Imagine...

Imagine washing your clothes in a river with pigs bathing near you. Imagine your baby crawling on the dirt floor of the tin-roof shack you call home. You have access to running water for only a few hours a week. Your five-year-old has parasites from the contaminated water, and it is not feasible to get to the doctor when you need one.

This is a reality for families living in San Nicolas, Guatemala. Sadly, the shortage of proper nutrition, adequate education and medical attention are only scratching the surface; the realities experienced by these people are only the external symptoms of a greater and deeper need - the need for Jesus.

The families of San Nicolas experience poverty that is not just financial but spiritual as well. This manifests itself in fathers being unfaithful and leaving mothers to care for children alone, frequent accounts of physical abuse and incest, and teenagers turning to alcohol to quiet the hopelessness that exists in their minds. Each spiritual lack has led to the dissolution of the family unit within the people of San Nicolas. These sad realities all point to one thing - lack of intimate knowledge in the personhood of Jesus Christ, as He and His truths are revealed in Scripture and by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Now imagine missionaries coming to your town. Some of them are doctors who set up times of medical services. They give you and your children much-needed nutritional supplements. They give your five-year-old medication for the parasites. They purchase land to set up a clinic right in your village. They help you sustain your crops to better support your family. And most importantly, the missionaries proclaim the Gospel to you and your children. They pray with you and offer you retreats to draw you to the One “who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s” (Psalm 103:3-5).