February 2, 2007

Margarita told me “I didn’t want to miss anything! I knew it was late. We had been at the workshop for a day and a half, it was time for lunch and the long bus trip home, but I did not want it to stop.”

Margarita and 30 or so other women were part of a day-and-a-half workshop on women’s health issues held in two presbyteriales in the southwest part of Guatemala.

A young Guatemalan doctor and a Guatemalan nurse presented topics such as the development of a woman’s body, nutrition, and family planning. In other presbyteriales in other parts of Guatemala there were workshops on how to prevent sexually transmitted diseases in women. There were lots of questions from the participants, and many participants said they hoped there be more opportunities for this kind of learning. In each of the workshops there was a time of reflection on a Bible passage that set the workshop in the context of our faith and assured the women that God is concerned for their bodies and their physical as well as their spiritual health.

What made these workshops possible? In one word I would answer: connections. First there is the partnership connection with presbyteries and churches in the United States. One fruit of these partnerships is that many Guatemalan Presbyterians are now more open to a broader understanding of the ministry and mission of the church.

Even just 10 years ago, it would have been unheard of for a workshop on health issues to be held in a church building, especially when such topics as sexually transmitted diseases, family planning, menstruation, and menopause were among the topics of discussion. The partnership “connection” is helping open the minds and hearts of Guatemalan Presbyterians to a new understanding of what it means to be about the ministry of Jesus in our world.

Then there is the “connection” that brought funds to the women in Guatemala: churches and individuals in the United States who send money so that Presbyterian women’s organizations here can provide bus fare, meals, materials, and instructors for these and many other workshops. These funds helped to buy copies of the book Donde No Hay Doctor Para Mujeres (Where There Is No Doctor for Women) for all the church communities in two presbyteriales. We hope to have more funds and eventually purchase this book for every church community that is a part of the National Presbyterian Church of Guatemala.

And there is the connection that I, as a mission co-worker, have with churches in the PC(USA) who support my ministry with prayers, financial support, and expressions of concern. I would not be here in Guatemala, being blessed daily by these women and sharing the good news of Jesus Christ that they truly are daughters of the living God with them, if it were not for the support of churches and individuals in the PC(USA).

These health workshops would not have happened if there had not been all these “connections.” It is as simple as that. I hope and pray that connections like these will continue and be strengthened and that others with be formed, not only in Guatemala but in other places around God’s great world. That will only happen if folks like you, individuals and congregations, continue to live out the words of the Apostle Paul that “we are members of the one body of Jesus Christ.”

Support for the work of women in Guatemala can be sent through the Extra Commitment Opportunity (ECO) E051618, “With the Women of Guatemala.” Contributions from individuals may be sent to Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Individual Remittance Processing, PO Box 643700, Pittsburgh, PA 15264-3700. Contributions from churches should be sent to the normal receicing site or: Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Church Remittance Processing, PO Box 643678, Pittsburgh, PA 15264-3678. Write the title (“With the Women of Guatemala”) and the ECO number on the subject line (E051618) of the check and put it on your cover letter, too.

Ellen Dozier
Mission Co-Worker, Guatemala

The 2007 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 63