"Are you staying at a resort?"...

...several of my friends wondered when they saw the first few photos I shared on Facebook last Sunday - those pics of our first day on the Hope of Life campus.  Indeed, a beautiful place to call "home" for the week, as Piedras Negras, our adopted village, where we spent much of our time last week, required an hour and 45-minute (rugged!!) bus commute from campus into a remote, arid, mountainous region each day.  In fact, the five or so miles leading into our village consists of a narrow dirt road winding, precariously, up a mountainside! (Needless to say, I doubt we'll be going there during Guatemala's rainy season!)

Overlooking the Hope of Life valley from our balcony.

I promised to share the story behind Hope of Life, so here it is (the abbreviated version, that is!):


Carlos Vargas was born in 1952, and raised, to the age of 16, in the little of village of Llanos Verde near Zacapa, Guatemala.  While his family was very poor, he did have access to a decent education during those years.  At 16, he had the opportunity to move to the U.S.

He worked very hard to become a wealthy businessman, and married an American woman in 1973. (They have 5 children.) But, he, admittedly, worked only for himself and his immediate family... and had NO interest in living for God or Jesus Christ, even after his brother shared his own newly-found faith.

Several years later he became very ill with several medical conditions.  He spent a few months confined to bed with severe gout, then decided he wanted to return to his home country to die.  Once back in Guatemala, a blind man, then a young homeless girl, came to him, begging for money.  Moved by these individuals, he felt the need to pray and "bargain" with God : if God would heal him, he would spend the rest of his life meeting the needs of others, particularly the impoverished and destitute in Guatemala.  Soon after, he did, indeed, heal physically!  He accepted Jesus Christ into his heart, then set about holding up his end of the "bargain".  Through his work of meeting the needs of hurting and hungry people, he healed emotionally and spiritually.



"Only two ingredients are needed: faith and action.  Faith to be convinced that we can reach our dream through God and our dedication.  Action is to pay the price."  Carlos Vargas



He had a vision of what he wanted to create.  He started with only one acre just outside of Llanos Verde at the foot of the mountains, and built a home for impoverished elderly folks.  He established the organization, Esparanza de Vida (Hope of Life) and the campus grew from there.  They own something like 3,000 acres now, and employ around 400 people, the majority are Guatemalan, I believe.

A few wild animals were donated to the campus, so they now have a mini-zoo!

On campus, he added a hospital/nutrition center for the very young, a home for developmentally and physically disabled children, an orphanage, added a dementia unit to the elderly home, built a preschool and a school for the older children, and of course, the lovely area depicted in some of my photos where missionary groups can stay, quite comfortably, while here working. 

Last year, approximately 3,000 people stayed there while on short-term missions! 

(The swimming pool is a gorgeous oasis!)

Since February is a slow month for visitors, we saw lots of maintenance work and "home improvement" projects going on.  I took notice of all the local crews that had been hired to complete it.  Shows how important "community" is to Carlos and his leadership team!

In progress now is a new medical center which will include a dialysis wing, since at the moment, the closest place to go for dialysis is several hours drive away.

Carlos believes in a "practical" approach to sharing God's love.  As a guest speaker at Timberline once stated, "See a need, fill a need."




Take a moment to enjoy some of my photos from our visits to the various facilities on campus.  Please remember these images in your prayer time!

Unit for dementia patients and developmentally-delayed adults.

Elderly home.  This is Anna Miriam.  I purchased one of her paintings!

"Kelly's House"

I need to take a moment and describe Hope of Life's unique approach to orphans:

On the bus ride from Guatemala City to campus (a 3-5 hour journey depending upon traffic and road construction!), I had the blessing of sitting next to Patti M., my new friend.  Five years ago, Patti, who is from Lynchburg, Virginia, came to Guatemala on a missions trip similar to ours.  In fact, she loved the experience so much, she came again.

While visiting the orphanage for the second or third time, she had a thought:  Wouldn't these children be so much better off in family units.  She brought this up to Carlos and his leadership team, and they had actually been praying for exactly that!  So, homes were built on campus, and the search for "house parents" began.

On the way back to Virginia, Patti felt God working in her heart:  she knew that she and her husband and three children were supposed to be parents to several of these orphans.  Once home, she shared these thoughts with her husband, Phillip, and he, too, had been thinking about the same thing!  All the pieces of the puzzle, all the logistics including selling their thriving photography business and property, fell into place over that next year, and they moved to Guatemala.

Beautiful playground on campus!

 For the last four years, they have lived at Hope of Life, parenting eight Guatemalan children, as well as their three children.  (A few other American couples have chosen this path as well!)  Patti was on the bus with us because she was just returning from an extended visit with family in Virginia:  extended because she had become quite sick over the holidays.  Phillip had returned to Guatemala with all but 4 of their brood back in January, while Patti recovered from her illness.

To hear Patti tell her family's story inspired me and warmed my heart.  We connected in a special way and I am so blessed to call her my "friend".  I hope that we stay in touch, now that we are connected on Facebook, and I look forward to visiting her on my next journey to Guatemala, whenever that may be.

I am currently reading Carlos Vargas' book, Dreams are Cheap, so I thought I would wrap this up with one more quote that spoke to me:

"To dream is to envision what doesn't yet exist, as if it were a reality....He who is a dreamer is known to build castles in the air, but never builds the foundations in the ground.  The dream-maker has his feet on the ground, and knows castles in the air don't really exist.  He understands that to make a dream a reality, a price needs to be paid on the way towards the goal."

