Gutemala Mission Report November 22 to December 15, 2013

Wow! What a trip the Lord had prepared for us. As always, we were blessed seventy fold

over the blessings we were able to bring.

We started with a late arrival (12 am) in Guatemala City. A nice gentleman helped us with

our bags, noticed our “Mission Team” tee shirts, thanked us for coming, and herded us right

through customs. Saturday we spent planning the week of Bi-Lingual VBS with Rebeca de

Franco. Sunday we traveled to Las Pacayas. (a remote Mayan village at about 4000 feet in the

Sierra Madres) We have now dubbed it the

“Week in the Clouds” as clouds moved in on

Tuesday and stayed. Temperatures were also

in the 40s as we slept on the floor of an

unheated church.

The VBS is called Bi-Lingual because Uspanteco

(1 of 23 Mayan dialects still used in Guatemala)

is the only language the children are supposed to

speak until a certain age. What a wonderful way

to maintain a culture.

If I have learned only one thing working in the mission field it is that children are the same no

matter where you go. These children were no different. They were smiling, cheerful and loving.

They couldn’t wait to come to VBS standing out in the cold and rain as much as an hour before

the sessions started. Some had obviously waded through mud to get there.

This program has being presented each year for

the past 13 years. It has been presented by

Rebeca de Franco with C.P.T.L.N (Christ for all

Nations) – affiliated with Lutheran Hour

Ministries. Rebeca’s staff and friends from her

Church in Guatemala City present the program

along with the help of local youth who have

been participants in the program in past years.

This year the children learned about four of

the ten commandments throughout the week.

More of the commandments will be studied in

the coming years.

Daily sessions included crafts with the

children using crayons provided by the

students of St Paul Lutheran School in Jackson,

MO. Nearly 300 children attended in two

sessions daily. Youth as well as adults

attended three evening sessions. These

session topics included self esteem and good

Christian values. The youth enjoyed some very

interesting games. Movies were also shown in

the evenings using a projector provided to

project JOEL (Youth with Free Spirit) by the

students of St Paul on a previous mission trip to

Guatemala.

Two afternoon sessions during the week were dedicated to distributing Hope Seeds to the

families in the area. For those who don’t know, Hope Seeds is a Christian based organization

distributing good quality vegetable seeds along with a message of hope in our Savior Jesus

Christ. Saving seeds for future crops is stressed. Thus the benefit of the seeds is continuing and

self-sustaining.

We also distributed some Moringa tree seeds. Moringa is a tree with many uses mostly to

enhance nutrition. It is packed with vitamins, minerals, proteins and amino acids necessary for

nutrition and development of young people. Las Pacayas is part of a project to determine if

Moringa can successfully be grown in this region.

The pastor of Christ the Way Lutheran Church of Las Pacayas, Efrain Corrillo, served as the

Uspanteco interpreter for the week and is also the local contact for Hope Seeds and the

Moringa tree project. Pastor Corrillo also farms in the area and has had training in agriculture

with previous missionaries who visited and lived in the area.

Another contact in the area has also become a friend. His name is Chantio Ramirez. He is a

successful farmer and businessman in the area. We shared some seeds with Chantio and he is

very eager to try growing Moringa. Not sure how Moringa will do at 4000 ft but will give it a try.

Sharing Moringa seed with Pastor Corrillo My new friend Chantio Ramirez

Chantio’s wife, Helena, served all our meals (a quarter mile walk down the steep hill). She

served local fare of eggs, corn tortillas, soups, beef, and black beans. All was prepared on a

wood stove

On November 30th

we traveled to Antigua.

On Sunday we attended church at Redeemer of

the World Lutheran Church in Santiago Zamora

(near Antigua). Our primary purpose at the church

(in addition to worship) was to deliver 50 children’s

books in Spanish to the Church School. These books

were generously provided by an organization called

Trees for Life International

http://www.treesforlife.org/ . Trees for life also provided

instructional materials and pamphlets regarding

the Moringa tree.

Pastor Cornello Midence is the pastor of the church and is also the President of the Lutheran

Church in Guatemala. We wanted to discuss Hope Seeds and Moringa with Pastor Midence so

we scheduled a lunch in Antigua after church. Karloz Franco (Rebeca’s husband) had joined us

and chose a restaurant he knew. Ironically, the restaurant sold Moringa products and had

items on the menu containing Moringa.

Rebeca, Sue, Dave, Karloz, and Pastor Cornello

Pastor Midence is very interested in

expanding the distribution of Hope Seeds

and Moringa to other churches and

communities in Guatemala. We

discussed a “holistic approach” where

possibly Hope Seeds, Lutheran Hour

Ministries, C.P.T.L.N Guatemala, and the

Lutheran Church Guatemala would

partner to combine construction projects

VBS evangelism and nutritional

enhancement.

