What are we doing??

So what is the Goldendale Christian Fellowship (GCF) doing or plans to do? Several things, first, support for the childrens' home in Guatemala, Nido del Aguila; secondly scholarships for children attending the Solola' Christian School; thirdly, promoting a short term mission to Guatemala; and fourth, working with Wheels for the World to develop a "Chair Corps" in Yakima.

The childrens home, Nido del Aguila (Eagle's Nest) was started in 2003 by Larry and Claire Boggs at an abandoned resort near Solola. Larry and Claire have been in Guatemala since 1978 as missionaries and have had a childrens home in Xela for over twenty years when they started looking for a larger facility. Nido del Aguila was the answer to their prayers as both a retreat center for local and Christian groups and a childrens' home. The retreat center helps pay some of the overhead of the childrens' home, but it does not pay it all. Last year, Eagle's Nest had nearly eighty children. Their purpose was to find adoptive Christian parents in the United States for all of their children. Fortunately, most of the children were in the adoption process by the end of 2007 because the law changed and now no new foreign adoptions are being permitted. Now facing this reality, Eagle's Nest no longer has funds coming from new adoptions as there are no new foreign adoptions and local adoptions are rare. Thus as the childrens' home shifts from seeking adoptive parents to being the adoptive parents, they need sponsors for each child. You can help through sponsoring a child at www.eaglesnestint.org. You can save us the PayPal costs by pledging and paying directly through us.

Public education in Guatemala is grossly underfunded and bordering on chaos. Small private schools are filling the void, but they too struggle as most of the population is poor. The Solola Christian School is one such school. They have 50 students from kindergarten to sixth grade. The school term is from January to November. It costs $20-$25 per student each month for their school tuition and supplies. Thus, for $250 a year or less, a child can get a better education and a Christian world view. If you can pledge to pay $20-25/ month for ten months, you will enable the Solola Christian School to enroll one more student. However, we need to know of your commitment by year end so the student's materials are ordered. send a e-mail to me if you want to provide a scholarship for 2009. You will know your scholarship recipient and their progress.

Many people question the need and effectiveness of short term mission teams. They claim that the money could be better spent if they just sent the money and stayed home. An observation is that I have never heard those concerns from anyone who has actually gone on a short term mission trip. Short term mission teams can and do reach out to many and provide a positive witness for Jesus Christ. More importantly, the mission trip creates a higher awareness for the persons involved of God's love, fellowship, purposes and Glory. A short term mission is not just about serving others but also knowing and serving God in the process. Beverly and I have worked with many short term missions and seen the positive results for those being served and for those serving. There are many needs that we could meet in Guatemala with a short term mission team. We can help you make your short term mission trip a success. If you are interested, contact us.

Wheels for the World is a ministry of Joni Earickson Tada. They collect wheelchairs, walkers, exercise equipment, etc., send it to one of the helping prisons to be restored and then send to a third world country with a mission team to give and fit for those in need. Our participation is in developing a "Chair Corps" in Yakima to find, collect and store the needed wheelchairs and other equipment. We have two storage units nearly full already. You can help as a volunteer and help by donating to cover some of our expenses.

Beverly and I plan to return to Guatemala for six months in October to enable Larry and Claire Boggs to stay in the states to spend the holidays with family and to raise funds. Please "bookmark" our blog as our future posting will keep you up to date. Que Dios vos bendiga.
Ron