Below is an entry from my personal blog that I posted on April 28, 2009. I am reposting it here in order to explain the humble beginnings that birthed Life of Promise Ministries four years ago. Yes, it began with "the love of one..." and that "one" was our little Gabby (referred to below by her given name of Justina). You can read more personal stories of the women and children we are ministering to at: [email protected]
I hope these stories bless you and encourage you to follow the Lord with your whole heart.
--Arlene
Before we met Justina on November 8 of 2008, our lives were literally and figuratively "worlds apart" from hers. Let me give you a bit of a background to let you know where she came from. Please keep in mind that although I am giving this my best possible effort, there is no way to adequately describe in words the world she comes from. It is so foreign to most people, that on your first visit you would think you must be on a movie set where even the smells are piped in for added effect.
Michael and Rocky Beene began Faith in Action Ministries more than 20 years ago. Their very first calling as a couple was to the mountains of Guatemala, where the Lord led them to bring the gospel to the indigenous Mayan Indian people of Matessano and Pinalito. These people were driven off their native land in the fertile valleys by colonial rulers from Spain nearly 300 years ago, and forced to settle in the mountains where the terrain is very steep, the land is unsuitable for farming, and clean drinking water is not available.
The poverty, serious health problems, lack of education and primitive lifestyle of these people make it appear as if they are among the insignificant and forgotten of the world. Families live in huts with thatched roofs made of palm leaves and walls made of bamboo. They cook over open fires inside these huts, so respiratory problems are rampant and death from lung disease is common. Their main crop is corn, and corn tortillas are the main staple of their diet. Young girls and women wear homemade native dresses, while men and boys wear jeans and t-shirts or western-style shirts. Most children go barefoot, and by age 10 the bottoms of their feet look like they were painted with black tar. The children have only a handful of outfits, and most of their clothes are tattered and quite dirty.
Every man and boy over age 8 carries a machete and knows how to use it for routine activities and for protection. The extremely steep and rugged terrain forces the people to practice the ancient tradition of subsistence farming. Men often sleep in their corn fields with machetes in order to protect their crops from the rampant theft that takes place in the mountains.
Ever since the indigenous population was ruthlessly exploited by Spanish colonial settlers, they have not trusted those who are educated, and thus do not value literacy or education in general. Although Faith in Action opened a grade school in Pinalito many years ago, only a small percentage of the village children are allowed by their parents to attend school. Many drop out and do not even graduate from the sixth grade.
The physical and practical disadvantages of the mountain people are compounded by the emotional and spiritual strongholds of the ancient superstitions and false religions they observe. A mixture of warped Catholicism presented by Spanish colonists and Mayan beliefs passed down through many generations, has developed into practices steeped in fear and hopelessness. Only those who have accepted the gospel live with any real joy, moral character and sense of purpose.
This is the world into which Justina de Rosa Perez entered on June 1, 2008. Her mother died the very next day due to complications of childbirth, leaving a husband and six children under age 10. The missionaries' account of Juana's death is sad and shocking, but the reality is that death from preventable or treatable health problems is all too common in the mountains.
On June 2, missionaries Ron Moro and Nathan Sampson were at the mission base in Pinalito when Juana's husband, Nicholas, frantically urged them to come to his hut immediately. He explained that his wife had not eaten for eight days and now she was lying in the hut and could not speak. They rushed over to find the woman in a semi-conscious state with leaves stuck in her nose and ears. They recognized the leaves as the work of a witch doctor performing some type of ceremony in an attempt to save her life. They quickly performed CPR and began praying for her as well.
At that point, a female witch doctor entered the hut and tried to force Juana to drink some kind of black liquid. Ron and Nathan tried to stop her, but by then it was too late. Justina's mother breathed her last breath, as her children and husband stood by wailing in grief. The witch doctor frantically summoned the children over to Juana's side and placed her lifeless hand on each child's forehead in an attempt to transfer her spirit to them. The two missionaries began to pray out loud for the family, and at that point the witch doctor angrily left the hut.
In the midst of the chaos, Ron noticed that the oldest child had picked up a newborn baby. It was then that they realized the cause of the mother's death. They stayed quite a while with the family to pray for them, and then returned to the mission base to gather some food for them. The mission continued to provide formula for the baby, but the other children in the family also drank it because they had so little food to eat. The baby was left in the care of her 9 year-old sister, Brenda Maribel, when their father went away to work in the coffee fields. Juana's sister also took the baby for two weeks but then returned her to the family, saying that she could not handle an infant plus all of her own children.
One day in the fall, Ron and his teenage children visited Nicholas' hut and found that the baby was extremely malnourished. The bottle she was drinking from was completely filthy and the nipple was full of dirt and fungus. They asked Nicholas for permission to take the baby to the mission base and nurse her back to health. He agreed, and that's how our lives crossed paths as we arrived in Guatemala that day in November to help our missionary friends with a construction project. To be continued...