After the “business” was conducted, we spent a few days of site seeing and leisure. We saw

a Marimba band then the Procession of the Virgin in Antigua. Monday morning we toured the

convent of Las Capuchinas, then we rented a car for the remainder of the trip and headed off to

Panajachel on lake Atitlan. Atitlan is a beautiful mountain lake surrounded by volcanoes and

colonial cities. Our first day we visited a Nature and Butterfly preserve. We saw butterflies,

monkeys and a band of coatis as well as some amazing water falls on a short hike up the

mountain. The second day we took a boat tour of some cities around the lake.

Pavlova Galindo and Alvar Baldarrama

Just to prove how small the world is, we met

a young couple in San Juan who knew Pastor

Short of St Andrew Lutheran Church in Cape

Girardeau. Pavlova Galindo and Alvar Baldarrama

had worked with Pastor Short and Food for the

Poor in Quetzaltenango at the Lutheran church

there. I look forward to possibly working with

these two in the future.

Friday Dec. 6th

we were back in Guatemala City to meet with Eduardo Taracena of the

Ministry of Agriculture, Guatemala. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss procedures

necessary to import seeds into Guatemala. Eduardo was very gracious and helpful. We now

have the information and forms to get seeds through the customs process. I would like to thank

Sr Taracena for his help and information.

Mr Taracena also provided us with contact information for an individual in Guatemala City

who has Moringa seeds and also produces Moringa products. Her name is Patricia Ramirez.

Again in the small world department, Patricia is the person who supplies Moringa products to

the restaurant in Antigua.

Patricia gave us some Moringa / Jamaica tea

and a small tree start. (We called it “junior”)

which we carried all over Guatemala. We

purchased a kilo of seed and Patricia is

going to provide some information about

growing Moringa.

We spent the weekend in the Santa Cruz / Coban Alta Verapaz area. The area is another

mountain & cloud forest area across the valley from Las Pacayas. (we could see the lights of

Coban from Las Pacayas – but it is about 100 miles by road) There were many coffee

plantations along the mountainsides going up. This is a very fertile volcanic mountain soil where

many crops were grown. We were actually there to look at some property. It was a nice place

but too much work for long distance ownership. While there we met a couple of interesting

people, Sara Gomez and her mother Flor Valdizon. Sara is a medical student. Flor and her

husband own a turkey farm near Coban. This is a well managed operation. They are very

conservation minded and use analytical methods to select breeding stock. Flor’s husband once

drove to Houston TX to get eggs for a certain breed of chickens for breeding stock. Flor was

very interested in Moringa. With their background in agriculture, we just had to leave some

seed. Sure they will provide the best test possible to see if Moringa can grow at 4000 ft.

Monday Dec. 9th

we were on the road again down from the cloud forest, through the desert

of Zacapa department, and to the coastal plains of Puerto Barrios. Our goal in Puerto Barrios

was to distribute Hope Seeds and some Moringa to a community selected by Pastor Byron Paz

of Christ the Savior Lutheran Church.

Luis and Estella were our contacts and guides.

Luis is an auto mechanic and Estella is a seafood

dealer. Both took time from their busy schedules

to serve their church and the Lord.

San Francisco Vuelta Grande was the community selected. It is about 45 minutes from

Puerto Barrios through banana and palm oil plantations about 5 miles down a dirt road near to

Honduras. This is truly a remote village.

Rebeca de Franco, Reynaldo Boutista, Dave Crites

Reynaldo Boutista is the president of the

village association of San Francisco Vuelta

grande. As the event was not widely

publicized, we distributed Hope Seeds to

about 30 families. Reynaldo will distribute

the remaining seeds to the community.

The “model” used here will be to distribute

Moringa seeds to individual families along

with cultivation information. The soil here

should be very good as it is sedimental soil

from the Motagua River. With plenty of

rainfall.

Palm Oil Trees Distributing Moringa Seed

Wednesday, Dec. 11th

found us on the road back to our final stop – Gualan. In keeping with

the precedence set by the rest of the trip, God rewarded us with an experience not available to

the casual observer. On the road back to Gualan is a Mayan ruin called Quirigua. To get there it

is necessary to go through the middle of a banana plantation. Quirigua was a mystical place of

monoliths and restored ruins. There was an ancient Mayan ceremony being held on the

grounds as we toured. As we were leaving, we were treated to a demonstration of moving

bananas from the field across the road to the processing area. They also treated us to some

field ripened bananas. Jose, the worker at the crossing has family in Kansas City.

The final stop and main focus of the trip (outside VBS in Las Pacayas) was Gualan, Zacapa.

Here we are developing a Moringa project. St Paul Lutheran Church mission team has visited

Gualan and a local community, Los Limones three times in the past years. We have helped with

VBS and construction projects. During those visits, it was noted there were nutrition

deficiencies in the people of the poor communities. In July, 2013 we took family packs of Hope

Seeds and distributed to 140 families in Los Limones. The Moringa tree has been found to be

beneficial in many areas of the world where malnutrition exists. Having noted a tree being used

for medicinal purposes in July, I thought Moringa may be seen as beneficial. I approached

Pastor Luis Jasinto with the idea. It turns out, some in the community have been working with

Moringa and were looking for a way to expand it to six communities in the area. Once again, it

seems the Lord has a hand in guiding His people where they need to be.

