Ministerios de Gracia hard at work on the way to San Martín, Sololá with Pastor Israel Rosas, Compassion in Action Ministries, April 2022
Psalm 146:7, 9 - (The LORD) upholds the cause of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry...The LORD watches over the refugee and sustains the fatherless and the widow.
Matthew 25:35-36 - I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink...I needed clothes and you clothed me...
James 1:27 - Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress.
While leaving a school after distributing Gideon Bibles in Jan. 2006, we found hungry neighborhood children going through the lunch trash looking for a left-over tortilla and a few drops in the juice boxes. The Lord allowed us to see with His eyes the suffering of the children in Guatemala. Many of the men have abandoned their families to go to the U.S. or Guatemala City, where they usually start "second families", sending little money to those left behind. Many small villages have only women, unmarried teenage girls with babies, children, the elderly and disabled, with little means of support.
Through the gracious assistance of our ministry partners, we are able to purchase commodities in Nueva Santa Rosa and Las Vistas. The bulk food is distributed to area churches and the church members then prepare gift bags with beans, rice, fortified powdered milk, pasta, cooking oil, sugar, salt, and other goodies for needy families, most of which are not members of the churches.
In 2012 we were distributing food in Casillas. Doctor Beth was on the trip. Betty's family knew who needed help in the community, and Beth and I walked into one yard with 2 large bags of food. A 15 year old girl was there, crying. Her mother had abandoned the family, leaving her, her brother, and grandfather. The grandfather had gone to find work cutting sugar cane, and the brother had walked into town to try to sweep the floor of some shop to earn a few Quetzales to buy beans & tortillas. There was NO food in the house. By God's grace, 2 doctors from Phoenix had come 2000 miles to give them food in the name of Jesus at their moment of desperation.
Please see the ministry Facebook page
https://www.facebook.com/drew.hause.77
for recent distribution reports and pictures.
Rudy and his wife Magaly, Dylan & Greg with a pickup full of bulk commodities, 2014
Church members then prepare the gift bags for distribution both at the churches and with home visits.
A widow and her deaf brother in Casillas
3 sisters and 10 children living with grandma in Las Vistas
San Luis 2018
A happy customer in Chupadero 2020
Churches currently participating:
Iglesia Christiana Asamblea de Dios in Chapas, Pastor Gregorio Martinez
Iglesia de Dios Evangelio Completo Aposento Alto, Colonia Las Vistas, San Juan Sacatepéquez, Pastor Marco Antonio Barrios
Iglesia Evangelica Emanuel, Mixco (Guatemala City), Pastor Selvin Grijalva
Iglesia Voz de Dios, Aldea de Chupadero, Pastor Alejandro Garcia
Churches in San Juan Tecuaco, Chiquimulilla; coordinated by Pastor Medardo Roque
Aldea San Luis, Iglesia Esmirna, Pastor José Inés Roque;
Aldea San Luis, Iglesia Fuente de Vida, Pastor Eduardo Álvarez
Aldea Margaritas, Iglesia Dios es Amor, Pastor Elmer Álvarez
Aldea El Zapote, Iglesia Piedra Viva de Cristo, Pastor Leonel Donis
Aldea Ijorga, Iglesia Evangelica, Pastor Juan de Jesus Felipe
Iglesia De Dios De La Profecia Universal, Escuintla, Pastor Héctor Pérez
Iglesia de Dios Fuente de Vida in Izabal, (northern Guatemala on the Caribbean), Pastor Mauro Osorio
Iglesia Camino, Verdad y Vida, Ministerios de Gracia, Nuevo Tulate, Guanagazapa, Escuintla
Pastor Elfre in 2021