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Our Secondary Goal in Guatemala - And How You Can Pray

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Last week I blogged about Capitol Hill’s primary goal of planting a church in Lo de Lac, along with some ways that you can pray and some needs that you can meet.

So that you can continue to be praying for our trip on July 5-12, I want to let you know about our second mission trip goal: education.

Goal #2: Improve education around Lo de Lac

In the small mountain town of Lo de Lac where we are focusing our work, education opportunities are minimal. Education is offered up to sixth grade, but many of the children never make it that far.

Because the primary industry is farming, education is not highly valued by parents. Children are often encouraged not to attend school so they can help out on the family farm. And the idea of pursuing continued education past sixth grade would mean paying for tuition and walking long distances to secondary schools in neighboring towns, which is often not even feasible.

The result is that education, and particularly reading, is undervalued. Opportunities for other industry and income is limited. Poverty is commonplace. It is a tragic cycle.

Should We Even Care?

Is education and societal advancement in this Guatemalan town really in the purview of the Great Commission? Shouldn’t we really care only about their spiritual welfare? Just preach the gospel, right?

Well, not exactly.

If reading is undervalued (at best) and impossible (at worst) for these Guatemalan people made in the image of God, then how will they ever sit down and read the Word of God for themselves? How will they ever be able to read some of the great Christian discipleship books that have been tirelessly translated into Spanish?

Education is important for discipleship and the Great Commission.

If we can transform the education system in the area around Lo de Lac so that hundreds of Guatemalan children not only love reading, but have access to Bibles and Christian literature, imagine how things might change in one generation!


Our VBS team sharing Bible stories with the elementary students.

What we've done thus far

  • Our team put on a VBS at the elementary school in Lo de Lac.
  • Susan DeMoss has hosted multiple teachers training conferences in the area, having the opportunity to share the gospel with around 750 teachers and students.
  • We received a grant which provided many materials and math manipulatives which Susan distributed to multiple schools in the area.
  • We provided teachers with basic classroom supplies, such as pencils, erasers, paper, dry erase markers, and more.
  • Some generous gifts from our Hispanic ministry made it possible to install a computer lab in the elementary school in Lo de Lac.
  • We provided lunch and snacks for the teachers.


The computer lab that was installed in the elementary school.

What we plan to do this year

  • Our plan this year is to hold another large teacher's conference where teaching techniques are shared and, most importantly, the gospel is proclaimed.
  • Susan, Abi, and Pastor Isaias will visit each school in the area and continue to build relationships.
  • Basic school supplies will be given out to each teacher.

How You Can Pray

  • Please pray for Mary Lou, the headmaster at the elementary school in Lo de Lac. As Pastor Isaias says, “She is not a Christian…yet.” But she is a key part of our ability to minister there. Imagine what education could be if she was converted!
  • Pray for the teachers in the area. They are underfunded, underappreciated, and always in need of encouragement. Pray they respond to the gospel.
  • Pray for those children! Pray for their futures, their families, and that they would respond to the gospel.
  • Pray for Susan, Abi, and Pastor Isaias as they travel around from school to school, for safety, for health, and for boldness!

If you missed the first blog in this series, make sure to go read about our church planting efforts and how you can help!

Posted by Aaron Swain with
Tags: guatemala

Our Primary Goal in Guatemala - And How You Can Help

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On July 5-12, Capitol Hill will take its third mission trip to Guatemala. We believe God is doing some great things there and we want you to know what's going on and how you can join with us in this work.

We have some major goals that we want to accomplish in Guatemala. Today I want to make you aware of our primary goal. 

Goal #1: Plant a church in Lo de Lac, Guatemala

Lo de Lac, the birthplace and hometown of Pastor Isaias, is a small mountain village located about 35 miles north of Guatemala City. There is basically one road in and one road out; some of it paved, most of it rock and gravel, and all of it winding up the mountainside. It takes about two hours to make the trip. There are about 75 homes in vicinity of Lo de Lac and there are no gospel-preaching churches.

 
A typical home on the mountainside in Lo de Lac

We want to change that. We want to know that each week in Lo de Lac there are believers gathering together to worship the Lord Jesus Christ. We want to see believers converted and a church planted there.

What we’ve done thus far.

  • In 2015, Pastor Mark, Pastor Isaias, and Pastor Aaron went to Lo de Lac for one day to share the gospel with school children and their parents. We brought Spanish Bibles and tracts and some toys for the kids.
  • In 2016 we put on a Vacation Bible School at the local school in Lo de Lac. We did our best to love all 50 children and we capped it off by cooking food for the whole town.
  • In 2016 some of the members of our Hispanic ministry donated funds to provide the school with a computer lab.
  • In 2016, Pastor Isaias built a mission house that can be used to house mission teams and could be used to house a pastor in the future.
  • We hosted a Sunday morning worship service in the mission house. Over 40 people attended!
  • In 2017 our teams began making evangelistic home visits in Lo de Lac. We brought gift bags of supplies and prayed for each family.
  • In 2017 we also tried to bless some of the families by constructing wood burning stoves, which are vital to health and a sustainable lifestyle.

What we plan to do in Lo de Lac this year

  • Stay in the mission house for three nights this year so that we can really focus on this area.
  • Visit every home in Lo de Lac for the purpose of evangelism.
  • Bring a gift bag full of necessities such as flour, cooking oil, pain reliever, Pepto Bismol, bandages, rice, and beans to each home.
  • Bring each home a solar-powered audio Bible.
  • Open up the mission house each night for conversation, discussion, Bible teaching, prayer, singing, and of course, eating!
  • Host a worship service on Sunday morning at the mission house.


Last year we gave this lady a bag of supplies, an audio Bible, and prayed for her.

Ways you can pray

  • Pray for each home in Lo de Lac as we share the gospel. Pray for conversions!
  • Pray that we can find all of the homes and not be hindered by logistical snags.
  • Pray that people will come to our worship service and our open houses.
  • Pray for the conversion of Mary Lou, the headmaster of the school in Lo de Lac. Can you imagine what the future of Lo de Lac would look like if the headmaster was a believer in Jesus?
  • Pray that God would raise up a leader for this work in Guatemala, either from the people of Lo de Lac, or sent from a sister church in Guatemala.

Ways you can help

  • Purchase an audio Bible ($50) for a family in Lo de Lac. We need 50.
  • Purchase a gift bag of necessities ($25) for a family in Lo de lac. We need 50.
  • Purchase a bunk bed for the mission house ($450). We need 5.

To donate money for these needs, make a check out to Capitol Hill Baptist Church and write "Guatemala Missions" in the note, place cash in an envelope and write "Guatemala Missions" on the front, or donate online to the "Guatemalan Missions" fund at www.chbchurch.org/give

Also, check out the display table in the main hallway where you can try out the audio Bible and see a gift bag.

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