10/03/2026
Connecting the Church in Mission!
Psalm139
1 You have searched me, Lord,
and you know me.
2 You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.
3 You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.
4 Before a word is on my tongue
you, Lord, know it completely.
5 You hem me in behind and before,
and you lay your hand upon me.
High in the mountains of Guatemala, morning begins with smoke. It drifts slowly through small kitchens built of concrete block and tin roofs. It curls around wooden rafters, through doorways, and into the eyes and lungs of the women who prepare the first meal of the day for their families. The smoke has been part of daily life here for generations.
Cooking over an open indoor fire is extremely dangerous. The smoke exposure inside these kitchens can equal smoking up to 400 ci******es per hour. The consequences include chronic lung disease, severe eye irritation, high rates of blindness later in life, and burns among children. More than 60 percent of Guatemalan women report persistent eye problems caused by indoor cooking smoke. For many families, there has simply never been another option. The stoves installed by volunteer teams are simple but powerful. They include an enclosed firebox, a flat cooking surface, and a chimney that vents smoke outside the home. The result is transformative, smoke disappears from the kitchen, fuel use drops, children are safer and mothers breathe easier.
What started as a seed of compassion has grown into Stove Builders of Guatemala, a mission powered by volunteers, donors, and local Guatemalan builders who now lead much of the work themselves. For the volunteers who travel to Guatemala, the message is simple: faith should move our hands. But the work does not belong to just one denomination—or even one faith tradition, it belongs to anyone willing to help.
Some will be sent, some will be senders. But together we can ensure that one day the smoke rising from Guatemalan kitchens disappears—and with it the health risks that have burdened generations of women and children.
To God be the Glory!
Contact information: [email protected]
