Our Story
Several circumstances in our lives led us to settle in Ladner, BC. This was a drastic deviation from the path as we were preparing to be missionaries in Guatemala. We were disappointed and left asking God what the purpose of all this was. That was when he parted the waters of doubt in our minds and revealed to us a great need and purpose right here in Ladner.
The need was that there are many Guatemalan men working here in the greenhouses and that they needed support adapting to a new way of life. “When we couldn’t go to Guatemala, God revealed a piece of Guatemala here”. And the best part is that our vision we had set out to fulfill in Guatemala is not that different from the vision and purpose we have right here.
An estimated four hundred Mexican and Guatemalan men are in the Ladner area working at one of 8 greenhouses. They work up to 12 hours a day 6 days a week to earn 5 times as much as they could in their home country to support their families. Many are married with children so they sacrifice to earn funds needed for good education, medical needs, and basic necessities for their families. At times they miss the birth of their child or the death of a parent while being away for up to a year at a time.
While they are working they struggle with quality of life. They often work, eat, sleep, repeat and suffer emotionally from not having a connection with others or balance. The first year is the most difficult because life is drastically different than the villages they are from, for example, cooking on the stove, washing their clothes in a machine not by hand, and the different foods available, this is aside from the culture and language differences. Needless to say there is a great need for a sense of community, distraction and faith.
We hope to fill these needs by helping the workers achieve a better balance outside of work and ultimately plant the seed of faith. Simple things like a soccer game or home visit can positively affect their experience and give a foundation to share a gospel message. Being isolated many workers are receptive to learning more about Jesus. By supporting these men here in Ladner we can ultimately impact the next generation in Guatemala when fathers can provide for their families and most importantly be an example of Christ.
Through this ministry we plan to make a positive impact on the workers lives by welcoming them into the community, providing a distraction from work and facilitate building a relationship with Christ.
Community
Many feel a lot of stress not having people to talk to and are scared to even leave their farms. Walking around the town is not safe in Guatemala so at first they are scared to go out. But after they are shown where to go in the community they are more adventurous to get out. We always encourage the locals to say ‘hola’ when they see Latinos to further welcome them.
More than the community in general we hope to bring together our church community with the workers. This will show that besides a language and skin colour we are very similar beings, one not greater than another. We recently held an event at the church of short games simple enough that a common language was not required. It was successful and a lot of fun so we hope to have more interacting events in the future.
Activities
Through physical activities and being out in the community we hope the workers can find a healthy distraction from work, exercise and have fun. Some things that we have already been doing and hope to continue are:
Sharing Christ
Through weekly visits to the various greenhouses Jon nurtures relationships and builds trust with the guys. They often ask him for prayer or to listen as they share their struggles. They continually welcome him to visit where he can openly share an impromptu devotion or worship time playing guitar.
Many people from the church have been generous with their time and by donating needed items. It has been reported by some workers that they were really impacted that “Canadians” give so much without expecting anything in return and they would like to be more like that when they return home.
There have already been opportunities to introduce the Bible to new believers and provide them their own Bible to keep, including a lesson on how to read it (book then chapter and verse). If each worker received a Bible that would be 400 families owning a Bible back in Guatemala in just one year.
We have started a more formal Bible study to develop disciples that can spread the good news even further. There is a lack of Spanish language anything including church services and those who are Christians are looking for a service to attend. There are great opportunities in this area and we are praying for a way to meet these needs.
We have seen many affirming signs that this is where Gods wants us to serve. There have been so many areas to serve in and so many needs that at times it can be difficult to see the big picture. But as time goes on we experience successes and new areas are revealed we can see how God is shaping this ministry and the vision for it.
The need was that there are many Guatemalan men working here in the greenhouses and that they needed support adapting to a new way of life. “When we couldn’t go to Guatemala, God revealed a piece of Guatemala here”. And the best part is that our vision we had set out to fulfill in Guatemala is not that different from the vision and purpose we have right here.
An estimated four hundred Mexican and Guatemalan men are in the Ladner area working at one of 8 greenhouses. They work up to 12 hours a day 6 days a week to earn 5 times as much as they could in their home country to support their families. Many are married with children so they sacrifice to earn funds needed for good education, medical needs, and basic necessities for their families. At times they miss the birth of their child or the death of a parent while being away for up to a year at a time.
While they are working they struggle with quality of life. They often work, eat, sleep, repeat and suffer emotionally from not having a connection with others or balance. The first year is the most difficult because life is drastically different than the villages they are from, for example, cooking on the stove, washing their clothes in a machine not by hand, and the different foods available, this is aside from the culture and language differences. Needless to say there is a great need for a sense of community, distraction and faith.
We hope to fill these needs by helping the workers achieve a better balance outside of work and ultimately plant the seed of faith. Simple things like a soccer game or home visit can positively affect their experience and give a foundation to share a gospel message. Being isolated many workers are receptive to learning more about Jesus. By supporting these men here in Ladner we can ultimately impact the next generation in Guatemala when fathers can provide for their families and most importantly be an example of Christ.
Through this ministry we plan to make a positive impact on the workers lives by welcoming them into the community, providing a distraction from work and facilitate building a relationship with Christ.
Community
Many feel a lot of stress not having people to talk to and are scared to even leave their farms. Walking around the town is not safe in Guatemala so at first they are scared to go out. But after they are shown where to go in the community they are more adventurous to get out. We always encourage the locals to say ‘hola’ when they see Latinos to further welcome them.
More than the community in general we hope to bring together our church community with the workers. This will show that besides a language and skin colour we are very similar beings, one not greater than another. We recently held an event at the church of short games simple enough that a common language was not required. It was successful and a lot of fun so we hope to have more interacting events in the future.
Activities
Through physical activities and being out in the community we hope the workers can find a healthy distraction from work, exercise and have fun. Some things that we have already been doing and hope to continue are:
- Bringing co-workers/ housemates together by playing games at their houses (wii, board games, guitars to play music)
- Introducing them to the facilities in the community like the leisure center, library, coffee shops and stores to shop in.
- Soccer tournaments (organized greenhouse vs greenhouse or simply kicking the ball around)
- Outings to see some of the attractions around the city
Sharing Christ
Through weekly visits to the various greenhouses Jon nurtures relationships and builds trust with the guys. They often ask him for prayer or to listen as they share their struggles. They continually welcome him to visit where he can openly share an impromptu devotion or worship time playing guitar.
Many people from the church have been generous with their time and by donating needed items. It has been reported by some workers that they were really impacted that “Canadians” give so much without expecting anything in return and they would like to be more like that when they return home.
There have already been opportunities to introduce the Bible to new believers and provide them their own Bible to keep, including a lesson on how to read it (book then chapter and verse). If each worker received a Bible that would be 400 families owning a Bible back in Guatemala in just one year.
We have started a more formal Bible study to develop disciples that can spread the good news even further. There is a lack of Spanish language anything including church services and those who are Christians are looking for a service to attend. There are great opportunities in this area and we are praying for a way to meet these needs.
We have seen many affirming signs that this is where Gods wants us to serve. There have been so many areas to serve in and so many needs that at times it can be difficult to see the big picture. But as time goes on we experience successes and new areas are revealed we can see how God is shaping this ministry and the vision for it.
