Extra Commitment Opportunities

There is a channel through which gifts can be designated for specific items that support the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)'s work around the world. These are called Extra Commitment Opportunities (ECOs). You can give directly to an ECO account online or by mailing your check designating the name and account number of the particular item you have chosen to:

PC(USA) Individual Remittance Processing
P.O. Box 643700
Pittsburgh, PA 15264-3700

Your gift will go directly into the ECO Account designated, and you will receive a letter indicating that your gift has been received and will be used for the purpose intended.

Below are some ECOs related to Guatemla. For a complete listing visit Mission Funding's Web site and type Guatemla into the search box.

Disaster Response

Central America

This designated account supplements the One Great Hour of Sharing (OGHS) offering to enable a significant response for relief and disasters in Central America. Visit the Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA) Web site for updates and information on the response.

Education

Administrative Development in Indigenous Presbyteries of the IENPG

The PC(USA) has worked with the Presbyterian Church of Guatemala (IENPG) for over 100 years. A permanent endowment was established, the interest from which is designed to help educate indigenous pastors and church workers in theological and secular education. Indigenous presbyteries responsible for administering this fund recognize the need to have training in how to properly manage the money in order to benefit as many people as possible as well as to keep good records. Gifts to this ECO will provide administrative training in indigenous presbyteries.

Education for Communication, CEDEPCA

This project provides an infrastructure and administrative support for the Education for Communication program of the Latin American Evangelical Center for Pastoral Studies (CELEP), the Central American branch of the Evangelical Center for Pastoral Studies of Central America (CEDEPCA). The project also provides space for ecumenical encounter and dialogue for Guatemalan Christians.

Evangelical Presbyterian Theological Seminary

The Evangelical Presbyterian Seminary celebrated its 50th anniversary in 1985. Staffed largely by volunteers, the seminary continues its program of theological education by extension in 10 outlying centers. In this way it is responding to the demands of the church for better-prepared ministers. Gifts to this ECO help support and upgrade faculty salaries and develop new programs and emphases.

Leadership Training in the Kekchi Speaking Presbyteries, Presbyterian Church of Guatemala (PCG)

Because the Kekchi are the fastest-growing group within the PCG, while at the same time the least prepared theologically, an effort is being made to train clergy and lay leaders. Funds are needed for a leadership training program, a director, educational materials and scholarship assistance.

Maya Quiche Bible Institute, Presbyterian Church of Guatemala

The Maya Quiche Bible Institute was founded in 1941 to train indigenous evangelical leaders. Funds are needed to support and expand their programs as well as to develop and print resources in the language of the participants.

Theological Scholarship Aid for Guatemalan Women

A number of women in the National Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Guatemala would like to study at one of the theological institutions in Guatemala, but most need some scholarship assistance to do so. This fund will provide such assistance to women from the 17 presbytery women's groups of this church to begin, or in some cases to continue, their studies at one of the several theological institutions of the church: Seminario Evangelico Presbiteriano, Seminario Mam, Seminario Evangelico Teologica de Occidente, Instituto Biblico Maya Quiche, or programs of study for credit within their presbyteries. The hope is that through their theological studies the women will be better prepared to serve as teachers, pastors and leaders within their churches and presbytery women's groups.

Evangelism

Evangelism and New Church Development Among Indigenous People

Funds given to this ECO account will assist the evangelistic ministry of established congregations among five indigenous groups in Guatemala: Kanhabal, Kekchi, Cakchiquel, Maya Qiche and Mam. Funds will also assist evangelism and new church development among several indigenous groups.

Translation of Old Testament to Mam Language, National Presbyterian Church of Guatemala

The Mam Presbytery of the National Presbyterian Church of Guatemala is seeking to translate the Old Testament into the Ostuncalco Mam language. A rough draft of much of the Old Testament has already been prepared, but it is only the beginning of the process. Funds will help complete this translation.

Health

Diaconia Community Health, Guatemala

This project provides training for village health workers who can tend to the health needs of villagers in rural communities. Funds will be used to provide training and materials such as start-up medicine kits for newly trained, community health workers.

Mission Personnel

Karla Koll, an ordained PC(USA) minister, serves as professor of history, mission, and religions for the Latin American Biblical University (UBL), an interdenominational institution located in San José, Costa Rica, which has been training Latin American church leaders for over 80 years. In Guatemala the UBL works through the Evangelical Center for Pastoral Studies in Central America (CEDEPCA). Karla writes, “Theological education is about encouraging people to think deeply about their faith in Christ and its implications for life in the world. I’m very grateful to be part of ‘equipping the saints for the work of ministry’ in Latin America.”

Having served in various capacities as missionaries in Guatemala since 2002, Roger and Gloria Marriott have returned to Cobán to work with the Kekchis. Their aim is to help the indigenous Kekchi presbyteries improve the quality of their educational programs. They speak of the slow and sometimes frustrating process of waiting on God’s timing to bring about change: “That must be what it means to be in partnership, recognizing that any help extended is only fleeting at best but that it must be given as a sign of our understanding of what it means to be the incarnation of Christ.”

Dennis and Maribel Smith live and work in Guatemala City. Dennis coordinates the Publications and Communications Training Program for the Central American Evangelical Center for Pastoral Studies (Cedepca). Dennis writes: “Today the commercial media, more than our churches, more than our schools, more than our families, have become the main source of our culture’s common dreams, values, and expectations. Why, then, do so few theological seminaries help their students understand how the media create meaning and values in a global culture?” Maribel, in addition to providing ministry in the home, teaches alternatives to violence as part of Cedepca’s Women’s Program.

Marcia Towers  is site coordinator for the Young Adult Volunteer program, working with the National Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Guatemala to place volunteers in Guatemalan church communities. She also hosts delegations and mission teams that travel to Guatemala.

Women's Work

With the Women of Guatemala-National Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Guatemala

This fund will provide money for workshops, teachers, materials, bus fare, food and occasional overnight accommodations for women attending workshops and retreats. The women receive training and learn with and from one another ways in which they can better serve as elders, pastors, church school teachers, mothers, wives and community leaders.

Women's Literacy Project for Kekchi Indians

This project, founded in 1999, is operated by the five Kekchi-speaking presbyteries. Funds will provide instructional supplies, equipment and modest salaries for bilingual (Kekchi/Spanish) teachers. This is a region with a 90 percent illiteracy rate.

Other Support

Christian Service Office-Diaconia (National Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Guatemala)