Zacapa: FIA has a dorm that they house teens from the mountains and put them through high school and college. They pay for all the needs for each teen and help them get through school. The hope of the program is to help the kids get an education so that they can get better jobs and help break the poverty cycle that the mountain people have lived in for 1000 years. As well as helping them get in education, we want to be there for the teens to be their friends and an open ear when they need to talk. I have developed many relationships with the kids in the dorm and love them all dearly. As the kids are with us in the dorms are heart is that they would learn about God and who he is. A lot of students come from vary strong Catholic families and families that practices witch craft. (If you want to know more about the dorm in Zacapa visit fiaministries.com/what-we-do/construction-programs/student-dormitories/)
My heart for Zacapa is to see the teens in the dorm to except Christ. To find Him to be the loving caring merciful gracious God he is; that they would grow in an understanding of Christ and fall in love with Him. Many of the teens in the dorm have become my good friends; some of the older students are the same age as me. And my heart brakes for the ones that don’t yet know God and are weighted down with religious practices and full of superstitions. The ministry opportunity in the dorm will be doing a weekly bible study with the teens. Most importantly, just being there for them when they need help, to be an open ear when they need to talk and just loving on them
Near the dorm in Zacapa there is a city dump. Many families live in and around the dump, they pick through the trash to find things to recycle (plastic, tin cans…) or things that are worth money. The people in the dump are the lowest class and the rejects of society. As the parents work in the dump the children play and help work in the dump. Sometimes we take the teams that come from the states to the dump and hand out food and play soccer with the kids. Every time I go I get a growing burden to do more there. I have been praying to ask God what he wants to do with the kids in the dump and what form of ministry would be best for them. Some ideas are to do monthly out reaches such as doing movie nights, VBS, and just hanging out with the kids playing soccer and teaching them about the love of God. I am still praying about if this is a place God wants me to work in or not. I ask that you would pray about this opportunity as well.
None of what God is doing through me down here would be possible unless it was for all the prayer support I receive. Please keep Zacapa and all the teens in the dorm in your prayers and that God would use me in their lives to be example of a life surrendered to Christ. As I have become a full time missionary in Guatemala I also need monthly support, if you are interested in partnering with what God is doing in Guatemala and would like to support me go to www.fiaministries.com/give/ in the drop down menu where it asks where you want your money to go, select my name Amanda Culver. For more info or other ways to donate go to my donation page.
(Zacapa photos)
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| Me with one of the students |
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| The family that runs the Zacapa dorm |
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| Watching the world cup with the students |
Zacapa dump
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