I hope these stories bless you and encourage you to follow the Lord with your whole heart.
--Arlene
Before we met Justina on November 8 of 2008, our lives were literally and figuratively "worlds apart" from hers. Let me give you a bit of a background to let you know where she came from. Please keep in mind that although I am giving this my best possible effort, there is no way to adequately describe in words the world she comes from. It is so foreign to most people, that on your first visit you would think you must be on a movie set where even the smells are piped in for added effect.
Michael and Rocky Beene began Faith in Action Ministries more than 20 years ago. Their very first calling as a couple was to the mountains of Guatemala, where the Lord led them to bring the gospel to the indigenous Mayan Indian people of Matessano and Pinalito. These people were driven off their native land in the fertile valleys by colonial rulers from Spain nearly 300 years ago, and forced to settle in the mountains where the terrain is very steep, the land is unsuitable for farming, and clean drinking water is not available.
The poverty, serious health problems, lack of education and primitive lifestyle of these people make it appear as if they are among the insignificant and forgotten of the world. Families live in huts with thatched roofs made of palm leaves and walls made of bamboo. They cook over open fires inside these huts, so respiratory problems are rampant and death from lung disease is common. Their main crop is corn, and corn tortillas are the main staple of their diet. Young girls and women wear homemade native dresses, while men and boys wear jeans and t-shirts or western-style shirts. Most children go barefoot, and by age 10 the bottoms of their feet look like they were painted with black tar. The children have only a handful of outfits, and most of their clothes are tattered and quite dirty.
Every man and boy over age 8 carries a machete and knows how to use it for routine activities and for protection. The extremely steep and rugged terrain forces the people to practice the ancient tradition of subsistence farming. Men often sleep in their corn fields with machetes in order to protect their crops from the rampant theft that takes place in the mountains.
Ever since the indigenous population was ruthlessly exploited by Spanish colonial settlers, they have not trusted those who are educated, and thus do not value literacy or education in general. Although Faith in Action opened a grade school in Pinalito many years ago, only a small percentage of the village children are allowed by their parents to attend school. Many drop out and do not even graduate from the sixth grade.
The physical and practical disadvantages of the mountain people are compounded by the emotional and spiritual strongholds of the ancient superstitions and false religions they observe. A mixture of warped Catholicism presented by Spanish colonists and Mayan beliefs passed down through many generations, has developed into practices steeped in fear and hopelessness. Only those who have accepted the gospel live with any real joy, moral character and sense of purpose.
This is the world into which Justina de Rosa Perez entered on June 1, 2008. Her mother died the very next day due to complications of childbirth, leaving a husband and six children under age 10. The missionaries' account of Juana's death is sad and shocking, but the reality is that death from preventable or treatable health problems is all too common in the mountains.
On June 2, missionaries Ron Moro and Nathan Sampson were at the mission base in Pinalito when Juana's husband, Nicholas, frantically urged them to come to his hut immediately. He explained that his wife had not eaten for eight days and now she was lying in the hut and could not speak. They rushed over to find the woman in a semi-conscious state with leaves stuck in her nose and ears. They recognized the leaves as the work of a witch doctor performing some type of ceremony in an attempt to save her life. They quickly performed CPR and began praying for her as well.
At that point, a female witch doctor entered the hut and tried to force Juana to drink some kind of black liquid. Ron and Nathan tried to stop her, but by then it was too late. Justina's mother breathed her last breath, as her children and husband stood by wailing in grief. The witch doctor frantically summoned the children over to Juana's side and placed her lifeless hand on each child's forehead in an attempt to transfer her spirit to them. The two missionaries began to pray out loud for the family, and at that point the witch doctor angrily left the hut.
In the midst of the chaos, Ron noticed that the oldest child had picked up a newborn baby. It was then that they realized the cause of the mother's death. They stayed quite a while with the family to pray for them, and then returned to the mission base to gather some food for them. The mission continued to provide formula for the baby, but the other children in the family also drank it because they had so little food to eat. The baby was left in the care of her 9 year-old sister, Brenda Maribel, when their father went away to work in the coffee fields. Juana's sister also took the baby for two weeks but then returned her to the family, saying that she could not handle an infant plus all of her own children.
One day in the fall, Ron and his teenage children visited Nicholas' hut and found that the baby was extremely malnourished. The bottle she was drinking from was completely filthy and the nipple was full of dirt and fungus. They asked Nicholas for permission to take the baby to the mission base and nurse her back to health. He agreed, and that's how our lives crossed paths as we arrived in Guatemala that day in November to help our missionary friends with a construction project. To be continued...
RSS Feed