Professor Carlos Franco is a teacher in the local school system. His class in Life Sciences had

recently studied Moringa and the students were given small seedlings to distribute. Carlos will

be our contact for the project in the area. The mayor of Gualan has agreed to provide some

land on which to cultivate Moringa. Ubaldo Ramirez and Juan Navaro will also help coordinate

the project. Ubaldo is a member of Resurrection Lutheran Church in Gualan of which Luis

Jasinto is Pastor. Juan and his wife Miriam own the Hotel Miravalle. Juan is also a local

businessman. As part of his church outreach, Juan volunteers to read a segment on a local radio

station. Our part of the project will be to provide seeds and instructional material. In this

“model” some product will be grown centrally, some trees will be provided to individuals.

Ubaldo Carlos Juan Information sharing meeting at Hotel Miravalle

Carlos is a perfect choice for this project.

He has had some experience with Moringa.

He also owns a garden in Gualan where he

grows eggplant for sale to supplement his

teacher salary. He also grows tomato, pepper

cucumber and radish. Carlos is very

knowledgeable about pest control and plant

nutrition. Carlos’ eggplant variety was handed

down from his grandfather.

Following our meeting, we set out to

contact Francisco Jordan, the supplier of the

Moringa seedlings distributed by Carlos.

Our search led to a chance meeting on the

streets of Gualan. Francisco is a very

personable young man. He works for an

organization called Defensores de la

Naturaleza (Defenders of Nature

Foundation). They work in various locations

throughout Guatemala. Francisco will be

helping with some technical information.

In the afternoon after the meeting we had an opportunity to view yet another procession at

the Catholic Church of Gualan. This was the procession of Our Lady of Guadalupe. In this

procession, the children were dressed in typical clothing and the young boys are given facial

hair.

Dec 13th

we visited the public health clinic

in Gualan to deliver some medical equipment

and supplies generously donated by a local

pharmacy. The equipment included a

nebulizer, adult blood pressure cuff and blood

glucose monitor and supplies. These items are

very much appreciated as the clinic is not well

funded by the government.

Next we visited the village of Los Limones. This visit would provide one of the only

disappointments of the trip. We visited two homes that had received Hope Seeds in July. It

seems the production of vegetables was not very successful. A drier than usual rainy season

combined with what seemed to be a lack of understanding about building good soil resulted in

almost no vegetables grown. The information we presented about composting, seedbed

preparation, and location selection were not fully understood. This is an opportunity to learn

and perhaps provide better information in the future.

Two bright points about the Los Limones visit. 1.) We had discussed pest control with each

group where we presented seeds. The Neem tree and Neem oil is a great natural insecticide

and repellant. Up to this point, no one seemed to be familiar with Neem. Patricia at Magna

Professional had indicated Neem trees were used placed around fields by farmers in the

Motagua valley.

Neem tree growing in Los Limones

When we asked Ubaldo, he said “Yes, Neem

grows everywhere on the road to Los Limones”

Turns out a farmer in the area had lined the

road with Neem trees. Ubaldo had also planted

some Neem seedling in the village. I now need

to provide some information about producing

Neem Oil to Carlos and the team. Hopefully,

we can use the Neem in the area to provide

seeds in other areas of the country.

2.) One of the homes we visited where Hope

Seeds was unsuccessful, had a Moringa tree

growing in the yard. The tree was one of the

seedlings distributed by Carlos Franco’s class. It

was flowering and getting ready to set pods.

Now the challenge is to provide information on

how to care for the tree and use the wonderful

gifts it can provide.

We pray for the Lord’s guidance for this project as well as all the other work that is done in

his name throughout this country. It seems His hand has guided the efforts thus far. With His

help, the project in Gualan will grow and provide better nutrition throughout the area and

throughout the country.

And now for the final reward for our efforts - Our friend Oscar Galdamez (father of Miriam

and patriarch of the family) and his wife Adela, took us on an expedition to a mountain stream

in the country. We enjoyed a swim in the river and the wonderful experience. Oscar & Adela’s

daughter, Lucie, and her daughter; as well as their grandson, Gabriel, joined for the excursion.

We truly enjoyed the time with our dear friends and look forward to future times with them.

What a wonderful finale to a wonderful trip.

“Thank You” to everyone involved in making this trip a success. Special “thanks” to Rebeca

de Franco who was our faithful friend, interpreter, and guide throughout the trip. “Thanks” also

to Karloz Franco, Rebeca’s husband, our dear friend, for his help, support and willingness to let

us monopolize her time throughout this trip. We love you both. A huge THANKS to the Lord for

His guiding hand and blessings of our every turn. May he continue to bless the lives of all

those we were fortunate to have encountered.

Karloz & Rebeca

Dios los bendiga,

Dave & Sue Crites