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Rolando receives the rest of his Braille Bible.

director — Sun, 23 May 2010 05:01:39 +0000

It is kind of funny, as I sat in the little 10×10 room with Rolando he began to share more about his blindness. He had asked for several books of the Bible he was missing to have a complete Bible. This is something I have heard and tried to help with for now almost 4 years. This past January Rolando received a Braille typewritter. We thought this was a wonderful thing as did he but hearing his thoughts on this were different than I knew.

He shared that he had never requested a Braille typewritter. He knew that he was still waiting on the Braille Bible as well. He realized that the day he received the typewriter and that God would provide the Bible that he became at peace with being blind. He had thought prior, that maybe he hadn’t received them because God would restore his vision.

After several, several years of asking, writing calling and much prayer Rolando received the 20 some books he was missing to complete his Braille Bible! He had aquired several books, mostly the new testament over the years but was never able to get the other books. We had tried very hard to get them to him and even had groups that were responding saying “they are on the way” but for Guatemala we know that can be years! But just last week a fellow missionary who had also spoken of Rolando had received the books in Braille that he was missing! Rolando now says, it is easy and peaceful to accept his blindness, God has now provided everything he needs.

Praise God for his faithfulness and for meeting his needs!

Rolando’s Braille Typewritter

director — Tue, 11 May 2010 18:49:00 +0000

With this letter, I, Cesar Rolando Garcia Alvarez want to express my deep gratefulness, first to God our Father and to you for providing this machine that arrived at my hands. I can assure you it will certainly be well used and taken care of and will be of much blessing for the ministry that God to placed in my hands.

I want to tell you I have never had a machine, reason being it is taking a little time to use it but with the aid of God I hope to practice more and then be able to write quickly. During the last 13 years I was writing with a small braille strip that a sister me gave me. It has been 18 years since I lost my sight but I can say to you that throughout this time God has been faithful to me and an example of that is that He had put in your heart to gift this precious machine to me. Once again thank you very much and may God Bless you and all your family. Please also receive the gratefulness of my parents Enrique Garcia and Berta Alvarez who send sincere greetings to you in the name of our God.

With much gratitude your brother in Christ Cesar Rolando Garcia Alvarez.

Thanks to Ed and his family for providing this to him.

Meet Yolanda

director — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 04:30:17 +0000

We decided to go and visit Yolanda’s children one afternoon. To give the group the chance to meet one of the many families that Paso a Paso supports. Here is the encounter written by Karlene who traveled up the hill to visit Yolanda with the rest of us that day.

Jenny describes her family’s house as humble.

5 kids and 2 adults share 2 small rooms.

The kitchen is outside (which is actually a good thing, due to the smoke.)

Well, I guess you can’t really meet Yolanda, she is a little too busy working at the moment. But I can share with you a little bit about her life, through the eyes of her children. Yolanda lives high in the mountains outside of Antigua, above Barrio La Cruz. She shares 2 small rooms with her 5 children, as well as her husband (when he is home.) Today we hiked up a steep path to visit this family to which Paso a Paso has dedicated much time and resources.

Yolanda’s husband has been gone for a month now, and isn’t expected for perhaps another.
This is a typical scenario for many woman in Barrio La Cruz. Mayan worship is still very strong in the hills of Guatemala. The main god, Moshimo, is honored through rounds of tequila. When something good happens, the father will get drunk on tequila, praising Moshimo for his goodness. And when something goes wrong, the father will get drunk on tequila, asking Moshimo for forgiveness. There are many drunk, absent fathers in Barrio La Cruz.

Yolanda’s husband, however, is not a drunk. Rather, they are suffering the second generation effect. He comes from a family of abusive drunks. But in the past few years, since Paso a Paso has been a part of their lives, the couple has taken great strides in being less physically and verbally abusive. Stephanie and her friend Tito have been able to do some intervention counseling with the couple, and according to the children, it seems to be helping. When Stephanie first met their daughter Flor, she was not doing well. But today, Paso a Paso sponsors all 5 children to go to school, and they are all thriving.

Maria, Jenny, Daniel and Flor. They also have an older brother, Cesar, who was at his grandma’s house at the time.

There is still lots of work to be done. Yolanda works hard to keep the family clothed and fed. She works 6 days a week in Pastores. Perhaps a 30 minute commute, when you include the walk up and down her steep mountain path. While she works, she counts on her oldest daughter to take care of the other children. Jenny described her responsibilities to us as cooking, cleaning, and making sure the kids aren’t getting into trouble. While we were there, I asked Flor to show me how she cooks in her kitchen. She proceeded to start a fire from the still hot ashes. She flashed me a proud smile as she put a pot of beans on to cook. Flor is 10 years old.

