alandamaliskas
- Jun 13, 2019
- 4 min read

Ongoing Relief

Isaiah 61:3 To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified.We want to take this opportunity to THANK YOU for pouring out your care and love for the people who suffered so much loss in Guatemala due to the volcano eruption.

We feel privileged and blessed to have represented you every time we went to minister to the people. We could have not been able to do what we did without your prayers and partnership in this time of need. We can strongly say that our loving God was present through His church in the midst of pain and desperation.

It has amazed us to see how God's people from Guatemala and the United States came together to care and bless those who suffered the loss of family members, homes and are desperate for answers.

"Why my little arms look so different, they are all burned!” She cried out to her Dad! God is our refuge in times of troubles .. These past several days, we were able to minister in four different local shelters; three of which were in churches and one in a public school. "I still see the faces of people, old and young with eyes long gone from reality." - Heidi Fernandez

One particular lady who I met at a church shelter, said to me, “My Father was a pastor, he died as well as most of my family. I just buried eight family members yesterday and tomorrow I'll bury five more.”

I honestly did not know what to say to her and then it came to my mind that a few days before we had been ministering at the burn unit at a public hospital where we met a desperate father hugging one of his three girls. She was severely burned and hearing her screamed, “Why my little arms look so different, they are all burned!” ... was one of the most difficult things I have ever experienced.

The only thing that we were able to do at that time was to sing calming worship songs and pray. At the end of our 5 hours visit to the hospital, we saw the little girl's father with a smile on his face and thanking us for praying for them. I saw that the power of worship and prayer in times of horror and pain can bring comfort and peace to those suffering.

So, I went ahead and shared with the lady about my visit to the hospital and her husband said to me, “You know those were my nieces”.

The only thing that came to my mind was to assure them that there was no coincidence that I had met them that day at the shelter. That the Lord has taken us there to pray for them and cry with them. I asked them if we could pray for them and our mission team surrounded them and we prayed for this family.

In the end, I felt the need to tell her that her father left them a legacy of ministry and preaching the Gospel and they needed to continue his legacy. She wipes her tears and seemed at ease.

I realized at that moment, that God had put us in both places, the hospital and the shelter, which were three hours away from each other. To minister to this family, a family whose father had dedicated his life, until his last day on earth, to preach the gospel in Los Altos village which was wiped out by the volcano eruption.

We thank God for ... Newspring Church, Eliot Baptist Church and City on a Hill Church mission teams for coming alongside us in time of need; serving and ministering to those in devastating need.

Also, we were blessed to have many of our Guatemalan friends join us on those dates, serving alongside the mission teams to bless and help their people. We have no word to explain how we saw God move his people in the midst of this tragedy.

Ongoing relief Local Churches serving as shelters to the refugees and caring for them in the most loving ways providing warm meals and opening their sanctuaries for people to sleep. Ways to Give

God's provision Over 10,000 pounds of food was purchased and distributed! Many thanks to the generosity of WTMFH partners. Families were blessed at the public hospital with baskets of food as well as meeting other needs. Continued support 2000 pairs of underwear were purchased and distributed to people in the three local church shelters we've visited. You can still be a part of this ongoing support by donating to the relief funds below. Relief Funds Thank you for your prayer for Peter!

We also praise God for the recuperation of Peter, a young Guatemalan relief volunteer, who contracted a bacteria while working in the rescue effort and was hospitalized in critical condition in a public hospital.

WTMFH was able to support the family through a monetary assistance during this difficult time and by a miracle, he was released from the Hospital and is recuperating at home with his family.

We're grateful for God's open doors!

He allowed us to minister at a public school that has been used as a shelter for 200 volcano refugees. People were blessed with a Sunday service, VBS actives, games and a hot local meal “Pepian” was served to the people, police officers, service personnel and many more."After serving over 300 people, there was enough food leftover for dinner that night for the people in the shelter."

God gave us more than we needed at any given time! WOW!

Thank you to all of you for being a part of this outreach! Please continue to pray for Guatemala and for those whose hopes our lost in the aftermath of such tragedy and so