Dear Epic Friends,

Our team experience in Guatemala in February was above and beyond anything we could have asked for or imagined!

Seven of us from the Grace Chapel Epic ministry – Doug Whallon, John Dorr, Carol Nelson, Simon Strong, John Avery, and Ruth and Jeff Brigham, along with GC pastoral resident Scott Miller, traveled to Guatemala to partner with the Potter's House Association, a Christ-centered, Guatemalan-run organization that works to empower people living in poverty in Guatemala City and in the region of Chiquimula. They serve a community of 11,000 children and families in the capital city who live on the margins of the second largest garbage dump in Latin America, as well as the materially poor in Chiquimula, in the rural eastern part of the country.

PHA provides education, nutritional training and medical relief, as well as micro-enterprise financing and community leadership training. Potter's House focuses people to depend on God, and not on handouts (https://pottershouse.org.gt/strategy313/) . Their ultimate goal is to see Guatemalans in healthy relationship with God and with others.

What have we learned?

1. Poverty is complicated. It is more than just the lack of finances. It robs people of options in areas such as education and civic involvement when they're just trying to survive and provide food for their family for that day. They have no voice, nor the resources to change their situation. Many believe that they aren't worth anything and will never amount to anything.

2. Potter's House has been working in Guatemala City for 33 years. During this time they have seen the literacy rate increase, and people start businesses and energize their communities. 70% of their current staff grew up in the dump community. They expanded to Chiquimula three years ago and are also exploring other needy regions.

How would we describe Guatemala?

1. It’s a land of beautiful smiles. You can say hello and people will answer you with a greeting and a smile!

2. There is amazing beauty from majestic mountains and volcanoes to beautiful and delicate flowers and historic colonial architecture.

3. There are stark contrasts between the affluent and the poor: in resources, opportunities, and outlook. Potter’s House staff calls the people in the dump community the Treasures, because they are made in the image of God, and they are exceedingly precious to Him. It’s exciting to see and hear stories of transformation.

What were we able to do in Guatemala City and in Chiquimula?

1. We visited and prayed with families in their homes in the dump community in Guatemala City and in the local community in Chiquimula. Some of the funds we raised for this trip purchased groceries for the 15 families we visited. Community leaders selected families and let them know that a team would be visiting on a certain day. We brought groceries for the families because if they missed work for our visit, they would earn no money and may not be able to eat that day. Each also received a Bible – one woman said she had been praying for a Bible of her own!

2. One of our favorite things was serving lunch to children in the Potter’s House After School Program in Guatemala City. The funds we raised covered the cost for the lunch for 100+ children.

3. We painted a classroom in the Cristobal Colon Elementary School. The funds we raised helped pay for the paint supplies as well as replace a leaky roof with a new roof for that classroom.

4. Carol and Ruth hosted a health and wellness program for mothers and their children in Guatemala City.

5. Carol and Ruth also ran three different ESL classes (English As A Second Language) for Potter’s House staff, both in Guatemala City and in Chiquimula. Since we’ve returned home, Ruth is continuing to run weekly ESL classes via Zoom for some of the PHA staff.

6. We also raised funds to build a hygiene station for a family in Chiquimula. We spent a couple of days putting in gardens, and plastering, painting and pouring cement to finish the hygiene station. The station includes an enclosed toilet and a personal wash area as well as a sink and a more efficient wood burning stove. It’s the 36th hygiene station PHA has built. They have seen great improvement in the quality of life for these families and communities, with 70-80% reduction in respiratory and intestinal illness.

Some of our team was able to visit the family that we had built a hygiene station for in 2019. Their gardens have done so well that they have given away vegetables to their neighbors! We are praying that the gardens that we helped plant this year will prosper and bless many people!

If you would like to know more about the Potter’s House ministry or feel that the Lord is leading you to join the Epic team in future trips, please reach out to any of us! Potter’s House annually hosts over sixty teams from various churches. These teams are an integral part of their ministry strategy. We are very well taken care of in lodging, food and transportation. Come join us for a life-changing and God-honoring experience!

On behalf of the Epic Guatemala Team,

Ruth and Jeff Brigham