What If This Was the Fate of Your Letters?
After taking a trip to Guatemala with Compassion, sponsor and ministry advocate Julie Berger felt a responsibility to protect all other sponsors from what she experienced. Let her explain…
You Saved a Life
One of the benefits Rossy received as a sponsored child was a medical checkup. It was during her first medical checkup that the doctor identified a suspicious murmur in her heart.
Ministry Highlight: Guatemala
We began our ministry in Guatemala in 1976 as a family help program run by missionaries. The Child Sponsorship Program started in 1980, and the Leadership Development Program began in 1997.
To finish well in life it makes an enormous difference if you have opportunities that allow you to begin well. Our Child Survival and Leadership Development programs help children living in extreme poverty to both begin and finish well.
Keeping Dreams Alive in the Midst of Hardship
Cobán is beautiful city, but plagued by major issues like extreme poverty, alcoholism and drug trafficking. Poverty is rampant in Cobán, with 61 percent of its population living in poverty and 26 percent in extreme poverty. Lack of education and job opportunities, large families and high-priced food are just some of the reasons for the…
Easter in Guatemala
Guatemala, a country whose whose religion is chiefly Roman Catholic and Protestant, is deeply rooted in local traditions, making the celebration of Easter a colorful and massive one.
The First Letter Builds a Cornerstone
The first letters are a cornerstone to building the new relationship between sponsor and sponsored child. These letters make the sponsorship commitment more personal, and now Vanesa and Alexandra will be waiting to hear back from their sponsors.
We Teach Children How to Dream
The youths in our student centers face many challenges. Because of cultural paradigms, poor academic preparation by the national school system (especially in rural areas), and financial barriers, one of the greatest challenges for youths is learning how to dream.
The Heart and Soul of Guatemala (in Pictures)
Pictures courtesy of Keely Scott. Visit compassionbloggers.com to experience all of the highlights of the Guatemala blog trip through the words, pictures and videos of the team.
From Cristo Rey de Gloria Student Center (GU-970) in Guatemala. Shaun Groves takes you on a two-minute tour of the child development center and shows you what it looks and sounds like when the children are there.
A Cup of Gratitude
The woman gleefully handed me a cup. It was filled with a warm drink made of corn and cinnamon. Our staff guide looked at me and said, “She wants to offer you and the group this drink. Please take it, so you are not rude, but don’t drink it for it might make you sick.”
Our Sixth Blog Trip Begins Sept. 8
The Compassion Bloggers are traveling to Guatemala on their latest trip to see our ministry in action.
Made for Each Other
Each of your sponsored children is uniquely yours. You may not know the reason exactly, but that child was chosen by you for a reason. And you were chose for for that child.
Baking Without a KitchenAid in Sight
The girls teaching me to bake were part of a baking class at the Compassion student center I was visiting in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala. As part of the class, they make snacks for the nearly 400 students at the center. They also make baked goods they can sell in the community. With that money, they have…
A Pear and Prayer
There is nothing in the world like visiting a Compassion-assisted child’s home. Absolutely nothing. Nothing can prepare you for the sights, the sounds, the smells. Most of all, nothing can prepare you for the beating your heart is about to take. It’s like you got in a fight with the Holy Spirit. And every time,…
Overcoming Gender Inequality in Guatemala
Born and raised in Ixtahuacán, Huehuetenango, a town very close to the Guatemala-Mexico border, Silvia’s childhood was very hard.
Beautiful green mountains, fresh air and a quiet small town were the landscapes that surrounded Silvia throughout her childhood and adolescence. But Silvia had to make her best efforts to break many barriers that tried to stop…
Chico Accepts Christ
This week, I witnessed one of the most precious moments I’ve experienced since working at Compassion. I’m traveling as a writer with about 25 sponsors on a Sponsor Tour in Guatemala. On Monday, a few of us visited Chico’s home.
Chico is an adorable 9 -year-old sponsored child. He and eight other family members live…
My Best Day in Ministry: A Changed Perspective
Haley Birdyshaw, a supervisor in our contact center, took a group of employees on an exposure trip to Guatemala. The trip was a life-changing experience.
Many had never traveled outside of the United States, let alone experienced extreme poverty first-hand. As a result, their perspectives changed from “I answer questions on the phone” to…
Attacking the Global Food Crisis in Guatemala
Tall green mountains, healthy crops, rain right after noonday, wholesome soils. This used to be what people pictured when they thought of Guatemala.
But not anymore. The food crisis in Guatemala has become so severe that the president has declared a state of calamity, and the rate of undernutrition in children under 5 has reached…
We must ignite passion for children in poverty, to the glory of God. Nobody is garbage.
You can also view the Comfort the Afflicted and Afflict the Comfortable video on YouTube.
The Key to Solving the Global Food Crisis
I heard the other day what many would call “good news.” According to the Federal Reserve Chairman, Ben Bernanke, the recession is over.
Only the thing is, the “good-ness” of this news is relative … it’s only true for those of us living within certain geographic boundaries (read: the developed world.)
So, while we may be…
Guatemala Food Crisis: Compassion on CNN
Edouard Lassegue is the Vice President of our Central America and Caribbean Region. He talks about our efforts to stem the food crisis in Guatemala.
Embedded video from CNN Video
You can also watch this video about the Guatemala Food Crisis on CNN.
Love Thy Neighbor (in Action)
A teacher of the law walks up to Jesus while He is teaching and asks Him, “Of all the commandments, which is the greatest?”
Jesus says to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second greatest commandment…
My Best Day in Ministry: Leadership Development
Luis Colmenares is the former country director for Compassion Guatemala. He currently lives in Colorado Springs and works for Human Resources in support of our International Program Group.
Luis shares about his best day in ministry with Compassion: the first Leadership Development Program graduation in Guatemala.
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Luis Colmenares
Maps of Child Development Center Locations
Copies of maps that list the child development center numbers and give a rough approximation of where the centers are located in relation to one another.
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