Next blog post:  Just a few last thoughts and great photos from my Guatemala adventure!  Then, a brief update on our home projects. Watch for both very soon...

I Don't Know Where To Start!

My week in Guatemala with Grace and our team of 16 from Timberline Church was...


...Eye-opening.
...Amazing.
...Gut-wrenching.
...Fulfilling.
...Thought-provoking.
...Convicting.













God used the week to create in me an awareness of and sensitivity towards "the least of these" (Matt.25:40).  He empowered me to DO something about their plight in a very personal way - not only by building classrooms and bathrooms, but by building relationships.













He showed me the value of generosity (in love and with resources, like money and materials),  and reinforced the importance of extending grace and respect to my fellow man.  I now have a very concrete image in my mind of why I give - both money and time, in church and, most importantly, to hurting people outside of the church.













"Stop waiting to hear the voice of God and LISTEN to what he has already told you to do.  He has already spoken to you through the Bible."  Carlos Vargas

Indeed, Jesus Christ has commanded us to meet the needs of others," looking after the orphans and widows in their distress..." (James 1:27)

I knew, even before this trip, how wealthy America is, comparatively...how wealthy I am...but, now I have seen poverty beyond what I imagined.








I thought I had a pretty good understanding of it because I have volunteered, on numerous occasions, with various local organizations, such as Water Street Rescue Mission and Loaves and Fishes serving meals to poor people, I have donated and distributed clothing, locally, and even helped out at a home for young moms and pregnant teens many years ago.  But, some of the things I witnessed this week...


Man!  I sure was naive!

And, I STILL have so much to learn!

I would sometimes see those commercials on televisions...You know the ones I'm talking about...soliciting "child sponsorship"?

I wondered, "Is the need for real?"

Now, I know, firsthand - YUP.  Sure is...

...I mean, in America, there is sooo much available to us...many resources...even for our poor.  In Guatemala, there is no real infrastructure.  No cohesiveness.  Transportation is lacking, government medical facilities rarely have adequate equipment, staff or even space. There is no "welfare system" or government-backed programs for those who are struggling.  Poverty is very much the norm, rather than the exception.  Babies, elderly, and the disabled, in particular, die of malnourishment regularly...not because they are prideful or don't know where to go for help...but because there truly is NO help.  Human trafficking grows, unchecked.

Many villages are "off the beaten path".  In most cases, the men walk several miles to one of the few "main roads" to get on a bus or in the bed of a truck to ride for an hour or more to work for very little pay in the melon fields or other farm work, just so their family members can have some food and clothing. Most have little or no education.

Many villages do not have a reliable source of clean water, though their government is trying to do something about that with the help of several U.S.-based humanitarian organizations.

And, yet, the lovely Guatemalan people whom I met this week were hard-working, joyous, grateful and loving!  I don't think I met or saw anyone grumbling with discontentment or whining or unwilling to pitch in with the building projects - I admit, I felt greatly convicted by Wednesday.

The children's education is of utmost importance to the people of Guatemala.  Some communities realize that the only way out of poverty is to educate the young people so they can go out and find better jobs. The government does help somewhat with supplies and teachers when a village asks.  But this help is pathetically limited.




Our church became involved with the "Village Transformation" project established by WorldHelp and Esperanza de Vida (Hope of Life) both faith-based humanitarian organizations whose goals are creating sustainable communities, and sharing the message of the gospel.  More about that in another post!

About a year ago, when Marlin, our pastor, first met with the leaders of our village, Piedras Negras,  up in the mountains of Guatemala - a very windy, bumpy 2-hour drive from the city of Zacapa -they discussed the needs of the community.   The church set about raising money, primarily through our weekly "bucket offering", to meet those needs.  These transformation projects cost anywhere from $10,000 to $50,000+.  And, they take place over approximately 5 or 6 years.




The village's schools, consisting of a primary school, an elementary school and a middle school, were bursting at the seams with children and in pretty rough shape. There was only one bathroom between the three schools.

...Now, keep in mind, when I say "school", do not picture our American schools, but rather think of a couple of simple rectangular concrete block structures with a dirt "courtyard" in-between where the children played during recess.  

Back in September, the first team traveled to Guatemala to help with the first new classroom.


Last week we helped them build two more classrooms, two bathrooms, and a playground, thanks to the generosity of our church family and a private benefactor in our community.

We also hosted a Bible school sharing stories, songs, crafts, and activities for the women and children on 4 days, and visited individual homes within the community sharing some practical gifts, offering Spanish Bibles to those who wanted one, and praying for the needs of each family.





There are many more trips to Guatemala for Timberline because we made a commitment.  These Village Transformation projects call for a minimum commitment of 3 years, but usually the partnership continues for 5 to 8 years!

I made many new friends, despite the language barrier, and I really hope to be included in a few more trips to come!  Grace hopes to go back as well!  Let me know if you are interested in supporting us or any of the upcoming projects in any way.






If you want to hear/see more about my experience, up close and personally, don't hesitate to ask.  I would love to get together with you and share!

I can't possibly collect all my thoughts and reflections...and photos (I have nearly 180!)...in just one blog post, so stay tuned - I will share more in the next one...or two!