Walking With the Poor - Notes From the Field

MISSION AWARENESS TRIP TO GUATEMALA
February 2007

Mission awareness trips are very special events. Yet their impact really depends upon what has been happening in the projects and families over the days, months and years of the CFCA relationship.

Quality staff leads to quality trip

Gustavo Soto is our person in charge of the trips at the Hermano Pedro project. He is in frequent contact with Janel Bromberek at CFCA-Kansas, with subproject coordinators and with the staff at Hermano Pedro. All sponsors were able to spend quality time with their sponsored children. Those families who live close by were visited in their homes. Gustavo also drives our 30-passenger bus. Wearing an earplug and microphone, he can take emergency calls at any time. I am pleased to act as co-pilot of the bus on these trips, using the built-in microphone to explain things to sponsors as we travel. We are very grateful for each one of the 30 travelers making this journey.

Adoptive father reaches out to sisters

At the hotel in Guatemala City on the very first morning, we were privileged to hear the testimony of two sponsored girls, Leslie Andrea, 11, and her younger sister Ingrid Elizabeth, 10. They were accompanied by their father, Armando.

Both girls were abandoned as infants by their birthparents and were adopted by Armando and his wife. Many challenges followed. Don Armando’s wife died when the girls were 5 and 3. Major health problems afflicted Leslie Andrea, among them heart, lung and gall bladder problems—all requiring surgeries—and a thyroid condition requiring medication for life. In spite of all this, she is a happy fifth-grader who helps with chores at home, plays with her sister and enjoys mathematics at school. The girls and Don Armando expressed heartfelt gratitude to their sponsors and to CFCA

Daily interactions with CFCA family keep us focused

The experiences in homes and villages, the excellent talks by Monsignor Greg Schaffer and our CFCA staff, our prayers and community life together make a profound impact. We make every effort to process these experiences each evening after supper. Groups of sponsored children and teenagers are invited each day to share their joy and their talents. Children, staff and parents enjoy traveling to CFCA’s Hermano Pedro headquarters. It becomes quite an outing with prayer, sports, meals, performances and an overnight. The presence of children, parents and staff from the subprojects helps us all to stay focused.

Journalist Jim Myers with the Colorado Catholic Herald has written a blog of our Guatemala trip. The link Colorado Catholic Herald will take you to the blog, which is well done. Click the link and scroll to the blogs for February 10 and February 12.

Thank you for traveling with us in solidarity and prayer. The pilgrimage continues with trips to the Dominican Republic, Kenya/Tanzania, Guatemala, Monterrey and Costa Rica. I wish you God’s blessings.

Bob Hentzen
San Lucas Toliman, Guatemala
Feb.10, 2007