The result of Flor’s work. That old coffee pot is probably their supper.

I don’t want you to think that Yolanda’s life is all bad, it isn’t. She has many blessings to be thankful for. She belongs to a tight-knit community that helps one another when in need. Her family (mother, father and 10 siblings) live just a stone’s throw across the valley. Her children are beautiful and thriving. Although she works hard, she has a job that supports her family. She has much to be proud of.

I share Yolanda’s story with you to give you a glimpse of life here in Barrio La Cruz. These are the types of families that Paso a Paso is dedicated to building up. The goal is not to modernize their homes, send their kids to school and turn them into the “perfect” western family. But rather to come along side them, giving them the resources, skills and education to grow as a family. The hope is that in a few years, they will not need our help, but rather, continue enjoying the friendship of Paso a Paso.

The view from Yolanda’s front door. Not bad. Of course, that means a bit of a hike up that steep path, often with a baby on the back and a basket of food on the head.

Una Muneca

director — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 14:19:33 +0000

We have just about finished our doll making class, today Karlene and I will go back to Barrio la Cruz were about 15 women will meet us there coming from two different barrios. We are amazed at how well they are making the dolls and anxious they are to learn! They will finish their big dolls today and we will be bringing some small and large waldorf dolls home to sell via Esty and at events. Please continue to pray for us as we minister to the women today and the rest of my time here with them as well. Here is the post also written by Karlene below, the wonderful friend teaching the sewing class.

One of the precious daughters holding her Munequa that her mother had just finished.

I have been on many Mission’s Trips before, and even some with children, but this is the first time I have taken my own children to a foreign country with the purpose of building others up in Christ. And I am loving it. To see the world through a 3-year-old’s eyes is just precious.

Annalia started learning a few Spanish words before we left, and has been having a good time spotting unas vacas, unas gallinas y los gatitos. But these past couple days she has really taken the initiative to ask what something is in Spanish. One of her new words, most appropriately, is “muneca” (doll.) As I have taken my dolls around to the women in the community, inviting them to attend the doll making class, Annalia is often with me. And the women are often more taken with my life-size muneca then the dolls they are excited to make. And of course Annalia eats the attention right up. She tried to convince me the other day that “muneca” means “girl”, since that is what people call her. I wish everyone here could accept a title like that as easily as my little girl.

One of Paso a Paso’s goals is to build up community women’s self-esteem and self-worth. As we prepared to teach the women the skill of doll-making, we find it equally important to tell the woman just how important they are. At the beginning of each class, I shared Proverbs 31 with the woman, highlighting the fact that God views us women as precious; vital to our families, communities, and our world.

I asked each woman to write down for me why she wanted to take the class, and I thought you would like to hear what they had to say.

“Yo vengo aprender porque deceo saber hacer munequitas para poder algun dia trabajar en ello para poder ayudar en el hogar y ensenarle a mis hijos.”

She wants to eventually make money while staying home with her children.

Delmi has a hard time seeing, and it was so neat to see the other women come along side her to thread her needle, and do other things she couldn’t. She said “Yo deceo aprender para algun dia poder salir adelante.” She wants to learn so that she can one day get ahead.

A few young girls came, here is what Saida had to say. “First, I want to give thanks to God for giving the leaders the desire to share their thoughts with us. And at the same time, everyone here is here because we hope to learn how to make dolls. Personally, I am here because I love handcrafts and because it is a great opportunity that they are giving to us without us having to pay. I thank them very much and I hope God blesses them and cares for them always.”

Pastor Rolando – Overcoming Blindness

director — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 02:52:53 +0000

My name is Justin Hibbard, and I’m here with my family working with Stephanie and Paso a Paso. The trip so far has been so amazing, and God has opened my eyes to the tremendous need here in Barrio la Cruz. One of my greatest experiences so far has been meeting Pastor Rolando. He is extremely friendly and I love his heart to serve the Lord, despite his blindness. His blindness occurred about 18 years ago or so when he was 21. It just happened one day as he was walking home, and by the time he got home, he couldn’t see. He says that God has used his blindness to lead him into serving Him, and he has never looked back. Nothing really gets past Rolando. He told me the other day how good preachers have a Bible in one hand and a newspaper in the other. We talked about current events, sports… He told me that Lance Armstrong was 6 seconds behind the leader, heading into his stregnth – the mountains. He wore a Real Madrid shirt, and when I was talking to him about the team, he knew exactly what their payroll was. I asked him about the political system here, and he informed me, and then said, “America has 2 parties right – Democrats and Republicans?” I was impressed. Pastor Rolando preaches with such finesse, memorizing his sermon and teaching with authority and knowledge. Last week, I listened to him talk about eternal security; it was well organized with points and subpoints, and he didn’t have a single note in front of him. He knew the verses he wanted to read, when he wanted them read, and what he was going to say about each one. But what we didn’t see was the amazing hard work he put behind that one Bible Study. With the help of his family, he has them record verses and other text, to which he listens and later hand writes in Braille, along with his own thoughts – a process which takes 7 hours per 2 pages of Braille notes. I made this movie for him in hopes that someone would see this and provide modern equipment for this very gifted and godly man.

