Dear Friends,

I am excited to announce that Luke and I will be returning to Guatemala this July! Three years ago we had the opportunity to serve in Escuintla and the surrounding areas providing medical services and prayer to local residents. We were also able to dedicate many hours at Mana de Vida, a school that provides education to children pre-k to 12th grade. This is where we left our hearts! This year we have the opportunity to return and work within the school for an entire week (not just 3 days)! I will be working with the therapists and teachers to design safe classroom environments for children who have been through trauma and are exhibiting trouble learning in their traditional classroom environment. Luke will be serving by helping with service projects in the new school location, helping the kids practice English, and demonstrating the love of Christ. Luke is very excited to practice his Spanish with spanish speakers and also help the students, who are learning English.. I am pretty sure that he will also get ‘schooled’ in soccer but will then design fun games that will help him have a chance at winning.

Mana de Vida is such a blessing to the children of Escuintla and their families. In Guatemala only 1 in 10 children graduate high school! Unlike in the US, it cost money to continue your education pass the primary school years. The ability for working class and impoverished families to send their child(ren) to school is almost impossible. Mana de Vida is a school funded by sponsorship. The school not only provides education but also meets the nutritional needs of the children while they are there, that can be three meals in a day! We are blessed to have our own sponsored child, Nahomy, who we get to support in order to achieve her educational goals. The exciting thing for us, this trip, is that we will be able to spend time with her throughout the week we are there!

On our last trip, Luke and I were struck with how open the children of Mana de Vida were to the hope that they too can succeed. They are learning that they are loved, have a model of a loving environment, and have a safe place to spend the majority of their days. Luke was struck, at only 9 years old, at the sheer poverty that surrounded us in Guatemala, but how kind and happy the people we met were. A project Luke worked on while we were there was to pack a bag of food for the children, and their families, for a week off of school. He spent hours packing up rice, beans, flour etc and when he was done he realized that the bag was for the entire family for a week. He said, “Mom, I have more in my lunch box everyday!” This is something that three years later still resonates with him. I can’t wait to see how how God inspires him and the lessons he will learn this year, with three more years of maturity.

If it is on your hearts to help us reach our goal of $3600 we would greatly appreciate it. God has placed us with the opportunity to return to a place that changed us in so many ways. I can’t wait to see what blessing are in store for us this year.  

Love,

Jocelyn and Luke Priester