Thank you so much for checking out what is happening at Dreams and a Future. We wanted to take a moment to let you know how all of this started and how God has been working in and through this. We will be brief with our timeline, but please reach out to us with any questions. We could write many pages about stories and other events but trying to keep this high level.
2018-The 1st Experience
May volcano Fuego erupted killing over 200 and displacing 1,000+ people permanently. We were able to bring down emergency supplies, aid, and support firefighters and assist the displaced families with food.
June we took our 1st team Guatemala and were blown away by the beauty of the land and people. We were welcomed into the community of San Felipe de Jesus through a missionary that had started a community center. We had about 20 people from our church come to host a Vacation Bible School (VBS) for 40 children, do home visits in the community, and work on rebuilding a home. We visited the refuge centers with families displaced from the volcano. We also met on this trip a lady we will call Maria and in the next blog we will talk her story…stay tuned!
2019-Continuing to Grow and Building Homes
June we brought down another team of 30 people from our local church to host a VBS for the community of San Felipe and do home visits in the community, We teamed up with an agency called Houses to Homes (HTH) that we met during the previous year’s visits to the refuge centers. Through HTH we were able to build 2 homes for impoverished families from the ground up with local contractors.
2020-COVID
Unfortunately like most people we had to cancel our trip, and our missionary contact closed her community center and returned to the US. We were able to work with a local young man in San Felipe that we had met our 1st trip named Leo to coordinate food donations to families that had nothing to eat and due to COVID restriction no opportunity to earn a living. Over 50 families had food for many months through 2020 and into 2021.
2021-Making New Partners
We wanted to branch out and partner with a local church plant in Guatemala. September we met with 6 different churches, and felt like God was asking us to join with Casa del Libertad (CDL) El Naranjo in Mixco. We didn’t really know how much of a blessing this would be to us personally and our work in the country of Guatemala, but God knew what He is doing.
2022-Starting a new
February CDL El Naranjo had their 1st service, and it was amazing to see how God brought a new church family together.
April we took a team and had members of CDL El Naranjo joined us down to build our 3rd home with HTH and we work in the community of San Felipe. What we found out then broke our hearts for the community. Many of the children were failing school and dropping out. The school system was still closed, and the children were doing remote learning. Many of these children didn’t have access to technology or assistance, especially since many parents have little to no education and are illiterate. With the community center closed the children had no hope of help and no one to provide it. We decided to start something but not sure what it would grow into. We “hired” Lorena that worked at the previous community center that just earned her Licenciatura (5-year college degree) in education to tutor 10 of the failing children one-on-one out of her modest home. We also hired Leo as an administrator for the program and to translate the education program. The key component to our education program is that each child had to education in the Gospel of Jesus and learn about how their Heavenly Father loves them. Lorena was able to get all 10 failing children back on track. This is very important in this community due to the fact that many of the children are not supported in their education and do not have people telling them about Jesus and His love for them.
2023-Planting Roots
January we rented a place (that needed a lot of work) to become our new community center and expanded the program to incorporate additional children on Fridays for a community devotional. The Friday devotional started with the 10 children in education program, but by the end of the year there we 35 coming just to hear the Gospel every week!
April we took a team and had members of CDL El Naranjo joined us down to build our 4th home with HTH and work in the community of San Felipe. We brought down needed supplies for the community center that the children were calling “Suenos a Futuro” or Dreams and a Future, because it was a place that they found hope, love and could think about their future. This trip really showed us how impactful the community center has already become and how quickly it was growing.
June a church of the US came down to rehab the community center with paint, functioning bathroom, new roof, and many needed school supplies.
December CDL El Naranjo hosted a VBS in the community and over 50 children participated in it. It was such a gift to see the local church full of Guatemalans lead these children with joy to the love of Jesus. It was a big blessing to the community and us.
2024-Growing Like a Weed
January we brought on Keyla as additional help to support group education for 25 students and grew the one-on-one support to 13 students. This year the Friday devotionals would grow from 35 to 50 children!
February we become an official Nonprofit organization in the US-Dreams and a Future! Our community center in Guatemala started the process of becoming an NonGovernment Organization (NGO) and will likely be complete in early 2025.
April we took a team and had members of CDL El Naranjo joined us down to build our 5th home with HTH and work in the community of San Felipe. We brought down technology for the community center to provide an opportunity for each child to interact with and learn how to navigate the internet. Through a very generous partner in CDL El Naranjo we started a dental and medical treatment for the older children. This included having impacted wisdom teeth pulled, root canal, countless cavities, and many medications given. This was most of the children’s 1st time to the doctor or dentist and brought much need to this at-risk children.
December CDL El Naranjo hosted a VBS in the community and over 60 children participated in it. Many of the mother’s join in as well.
2025-Looking into the Future
We are planning our next team trip in February to build our 6th house and work in the community. We are needing and seeking out partners that want to see lives changed and God’s work to continue in this impoverished community. The plan for this year is to have 15 in the one-on-one education program, 35 in group education, and 60+ children reached through devotionals. Please pray as see if God is asking you to join with us through prayer and monthly donations.
Thanks again for reading and please email us @ [email protected]
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