Guatemala Mission
Deep in the mountains of Guatemala, in a small, rural, Mayan village, God is doing amazing work through the efforts of a simple farmer, Homer, and his family. The Vine is teaming up with him to combat hunger and homelessness among the orphans, widows, and impoverished families in their part of the world. Two teams from our community will be traveling to San Andres, Guatemala, to work during much of the month of June. They will construct kitchen and dining facilities, as well as, do a few building repairs and smaller projects. Their work will allow more children to be cared for, more people to be fed, and for the reopening of a bible school.
Already in April, Mission Organizers Mark Nyblom, Pastor Tomas Nyblom, and Bruce Niemitalo took a short trip to Homer’s ranch in Guatemala to see the work he is doing, and to evaluate the needs of his ministry. They met up with some other Americans from California, who have known and worked with Homer since 2000. They were encouraged by what they saw: the amazing things that God is accomplishing through Homer and his wife Rosa to help the needy people in their community, as well as those in neighboring communities. The potential for their ministry is endless and it is clear that God has plans for The Vine to be a part of it all.
The purpose of the trip in June will be to construct a new kitchen and dining room that will benefit the widows and children in the community, also those living on the ranch and students and teachers of a bible school that has not been in operation for a while. The school will be opened again soon because of the help of the team. They will also repair existing buildings, do some irrigation work, and build a swing set for the children.
Much of the mission's budget has been raised through fund raisers at The Vine. A benefit evening at Salsarita's Restaurant brought in $1200, and $8000 from The Vine Golf Tournament will go toward this mission. These funds will help to pay for the materials to complete the construction projects.
James 1:27
Pure and undefiled religion before our God and Father is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself unstained by the world