Mission of Love Guatemala Projects

Guatemala

Guatemala Mission of Love

How Mission of Love began our work in Guatemala

While doing our Denton airlifts, building clinics and schools in Mexico for a number of years, Judith Fernandez introduced us to Angie, the Director of Casa Guatemala Orphanage, Rio Dulce, Guatemala. Angie made a plea for our Mission of LOVE to help with her orphanage by rebuilding a roof for the girls dormitory after hearing from Judith all of the good work that was being done in Mexico via our Mission of LOVE.

The orphans were living in a home that was infested with bats, rats and snakes and holes in their thatched roof. The children were dying because of pneumonia during the rainy season, and were continually getting sick.

Guatemala Dorm In 1995 we had our first Denton airlift to Casa Guatemala containing building, educational, food, medical, shoes and clothing. In 1996 our Mission of LOVE building volunteers armed with tools, talent and energy arrived at Casa Guatemala Orphanage to place a new roof on the girls dormitory.

Volunteers began tearing down the old thatched roof, and started building the new 60' pitched roof, with all with the building materials that were sent from our Mission of LOVE warehouse, Ravenna, Ohio via the Denton Program.

The children worked with each and everyone of the Mission of LOVE volunteers and were thrilled to have a new roof and new friends to call their very own. Many of those same Mission of LOVE volunteers who re-roofed that girls dormitory in the jungles of Guatemala still continue to volunteer on our projects.

Our Mission of LOVE continues daily for the Mayan blind, orphaned, sick, deaf, dying, disfigured, homeless children of Guatemala. Please take the time to read the stories written and the video's made by our Mission of LOVE Volunteers.

"YOU are not here to save the world but are here to touch the hands that are within your reach."

Ever thought about going on a Mission of LOVE? Read what past volunteers say.


