Visiting the Children of Guatemala

October 10, 2012 | Young Voices
Shina Park | Special to Young voices

For 11 years Rachel Potter de Reyes, a missionary from Scotland, has worked in Guatemala with Mike Black Ministries. Initiated in January 1990 by Pastor Mike Black and his wife, Pat, it consists of two children’s programs: one, in the village of Santiago and the other, in El Rejon, a mountain village on the way to La Antigua.

This summer, I spent two months in Guatemala learning Spanish in preparation for Goshen College’s Study-Service Abroad program, through which I hope to travel to Peru. Most significantly, I met the children of the Mike Black Ministries—my father’s “Education Beyond Borders” project supported education for some of them.

The Santiago program attracts more than 120 children on Sunday afternoons, and the El Rejon program has approximately 275 participants on Saturday mornings. The activities consist of Bible teachings, songs, games, crafts, and refreshments. Children attending the programs are from marginalized families who live on a basic income of 50 quetzals a day, equivalent to $1 US. In certain seasons, the number of participants decreases because the children help their family harvest crops. Many kids bring their younger siblings to the program, some even carrying infants on their back. There, on the mountaintops of Guatemala, the children’s beautiful singing and chants of Bible verses are heard, echoing.

Shina Park is a second-year student at Goshen College in Indiana, pursuing an interdisciplinary major of journalism, art, and peace, justice, and conflict studies. Her home congregation is Emmanuel Mennonite Church, in Abbotsford, B.C.

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