Sewing take One..

director — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 05:53:23 +0000

We are back in Guatemala and going strong and so happy to be here! As I got off the plane with the kids and got to take a deep breath of the Guatemalan air; somewhat stale and stinky that I am so used to, I know we are back! We are also so excited to share the next two weeks with the Hibbards and their two girls and Stacey and her son. Karlene is teaching a sewing class and Stacey’s husband will join us for construction, while all of us join in for translating, children’s ministry and much more.

It is so hard for me as a mother of two to think of how to prepare families to come and serve here in Guatemala when we are so acustome to living here and doing ministry. I was reminded yesterday and today how different things are as we went on the bus. Yesterday, the buses were rerouted so we were dropped off on the highway, yet still left to walk a good distance uphill on cobblestones and then back down the long hill to get back home. All to go to church and see the people. As I begin to think, ugh, I have to carry Austin, keep up with Bella; I then quickly realize the women that live here in our community do this daily and with several children and carrying food or firewood on their heads. Or today when a man and a young girl come on the bus to do a stand up clown routine just to make a few cents in tips to get by? Life is different..

Karlene who is teaching our sewing class wrote a wonderful post about her time here so far and I am adding it to this..

Friday we got to take our first trip into Barrio La Cruz, the community that Paso a Paso is dedicated to building up. And what an experience. First of all, let me share a little bit about how we get around here. I am extremely glad I didn’t bring my stroller! To describe the pavement as uneven is an understatement. With sidewalks just big enough for a couple school girls to walk side by side, and the random divots, bumps, pillars, and holes, we have taken our travel cues from the natives. So, Stephanie has Austin in a sling, I have Naomi in a sling, and Justin carries Annalia in the backpack, while Bella and Josiah walk. We make quite the entourage as we traipse through the city on our way to the bus station.

We only stick out a little

Our goal Friday was to meet with the pastor in Barrio La Cruz, insuring that everything is all set to go for the sewing classes on Monday. We also wanted to stop at the head seamstresses house and invite her to help. We walked the brisk 10 minute walk to the bus station and caught the chicken bus to the ‘burbs of Antigua. Now, when I say ‘burbs, I don’t mean rows of identical development houses where commuters live with their 2.5 kids and matching SUV’s. While Antigua has many of the amenities we enjoy in the United States, a 10 minute bus trip out of the city reminds us why we are here. Tiny cement houses cling to the side of the mountain, while the families that occupy them carve out a meager living for themselves and the multiple families that share a roof.
Our first stop was Clara’s house, where I met a very talented seamstress. She invited us up to her workroom where we showed one another our crafts. She “ooh”ed over my dolls, and I “ahh’ed over her beautiful hand embroidery. I am really glad she will be there this week to help with the classes.

Clara and Stephanie in Clara’s sewing room.

As we got off the bus, Bella ran into her friend Marciel, and immediately ditched us to head off to his house. Eventually, we went to pick her up, and were blessed to meet Marciel, the bootmaker. His business was the first to receive a microloan from Paso a Paso. He was such a delight as he showed us around his house. Then we headed to the backyard (his house only has 3 walls, so you really do walk right into his backyard.) to check out all the wonderful produce he grows for his family: coffee, avocados, limes, and other fruits I have never heard of.

Annalia was thrilled to take home an avocado and her very own coffee bean.

It has been great to meet the people. Saturday was Bella’s birthday, and the Children’s Pastor, Rolando, threw her a HUGE party, where all the kids in the program came. Boy, was she the Bell of the Ball as she danced and twirled around the center of the circle as her party-goers sang songs. The, we brought out the mother of all pinatas! Everyone had a blast.

And there was a Snow White one to match.

Tomorrow is the beginning of the sewing classes. Please pray for each woman coming to the class. Pray that she will have the courage to learn a new skill and that I will have the correct words and actions to teach. Also pray for the kids that will be joining Stacey while their mother’s take the class. Pray that she has plenty to do, and that God offers up opportunities to share with each kid the love of Christ.

