Category: Archived Posts – 2007-2016

This is from a Christmas party that we sponsored for one of the refugee camps in Guatemala. We partnered with BMDMI (Baptist Medical Dental Mission International) and provided the resources, they provided the local knowledge on how to make this happen in the best way. See details in the report below.

We sponsored a similar Christmas celebration in Haiti, will post info soon!

This is the last day and I have a few loose ends to tie up. We are organizing a day of Christmas celebration in the refugee camp at Alotenango. We are partnering with BMDMI ( Baptist Medical and Dental Mission International) and a Guatemalan grassroots organization called VOLUNCA which is an acronym for volunteers at work. It’s made up of Guatemalan psychologists who have been working with the post traumatic refugees due to the eruption. Makko works for BMDMI and the land owner we met, well his wife is with VOLUNCA. This plan was providentially made before my arrival. Makko will set up activities with the children and youth . Monica and VOLUNCA will be there to help with the mental needs. This is gonna be so cool. I wish we could be here for this. They will send me a report with pics when they are finished. Awesome! Victor and Monica invited me to there farm so we went and spent several hours with them before heading to the city. He wanted me to see the cabinas on his property that he built for some of the workers. He felt this would be helpful and he was 100% correct. The design is simple but very acceptable and good. Gosh these guys are so cool. My head swims with ideas. I have never felt so sure about a project in my life. HIS hands are surly on this and the orchestration laid out ahead of time has been perfect. Now it’s our turn to start making it come to be. Much work has to be done and with your prayers and financial gifts we can make a new start for 10 families. We now await for the new survey and then we can start getting this thing going. Praise God from whom all blessings flow.
Kenny

The last 5 days have been filled with absolute non stop go cat go. Not today though. I am taking what Jim calls a culture day which is something I never do. We are a little over an hour away from the Pacific so I am taking culture in my world of culture. I’m checking the surf. Guatemala is not a surf destination, but are you kidding me, it’s on the Pacific coast. I started looking on goggle at the coastline and realized where we are located is close to the best possible area for waves. If there’s surf I can sniff it out. So Makko and I headed out on safari. What I found was a diamond in the rough. If you think I’m gonna expose this spot you are absolutely crazy. The surf world is getting smaller and when you find good waves off the beaten track it’s best to keep it to yourself and let the others find it he way you did. I was not able to surf but the waves were good. I talked to Peruvian surfer at a surf hostel and he really shared with me some of his secrets. All he asked was please don’t share. He was the first to surf this area 13 years ago and never went back home and Peru has some of the best point breaks in the world. No one had ever surfed before in this area and he has cultivated a peaceful tranquil surf culture here. The dude is living my dream but at least he invited me to join the dream. It was a great day of decompression and recharge. Praise God from whom all blessings flow.

Kenny

On my flight over I met this very interesting man. He is a second generation farmer. We spoke briefly and I shared my vision of the relocation project that we were pursuing. He told me “ I’m not trying to get into your business but the land your looking at seems to high price. If you’d like another option I may can help”. He gave me his number and vanished. Doc Kenny made contact with him and he invited us to lunch. We had lunch with him on Friday and scheduled a Sunday drive to go look at some property. He and his wife picked us up this morning at the guest house and we took off towards Taxisco a small town 40 minutes away. The property is much bigger with less work and is beautiful. Very tranquil. We walked the property and thought about so many possibilities. The land is owned by a lady who works for him. I asked how much and he replied “ let’s not worry about that yet, they’ve had this land for over 30 years and it will never be used. Let me see if we can come up with the original survey”. Before days end they had already sent Doctor Kenny the legal docs. From the land we drove less than 10 minutes to Taxisco. A small but very clean and safe town. Un like Escuintla, you can walk the streets at night with no worries. We drove over to the coast via ferry through a national protected estuary. Beautiful beyond any expectations. We had a wonderful meal and chatted for hours until it was time to retrace our steps back to Casa de Paz guest house. This has been one of the best days in Guatemala that I’ve experienced. These people seem eager to help us with our vision and have truly opened their hearts to us. He has already given me some great ideas for the homes. He has built homes for his workers on his land and shared a pretty cool house plan with me. Less expensive than what we were considering and equally as good. Wow, what a day. Praise God from whom all blessings flow.
Kenny

