry leader
• Mirza de Keehn — Ministry leader

A bridge for churches and mission teams

Job Hammond serves as United States Director and the primary U.S. contact for El Faro. He helps churches, medical professionals, volunteers, and mission teams move from an initial conversation toward a well-prepared visit.

Job and Jon Keehn connect preparation in the United States with on-the-ground logistics in Guatemala. That coordination includes early planning, project alignment, travel details, team communication, and helping each group understand how its service fits into El Faro’s long-term work.

• Initial team inquiries and planning conversations
• Dates, group size, and project alignment
• Pre-trip communication and preparation
• Coordination with El Faro’s Guatemala-based team

The founders and a long view

Phil and Nikki Ephraim first visited Guatemala in 1999 and fell in love with the country and its people. What began as a visit grew into a long-term calling. Land on the Caribbean coast was purchased in faith in 2001, and Misión El Faro began welcoming teams and serving communities in 2003.

That founding story still shapes the organization’s long view: meaningful change is built through presence, trust, and the willingness to keep showing up. El Faro’s eight-member Board of Directors supports that mission alongside the leaders and staff serving every day.

Forty-three people, many kinds of service

The public-facing programs are only part of the story. A mission campus, medical outreach, children’s ministry, community projects, and visiting teams all depend on people whose work may happen far from the spotlight.

Across departments, El Faro staff and volunteers create the practical foundation that allows ministry to remain consistent. Their work supports health and medical care, children and youth programs, community development, education and leadership training, and the teams who come to serve.

• Hospitality and guest care
• Kitchen and meal service
• Campus maintenance and construction
• Clinics and medical outreach
• Children’s and youth programs
• Administration and team logistics
• Transportation and boat operations
• Community relationships and outreach

People before programs

El Faro’s programs are designed to serve people, not reduce them to projects or statistics. Team members listen first, work alongside local leaders, and build relationships that continue beyond a single clinic, construction project, or mission trip.

Hospitality is part of that ministry. Visiting teams arrive as guests, serve as partners, and learn from the generosity, faith, and resilience of the people they meet. The goal is not a one-way act of service, but shared work that honors the strengths already present in each community.

• Listen before deciding what help should look like
• Let local churches and leaders help guide the work
• Welcome visiting teams as guests and partners
• Stay present beyond a single project or trip
• Make faith visible through practical care

One team across two countries

El Faro’s team spans Guatemala and the United States, but the work is held together by one mission. Guatemala-based leaders stay close to local relationships and day-to-day ministry. U.S.-based leadership helps prepare teams, strengthen partnerships, and connect people who want to serve with responsible opportunities.

That shared structure allows churches, volunteers, donors, and medical teams to participate in work that is locally informed and built for the long term. Every role contributes to the same purpose: being a steady lighthouse of hope on Guatemala’s Caribbean coast.