Toothbrushes for Barrio la Cruz

director — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 19:42:30 +0000

As I walk the narrow roads and dirt paths of Barrio la Cruz I come across many women, children and men with rotten teeth, swollen gums, missing teeth and infection. One of our goals in Paso a Paso is to show the families how to simply brush their teeth and maintain better hygeine and hopefully combine that eventually with clean water.

We had over 500 toothbrushes donated by Pete, Stephanie’s dad and we were able to give them out to all of the students in our program and their families. We even had extras to give them out to other local families. While going door to door to give out toothbrushes we even handed out some clothes for the families. We know that dental hygeine is very important and can be a matter of life or death for these children and we are thankful that we can take part in giving them something they wouldn’t have otherwise.

Back in El Barrio!

director — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 05:39:42 +0000

We have been back in Guatemala for 2 weeks and are keeping busy. Paso a Paso has 151 children in the education sponsorship program and we have successfully passed out all the school supplies door to door to the children and their families. This meant a lot of hiking up hills and sliding down hills. Thanks to some added family help it was great to get it done in just a week! I am always so amazed at how Rolando is so organized and helps keep the community together despite what some may consider his disability. He uses his blindness to bring other together and meet their needs.

We still have numerous children that need sponsorship for this year. Please check our website or send us an email on the web for more information. For just $120 a year you can send a child to school for the whole year and give them a chance to a brighter future!

Heading back….

director — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 02:42:40 +0000

Since we have been back in the states for a bit a lot has happened here and in Guatemala. In Guatemala Rolando and his church put on their children’s yearly VBS and over 240 children attended! This was a great turn out and a wonderful chance to reach out to the unchurched in the area. Also, the day before we departed Guatemala we installed a stove for Rolando’s family and we have now heard that it is working great and making over 400 tortillas a day, praise God! This stove will help the women breath better, keep the children safer and now they can cook more efficiently too. On January 5th on of our sponsored students Edy headed on a long journey to Cuba. He was given a scholarship earlier in the year to attend the University there for all 5 years! This is an amazing accomplishment and we hope to assist and encourage him through this time.

On the state side we have been busy working on raising funds and getting the word out about the wonderful people we work with and desire to support in Barrio la Cruz. We have passed out flyers door to door in all different parts of the US. Calvary Chapel of Camarillo helped us raise support for the children and their school supplies over Christmas. We were able to speak at 2 different events to inform more people of Paso a Paso and raise funds. A neighbor even held a harvest party to raise funds for Paso a Paso.

We are also working on organization, web info updating and much much more. Please pray for us as we head back to Guatemala this week. We will be handing out all the school supplies for the school year starting mid January, visiting families and working on our water filter and stove program projects.

Please pray for our protection and safe travel. Health for us and the children. Pray for open doors and open hearts in the community. We praise God we are able to be working in such a wonderful place that allows us to preach the gospel freely.

We are still in need of sponsors for many children and funds for Paso a Paso keep functioning. Please pray about donating or contact if you are able to contribute in some way.

Bootmaking with Marcial

admin2 — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 04:25:58 +0000

We had the privilege of watching and learning from Paso a Paso’s longtime friend, boot maker, Marcial. Jenni wanted some boots to take home to her daughter, nephew and niece, so Marcial let us help with the process of making their boots. First we had to learn to work with the leather… “you have to understand your material, before you can cut it.” Before cutting the leather around his template, Marical reminded us multiple times not to “cut my paper” (his template for the boot size). You can see he looks a little worried in the picture of Jenni cutting the leather. After Stephanie began cutting, he added, as a side note, “and don’t cut your finger.”

Marcial had several deadlines on the day that we got to “help,” so we didn’t do as much as we might of liked, but we got a dose of his enthusiasm and good natured humor. He is always smiling, although he only makes about 20Q or $2.80 per pair of boots. A pair of boots take about 8 hours to make. He often outsources the soling and/ or embroidery, which increases the cost of his production, but gives jobs to other people in the community. You can see a picture of a piece of leather embroidered for the side of a boot below.

This last picture shows Marical delivering the boots to us in the market of Antigua. We wondered if he slept, but what a joy to take home to my kiddos, especially my nephew who is battling neuroblastoma cancer.

Marcial is saving to open his own boot shop. He is the perfect example of someone that we would like to be able to give a microloan to someday, as Paso a Paso grows.

Look for some pictures of the kids in their boots in the coming updates.