Today is the day that I’ve been waiting for. I finally get to go and actually walk the the piece of property that we are considering purchasing for our relocation project. I first met with the surveyor at Doc Kenny’s clinic and we discussed the survey and the real measurements and boundaries. The surveyor, Willy, has walked all over the property and is very familiar with the terrain. This land is about 20 minutes out of Escuintla and meets our social/economic criteria. There is a school, major road, accessible power, small stores, and a clinic all close by. We will have to dig a well for water but the surveyor says the water table is very close to the surface. The terrain is very uneven and there will have to be a lot of work to grade the land to fill in some very low areas. We were told that the property was 2.5 acres. After the survey was done we found out it was only 1.5 acres. After our discussion with Willy, the three of us headed to the property.
We toured the land, talked about some potential water run off problems and what it may take to grade the land. This took most of the day. I do like this land and its location but it will take a lot of work before we can even begin thinking about construction. This is the first time we have ever considered purchasing property and I think he is asking a little to much considering the real acreage. This is where I’ll have to have my game face on and start negotiations. Praise God from whom all blessings flow.
Kenny

Today was set up with meetings. First I went to the new compound site for Mana de Vida to tour the construction progress. This has nothing to do with us but it’s a relationship that I made last time down and we may be working jointly on some in country stuff with these folks. After the site tour I meet with Marlon the director of Mana de Vida. We talked about our progress with the land and how we may continue to be a partner with them. These two things took all morning till about 1:00 in the afternoon. After the meetings we had lunch with a guy I met that may have a better deal on property. We will take a look at his property on Sunday. This guy has several large farms here and deals in rubber trees, sugar cane and cattle. Great guy and we plan to get with him on Sunday morning to drive out of town to see what he may have. We now have two options for our relocation plans. Praise God from whom all blessings flow.
Kenny

 

Arrived to the city late in the evening and Doctor Kenny picked me up and dropped me off at the Caprizzio Hotel. Arose early and headed for Escuintla. This town is pretty much ground zero for Fuego relief work and the base of our operation. I am with a young man named Makko and he will be with me today. We went to Alotenango where some new homes have been built for some of the Fuego victims. This town is on the back side of the volcano. We passed through Los Lotes, ground zero, and drove around the base of the mountain. I wanted to see what other NGO’s were doing Shelter wise. After the look see, we went to another camp where many people still are living. Several days ago the government moved all out of the camps and sent them back to their land and home remnants. In less than 24 hours the volcano erupted again and they moved everyone back to the camps. There is no dignity or privacy in these camps. And know one really seems to know what direction CONRED is going. I think the situation is worse now than before. From there we went back through Escuintla and headed north to the property we are considering. We now have a legal survey and that will allow me to walk the property but I first must gain permission before entering the land. I like the land and I hope we can negotiate a fair price. There is much work that will have to be done before anything can be done. I met a Cuban doctor here today. He is a surgeon that specializes in neck, throat and abdomen surgeries. For now I won’t mention his name. He is seeking citizenship here in Guatemala. He made $20.00 a day in Cuba and was allotted rice and beans each month just like everyone. If you want meat,sugar, milk etc. you have to buy it. When I get back I’m gonna suggest our family doctor cut his rates down to $20.00 a day…… yeah right. He is very humble and is a new believer. Not sure yet what happens tomorrow but I will push hard to enter the property. Things are moving in a good way but it’s hard to be patient. I must always remember that it’s His work not mine. Praise God from whom all blessings flow.
Kenny

CI/GMSM are jointly headed back south again. We are hoping to finally get our plan of relocating several families moving forward. Our desire is to purchase property to build 10 homes on. That means 10 families will have a new beginning. We have found property and have paid to have a survey to see exactly where the property lines are and make sure the title is clear. Now that all that is complete I can walk the land knowing where all sides of the property are. We are hoping to make an offer on this trip and put down some earnest money. Should be an interesting process. PTL that we have some great locals who are helping us through this process. Praise God from whom all blessings flow.
Kenny

Last week brought an opportunity that was made possible by what Give Me Shelter Ministries has done over the last 12+ years in Mexico and Haiti. We have invested time and resources into pastors who truly want to serve their people. By building a continued trust and relationship with these pastors it has opened up so many opportunities through out each country. Conscience International and GMSM sent funds via Pastor Felipe Hernandez from Nuevo Laredo down to FBC Oaxaca. From there their group traveled south to Ixtepec where the first wave of migrants from the Guatemala border were headed. They along with a small church in Ixtepec were able to bring aid to about 2000 people. Food, water and hygiene products were distributed. This small village is next to Ixtaltepec where we continue to build latrines due to the damage of the earthquake well over a year ago. As this was taking place we also sent Pastor Harry and a helper up to the north of Haiti to check out the damage from the resent earthquake and to see if we needed to consider aid of some sort. He went to Port des Paix and visited several small communities. When he came back, he felt that the damage was minimal and things were already being done response wise. The consensus was to stay focused on the roof project in Cayette. How blessed we are to be able to send out our brothers and sisters to do mission in their countries with out having to be micro managed every step of the way. That’s true investment.
Kenny