by: Chris and Lauren Turpaud | Church Partnership Directors (originally published in 2014)
The community of La Verbena in Guatemala City is an infamous haven of darkness and danger, characterized by frequent acts of violence, high rates of drug and alcohol abuse (especially amongst youth), prostitution, rampant teenage pregnancy, broken families, abuse, and crowded slums with inhabitants living in unimaginable poverty and hopelessness. But God has not left La Verbena without hope or light. He has placed people who radiate His love and the fulfillment of His promises amid the darkness. Guadelupe is one of those bastions of light.
When Maria*, Guadelupe’s sister–a single woman–got pregnant, Guadelupe was there to encourage her and help her financially. When Maria could not work because she needed to care for her newborn son, Guadelupe stepped up to shoulder the responsibility and provide for them. Maria began a new relationship with a man who was unwilling to care for her son, and she decided to leave her son behind to move in with this man. Guadelupe willingly brought Maria’s son into her home and began caring for him as her own son.
She repeatedly stepped out in faith as God directed her to serve her family. Thus, it seemed deeply unfair when she lost her job as a teacher in 2011 due to the unexpected death of the school director and the school’s dire financial trouble. Additionally, Guadelupe and her sister were requesting an audience with a judge to determine who should get custody of the child. Though her sister confessed that sending her son to live with Guadalupe would be best for him, it took four years for the judge to finally rule in favor of giving Guadalupe full custody.
Through those four years, Guadelupe’s faith was tried and tested. She remained employed as a teacher on Saturday mornings at a local school, but it was hardly enough to provide for her–let alone her nephew. But as God so often does, he rewarded her faithfulness and looked kindly on her perseverance. In January 2015, she began working full time in the sewing program for at-risk women, Hilos de Esperanza (Threads of Hope) at Advancing the Ministries of the Gospel (AMG), our Guatemalan in-country partner. That same month she was granted full custody of her nephew. Today she receives a steady income, job training to learn new trade skills, and spiritual discipleship from one of the local churches within the World Orphans network.
You would be hard pressed to find her without a smile or a kind word. She wears her joy on her face for all to see; it would be difficult to guess the kind of hardship she has endured. The change in her life is a testament to the power of God, and that power is evident in the way she instructs her nephew to not let bitterness rule his spirit, to forgive his mother and pray for her, and to continually give thanks to God for the family he has received. It is a joyful thought to know that even in the darkest places of our world, God is raising up for himself mighty warriors to serve Him and restore to Him all communities and all people.
The income and the spiritual training from the sewing program have helped encourage and empower Guadelupe to continue pursuing her dream of becoming a psychologist. She attends university every weekend–in addition to working two jobs–to get closer to attaining her goal. Her past serves to remind her that God did not test her as a form of punishment, but rather his tests were meant to prepare her to be a mother, a provider, and to increase her reliance on him. His plans included her nephew as well–giving him a future full of promise and opportunity, as he studies at the AMG school and receives a good education.
Their story and others within the Hilos de Esperanza program remind us that God is always present. God has been hard at work, restoring the lives of people like Guadelupe, so that they can bring hope and restoration to the rest of the community. Her story is a beautiful example of the change that is coming to God’s Kingdom in Guatemala!
Update from Chris:
In the summer of 2017, World Orphans Economic Empowerment (EE) program launched our first sewing cooperative, “Women of Vision,” and our first savings group. At about that time, I interviewed a woman named Guadalupe and wrote a short piece about how she had been impacted through her own involvement in a sewing co-op. The story she told of God’s faithfulness and providence during her journey toward financial stability for her and her family inspired our own efforts to provide vocational and empowerment opportunities for vulnerable families. Over the last six years, we’ve seen those efforts multiplied in both planned and unplanned ways. The savings groups expanded from one group of seven members in 2017 to what it is now: eleven groups with over 130 members. The sewing co-op continued perfecting their quality and learning new skills. New artisan groups were formed as skill sets and willing teachers in our church partnership network were identified. Cooking, leather working, and crocheting were all added as viable vocational options for vulnerable families with more in the works. As of August this year, on average, more than 28 people have been participating in the artisan groups, mostly single moms, and fifteen kids regularly attending childcare!
The fall of 2020 marked the opening of the Castle Rock Collective and the World Orphans Market to sell artisan goods in the United States, many of them from artisans in Guatemala. This was a monumental undertaking and an answer to many years of prayer! Since then, our partnership with Wellspring has created empowerment opportunities not only for Guatemalan artisans but for adults with Intellectual/Developmental Disabilities (I/DD) in Colorado. The World Orphans Guatemala team hired three new members in 2022/2023 to keep up with the expanded scope and growing needs of the program. And in June of 2023, we launched the Vocational Training Center (VTC) as the pièce de résistance of the EE program in Guatemala. It provides a physical space for the artisan groups to meet and work as their children receive childcare in the same building.
Throughout the years new challenges have arisen and strategies have been revised. But one thing that has remained consistent is our belief in the local church. In all our efforts we seek their involvement. It is they who identify not only the needs in the community but more importantly, the assets. Working alongside them has unearthed talents and skills that have been parlayed into vocational opportunities for many others. By doing what we do best, preserving and empowering vulnerable families and children through the local church, we can provide a gospel-centered environment for their children and allow them the freedom to work unhindered. Years ago when I wrote that piece about Guadalupe and how she used the economic empowerment opportunities available to her as a springboard to greater financial stability, I never would have imagined the things that God is using the World Orphans Guatemala team to accomplish today. At this moment there are dozens of women who are making measurable progress along the same path Guadalupe pioneered. Working together in community toward the same dream and inspiring their children with their own courage and perseverance.
This article was originally published in the World Orphans Fall Insight Magazine 2023.