welcome to paradise

updated 5.26.10

welcome to zone 18 of guatemala city. this is "paradise."

where most families live in small shacks on dirt floors surrounded by tin walls. gunshots are heard nightly and everyone, including kids, have grown numb to the sight of dead bodies in the streets.

if you're a girl, chances are you'll be molested or raped by 15, have your first child by 18, and three more by 25. and there's no doubt that by that point, the men will be gone and you'll be alone to raise the family.

if you're male, you'll likely be in a gang by 13. they make promises of a different life than the trash you live on, hunger, and hopelessness- which are the only things you know at this point. so you join. and your life expectancy is... 24. 

this is luis and his mentally challenged big brother.

to give a little perspective, this is where they live. that's nathan, the missionary, standing inside. he's got a nickname in the neighborhood, "grandpa"... because he's lived to 35.

this is where the two of them, their three brothers, and their mom all sleep.

and this is their front yard and playground.

so for the kids that live in paradise, this is their daily reality. with these circumstances and no chance for a decent education, i couldn't stop asking myself what opportunity they have to get out if they want something different? i'm so grateful that the brokenness of this world is not all there is. and so grateful for the hope found in the sovereignty of our God who created and loves these people more than i can fathom, and who is so aware of the lives and situations of each of them (psalm 140:12, james 2:5, isaiah 41:17). your prayers for this community and those ministering to them are so heard.

the history of the ministry:

in 1991, shalom baptist church was started when a guatemalan pastor along with some others began handing out ham and cheese sandwiches to boys in the streets. in 1996, nathan came as part of the construction crew, overseeing the building of the walls for the church, and began handing out sandwiches and getting to know the kids.

from there God really began leading shalom church in how to minister to the kids and their families and has been so faithful throughout the years of this ministry. quick summary:

it didn't take long for the church to see the kid's desperate need for a real education to have the chance to get out of the dump they grew up in. so they started a school. it began with 250 students, is now at 700, and one of their first graduates just graduated from university with a degree in systems engineering.

however, with open sewage and trash running through the streets many of the kids were so often sick. and realizing the difficulties they had studying when their health was a wreck, they opened a clinic at the church in 2001. it now serves more than 400 people per day.

after opening the clinic, they tested the kids and found 70% to be malnurished, 55% chronically. recognizing how difficult it was to concentrate in class when they're hungry, they began a feeding program.

since that time they've built 106 homes for the families of these kids, homes that don't have dirt floors and will actually protect them from the heavy rains that come in the wet season. they've also started a karate ministry where the kids have been learning self-defense, responsibility, and discipline, as well as confidence in themselves. the moment they accomplish things like breaking a board, they actually feel like they can do something and it gives them a new outlook on their lives.


the geber derek ("way of the warrior") boy's home:

despite all of this, in the words of nathan "there's always a few boys that fall through the cracks." it's been on nathan and claudia's heart for the last eight years to start a home where the boys that want a change, that just need a hand out of their situations, can actually find hope. this won't be a reform place or jail, it's for those that want to come. it's not for orphans, there are alot of orphanages, it's for the ones with families that the orphanages won't take. though the boys are the ones that will come to live in the homes, they plan to partner with churches and ministries to be able to continue loving the boys' families and meeting their needs as well.

there will be 4 homes, 6 boys per home, with house parents and the feel of what an actual family looks like with a father figure in their lives. things these boys have never known. throughout their lives there they'll have a mentor in the profession of what they dream of doing who will encourage them and invest in them emotionally and spiritually. and when they're in college they'll live in independent living apartments on-site to learn how to live on their own.

their heart for these boys is based on 1 samuel 22:2, where david is hiding from saul and instead of having pity on himself and his situation he becomes a leader for the men around him, later referred to "mighty men" in 1 chronicles 12.

basically nathan and claudia want to give them the chance to just be boys, to not have to grow up too fast, to know the hope of Christ, to find what they're passionate about, to be able to escape the gangs and drugs that take the lives of so many, and to start a pattern of change in their communities as they grow to be mighty men of God.

the week:

it was such a blessing to be a part of this one. since i've already written so much, i'll keep this part mostly to pictures.

nathan and his wife claudia, the missionaries running this show, watching the final presentation.

a view from the site.

the site: beautiful and incredibly steep, definitely presenting some design challenges.

 doing the soil percolation tests.

jim helping with the survey- and reppin' emi in the process.

 the architects' conceptual idea for part of the complex.

 el equipo.

and one for the road...

i don't know where he learned that but clearly this boy is in need of some better influences in his life :)