Why go to Guatemala City??

The world's attention has been tuned into the tragic events in Haiti this past week. My heart was grieved today when I watched a clip on 60 Minutes of a bulldozer lifting bodies off the ground and dumping them into the back of a dump truck. The camera panned across a parking lot, showing dozens of bodies strewn across the ground. The only thing that could be done was the quickly "clean up" for the sake of sanitation.

Tragic. Disturbing. Heart-breaking. These words don't describe enough the situation.

You may have heard during some of the reports that Haiti is generally regarded as the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. Well, Guatemala isn't too far behind.

In Guatemala City, there are large ravines and steep hills. The poor migrate from the far out districts of the country, in to the city in hopes to find work. They settle in any area possible, and many chose to set up their home on these hills. The result was what is known as "squatter settlements," vast camps of makeshift houses without any planned infrastructure or city utilities. No running water. No electricity (that isn't hot wired and rigged). No paved roads. Just a bunch of people living together on a hill.

The pictures below are of the squatter settlement from far away, and then much closer.

The work that Hearts for Heaven is doing in this squatter settlement is amazing. Over the past ten years, they have slowly established a presence in this growing community of over 100,000 people. With the help of short-term mission teams (just like the one we will be taking in August!), they have built a 3-story feeding center. On the first floor, children receive meals three times a week, for some this is the only food they get at all. On the second floor there are classrooms for a school. On the third floor, a multipurpose room for playing soccer, basketball or holding assemblies. Every week, this facility is crammed with children excited to play, to eat, and to hear the message that someone loves them.

Why are we going to Guatemala City this summer? Shouldn't we just send money? Shouldn't we try to go to Haiti where the need is maybe greater?

The answers to these questions can be debated, and ultimately each person has to decide what they are called to do. But what I know for sure is that there are hurting people in Guatemala City. And when I visit there, pick up a child, swing it around and laugh, I am able to bring love, hope and joy to a family in a tangible way.

I want to be a part of that whenever I can. Don't you?

The Hearts for Heaven building is the tall, peaked building in the upper left corner.