Puerta Barrios, Remembered

It has been six months since 19 of us (mostly LSF students) returned from a world-view-tweaking trip to Guatemala, specifically the coastal town of Puerto Barrios. I was reading through my journal notes from the week and reliving the sights, sounds, smells, and sensations. Here are just a few entries from my "Puerto Barrios Impressions" page:

• garishly bright paint colors
• grime, trash, raw sewage
• bony chickens and turkeys wandering through dirt yards
• scrawny dogs, many females, trying to keep their litters of puppies nourished
• sardines drying in the sun on huge blue plastic tarps
• massive piles of bananas, a staple at every meal
• coconut grinders bolted to work benches (a.k.a. "kitchen" counters)
• "Homes" made from scrounged cinder blocks, corrugated metal, wood planks
• sinks fashioned from cement, outdoors, and black from use
• streets in such disrepair that blocks of concrete had sunk into impassable crevasses
• large black water containers perched on roofs
• laundry hanging from lines, clipped to fences, on hangers dangling from tree branches
• people outside all the time; in hammocks, on plastic lawn chairs, just milling around, and children everywhere...

We were told that 75% of Guatemala's population is under the age of 25. Isn't that astounding? Their children are the future of the country, and they are up against some nasty circumstances.

This year, a CLC Sunday School plan is in the works to give a hand to these gorgeous and impoverished children since we now have an affectionate relationship with so many of them! The Sunday School offerings will be sent to Pastor Paz (Pastor Peace) of Christ the Savior Lutheran Church in Puerto Barrios, who will use it to sponsor attendance at the local Lutheran School (where we provided VBS for 260 boys and girls last March) for as many as we can afford at $28.00/month. Hopefully, prayerfully, more Concordians can jump on this bandwagon and we can have a wonderfully positive influence on a community in dire need. Pastor Paz said he would send us photographs and letters and information on each child sponsored. Interested? Watch for details!! Thank you in advance!

May God bless our lives of plenty with His eye for need.

In Christ,