LETTERS OF GRATITUDE		LETTERS FROM VOLUNTEERS

"I thank God for meeting people as good as you. On behalf of the blind of the Chirijuyu village, the men, women and children of the different neighborhoods and communities in the municipality of Tecpan, Guatemala I deeply appreciate the assistance provided by Mission of Love." Paula Lopez Read Letter "Thank you for sharing your time and space, because you created very special smiles in every one of the children, they felt very important thanks to your very opportune details. Since the moment the bus arrived for their transfer, the welcoming you gave them, the piñatas, the gifts given them to every one of them, accompanying them on their way back, setting up the Christmas ornaments, all of these were very special moments that without a doubt they will never forget." Hna. Dora Alicia Garcia Gutierrez Read Letter "My brother and I were abandoned by our family as small children. All of our lives we have lived in orphanages. For the last several years we have lived in Casa Guatemala . It is an orphanage for mistreated children who have been abandoned by their families. God has provided me the opportunity to meet many good hearted people; people who have left their countries to help the forgotten, the sick, the mistreated, the abandoned, and those with physical defects. Thank you God, thank you Mission of Love for allowing me to be part of this family. I believe that there are no words to describe how thankful I feel for all that you have done in my country." Axel Giovani Satuye Mena Read Letter "In my name, Doctor Arturo Cazali, Pediatrician and on behalf of all medical and paramedical staff of Metropolitan Hospital in Guatemala, we would like to extend our appreciation for the valuable and selfless assistance given to Guatemalan children and young people with congenital defects aesthetic problems of the type Labis cleft palate. It was an honor for the Metropolitan Hospital to provide the infrastructure facilities." Dr. Arturo Cazali Read Letter "The motto of Mission of Love: You are not here to save the world, but to take the hand that reaches out for you. Thank you. You made a difference." Ashley Dixon Read Letter "We have just finished unloading the last of two containers that Mission of Love sent filled with love for the Mayan people in need of Guatemala. It was a long and bureaucratic process to have the two containers brought to Tecpan, but finally today the miracle occurred. A group of over 40 community volunteers (young and elder) joined hands to unload the “Love Containers”. Words aren’t enough to express our people’s gratitude for all the love received. THANK YOU MISSION OF LOVE !!!" Eternal gratitude, Edwin Read Letter		"All last week Kathy Price and Mission of Love were in Guatemala, finding homeless children and giving them a home, visiting the orphanage, delivering food to remote villages who are starving, and the medical team gave the miracle of cleft lip and palate surgeries. We are so proud to be supporting the efforts of this truly amazing organization, led by Kathy who is literally a miracle worker. She and her merry band of volunteers load up a military cargo plane, and fly through the air like ten thousand magic reindeer, to help the poorest of the poor with compassion and dignity. If you ever want to have a life-changing experience, volunteer on one of their trips!" Luana and Paul Rubin "I had been praying for God to show me where He wanted me to serve him. Out of the blue one day last spring I received a message from Kathy Price inviting me to come along on a trip to Guatemala. I thought, OK here is my answer!" Becky Spratt Read Letter "Before departing, I ventured to Douglas's in hopes of seeing his newborn daughter. When he placed the bundled infant in my arms, it was a confirmation of what Mission of Love is all about, the children. She, and many others will benefit from the addition of the new medical/dental clinic, the ambulance, the school bus, the corn, and whatever else MOL has, and can provide or do for the Mayan community in Tecpan to enrich their lives. They have surely enriched and touched mine." Sharon M. Borror Read Letter "Living this experience was unbelievable for my family and I. We had the opportunity to live moments of nervousness, sadness and joy." Edwin Marroquin Read Letter Read the story about a paraplegic aided by the Mission of Love during their January 2014 trip to Tecpan, Guatemala. Writen by: Donald Pavlov Read Letter "There were times that we couldn’t hold back the tears but there are many more occasions for smiles, laughter and joy. We all worked hard and we were always tired at the end of each day. To meet those who have little or NOTHING and to see their appreciation and feel their love is one of the best experiences we could ever have." Laurie Beaupre Read Letter "When trying to describe life-giving missions like these words fail to explain what the soul goes through. We started by evaluating 27 beautiful human beings that generously gave us the opportunity to transform their faces. This also allowed us to transform not only their parents’ lives and spirits, but ours as well; now I can understand how the pain of the living God redeems souls." Dr. Edgar Moran Read Letter #1 Read Letter #2 Read Letter #3 "By the end of the week there was a visible shift in the community, and the smiles and hugs were infectious. We topped off the week with a fiesta at the farm. Our expectations were more than met when over 300 people showed up to celebrate." Susan Boone Read Letter "Of all the valuable things from this experience is the fact of finding people like Mission of Love volunteers because they show the best of the Human Being which is the ability to give love, solidarity and above all hope for the poor, and realize that giving your best effort and work for others gives you in return much more and above all peace and hope because you know there are people that make this planet have hope in finding the light of wishing to be better." Claudia Moran Read Letter I am really blessed to be able to be next to all the great people of Mission of love because without them it would be impossible to help and give all the love that was given this week, they make all these dreams come true. Andres Moran Read Letter "I think every human being realizes at some point in life that one of their purposes in life is to serve others. To serve and help the people in need. Some people take their entire life to figure this out and others catch the idea pretty young in their lives. Personally, I have been blessed by meeting Mission of Love which is led by Kathy Price and conformed by an extraordinary group of volunteers. They together have taught me in only one year this valuable lesson of life." Edwin Read Letter #1 Read Letter #2 Read Letter #3 "Departure off the boat we were not only greeted with handshakes, but heartfelt smiles and hugs. You could just see the hope on their faces and depth of love in their eyes. We all felt like family within the first ten minutes of our arrival." MaryBeth Eckberg Read Letter "It was a lot of really extrenuous work, but really gratifying. In the end it was pretty amazing to see all that we accomplished in such a short amount of time. Take my word for it… If you get the chance to go and do something like that, do it! You won’t regret it." Fred Housel Read Letter "Of all my experiences in the world of medicine and nursing, the most gratifying and exhilarating time of my life happened recently when I volunteered for a week at the Hospital Metropolitano in Guatemala." Amy Bush Read Letter "The physical work is hard, very hard, and you pay the price in aches and pains. Why would any American in their right mind do such a thing? The answer to that question is simple. We, all of us, returned to our homes as better people than we were when we left." Bob Price Read Letter #1 Read Letter #2 "We came from the land of plenty, the United States of America, where we have much; now we are witnessing and touching those who have none." Rashid A. Abdu, M.D. Read Letter "It was really sad when we had to leave because of the compassion, kindness, and love we felt with these kindred people, we were not just workers anymore, we became family." Karen A Studer Read Letter