The Team is Back! The team returned from Guatemala this past Friday after a great week with our Mission Partner, One More Child (OMC). Our church’s first trip to Guatemala with OMC was designed to see how the church can best partner with OMC in Guatemala in the future.
One More Child’s
Work in Guatemala
The team served alongside Pastor Ernesto as he runs a ministry that shares the gospel with and disciples young kids in a difficult neighborhood. The team also served over 300 kids at the OMC Ministry Center through VBS activities and food distribution.
We are grateful for your prayers for the team and want to share a couple of their stories!
Pastor ernesto
Pastor Ernesto leads a ministry serving 30-40 kids each day. These kids live in a difficult neighborhood, and many are from other countries such as Honduras, Nicaragua, and El Salvador. Pastor Ernesto’s heart for children was visible as the team helped lead VBS activities for the kids, including using the J316 soccer balls for game time.
Learn More About
J316 Ministries
This was the first day that Pastor Ernesto had access to a new building for the ministry. The building is still under construction and does not have running water or electricity. Continue to pray for Pastor Ernesto as he leads this ministry and shares the gospel with these kids.
Ministry Center VBS
Currently, there are around 300 families who come to the Ministry Center each month to receive a food basket through OMC’s Child Sponsorship program. This monthly visit allows the local OMC team to pour into the families regularly. Our team was able to run VBS activities with these kids as they came to the Ministry Center, including a Bible story, craft, and game time. The Bible story the team led the kids through was out of Acts 27 with a memory verse of Ephesians 6:10.
“…Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.”
“…Sean Fuertes en el Señor y en su gran poder.”
Food distribution
In Guatemala, about one million children under the age of 5 suffer from chronic malnutrition. This leads to significant developmental delays and health risks. OMC’s Ministry Center in Guatemala used to be a place malnourished children could come and be cared for, and parents could receive education and accountability in proper nutrition. The recent pandemic shut down that portion of the ministry and led the local team to adapt what they do to continue to serve children and families.
One portion of the ministry that has remained constant is the distribution of food baskets every month through OMC’s Child Sponsorship program. The team helped prepare around 350 food baskets with basic foods such as rice, beans, oil, formula, etc. These food baskets help supplement a family’s food for the month and help ensure children can stay healthy and in school. Once the food baskets were prepared, the team was able to distribute them to the families as they left.
Thank you!
Thank you for being so willing to give and pray for missions at West Bradenton! You make trips and partnerships like this possible. This team did an awesome job, but there is more to do. Another team will be going to Guatemala in July, and it’s not too late to sign up!
