Guatemala Action Project

Guatemala Action Project Welcome to the page for Pease and Bethel CRC's mission outreach program in Guatemala! The Guatemala Action Project (GAP)

Way to go, Team Uff-da!
21/02/2026

Way to go, Team Uff-da!

21/02/2026

Watch the Uff-da! Team jump LIVE at 12:15!

21/02/2026

Tomorrow at Pease Christian Reformed Church the GAP ‘26 team will be sharing about the trip. We will ve joined by special Guatemalan guests Patty and Haroldo. All are invited to stay after the service for a team report and Q&A time. Come and hear about the ways God is working in Guatemala!

15/02/2026

Come to Bethel CRC at 9:30 Sunday morning to hear an in person report from the 2026 GAP trip! There will be a special question and answer time after the worship service to hear more details. All are welcome!

26/01/2026

Saturday update:
It felt luxurious to sleep in and start our morning with breakfast at 8:00. We had an extended time together to reflect on the week and where we saw God at work and prepare for returning home. Sharing and remembering together is a way we remind each other of the eays God was at work in and around us through the week.

After packing and saying goodbyes we headed to the airport. All went smoothly until about an hour before departing from Miami to Minneapolis. Our flight got delayed multiple times, changed gates and needed a new team of pilots. We ended up leaving almost 3 hours after the original departure time but we were thankful to have a flight as so many across the country were cancelled due to Winter Storm Fern. We are also so thankful for the volunteers who came to pick us up from the airport at 2 am!
Thank you for keeping up with us this week and praying for us each day!

Update from Friday 1/23 (written by Brent Baas):Today was another great day of the trip. We did a lot of traveling. We t...
24/01/2026

Update from Friday 1/23 (written by Brent Baas):
Today was another great day of the trip. We did a lot of traveling. We traveled from Huehuetenango back to Guatemala City. During this travel on the highway I saw a few things that we normally don’t see in Minnesota so I wanted to share some of them because they were the favorite part of my day. I saw people hanging out of what they call chicken buses (which are old retired buses from the states that have been painted, chromed out, and are full of lights) and the drivers of them are crazy. They would pass our bus blowing black smoke the whole way by and within a minute or less would go around the next corner up ahead and the majority of the time we would never see them again. I saw many personal trucks with people standing up in the bed and other trucks with people (sometimes kids) sitting down in the bed (going highway speeds). There was personal trucks loaded with pigs. A small truck towing another with a rope (I’m talking about a rope that we would use for a tire swing). There was a group of people cleaning a huge pile of carrots that were freshly picked off the side of a mountain. I saw trash being burned in the ditch. I saw three different volcanoes and a water fall. I saw vehicles and motorcycles weaving between traffic with sometimes only inches to spare (if there was enough room for it to fit they made it fit). I saw semi drivers filling their trucks with illegal fuel. I saw people living life and all of this is just another normal day here.

I would say the personal truck of choice here (which has become my new favorite) is a Toyota from the 70’s or 80’s. I would say the majority of vehicles are around 40-50 years old and they travel down the road just the same as a brand new one and the only difference is they just might not go as fast.

We took a pit stop part way today and walked around in a Mayan Ruins. If that ground could talk I’m sure it would have some amazing stories.

The least favorite part of my day was knowing that I will be going home tomorrow back to the cold weather. We picked the best week to go that’s for sure! I will miss the friends I’ve made and the people who taught me so much. I’m sad that the time with my team will be coming to an end. I’m glad I went and I’m sad it’s over. I pray God will bless the work we did here. Even though we helped people I feel we benefited the most. We gave healthy support to the recipients for them to become more self sufficient. In return we were given joy and a sense of purpose.

To our friends in the FROZEN North, a recap of Thursday 22nd January from warm Guatemala (written by Kim Erickson and Br...
23/01/2026

To our friends in the FROZEN North, a recap of Thursday 22nd January from warm Guatemala (written by Kim Erickson and Brittney Lueck): we once again started the day early and headed out to the same community we have been working in the past two days. We again split into groups and worked alongside the families to build chicken coops and improve some garden spaces. We were met with different challenges today as our bus couldn't make it up a hill and we ended up walking about a 1/2 mile up a very steep grade only to find out we had to head back down on foot as the bus couldn't come up at approx. 7300 ft above sea level, this was definitely a workout. The people we have met and worked with today have again taken a piece of our hearts, especially a young boy and his mother, who is a widow. He was with us for two projects this week and was an amazing helper and just a joy to be around. A woman who rode with us and came alongside us to work. The group who prepared our lunches. Carlos, our driver, not only drove us but also worked on the projects with us. Samuel, pastor with Saq be he worked alongside us and offered reflections. Tonight, he taught us from 1 Kings 17 : the story of Elijah, the widow woman, and her son. This especially spoke to us because of the widow woman and son we worked with today. She also offered us food from her very limited supply, and her son worked alongside us tirelessly. Our prayer for her tonight is that God keeps her safe and well, that her son will also continue to grow, learn, and be a blessing to everyone around him as he was for us.

Hola! This is Ryan Swanson bringing today's recap from GAP team in Huehuetenango, Guatemala on Wednesday, January 21. To...
22/01/2026

Hola! This is Ryan Swanson bringing today's recap from GAP team in Huehuetenango, Guatemala on Wednesday, January 21. Today was one of our working days by continuing supporting families to finish their chicken coops in the community of Talmiche.

In our team reflections on Ephesians 4, we have been talking as a group about how God equips all of us with gifts to serve each other and give glory to God. Today was filled with displays of those gifts.

Today we helped 5 families finish their chicken coops based on the loose plan we learned yesterday. Three meters long by three meters wide by two meters high with a sloped steel sheet roof and walled with chicken wire. The coop is large enough for 20 chickens that each family will learn how to care for through the training from the Sac B'e organization. We split into two groups to spread out the work. And when each group finished, we compared how each coop differed by the materials and tools that were available. The construction required gifts of planning, problem solving, teamwork, and communication (especially our interpreters who are very busy translating between English and Spanish all day).

A few more good things today. Through help of translation, Brittney and I were able to enjoy playing a bit of soccer with one of the boys of one the families. And Kim was able to use her bovine-related skills to show some of us how to milk a Guatemalan cow (same way as in Minnesota, in case you were wondering)!

Today was also a day when our team displayed gifts of care for those who were a bit under the weather. It was also a day our driver, Carlos, displayed his professional driving skills on a steep, rough hill and avoided getting stuck. But today was too another day of learning from the local Guatemalan communities how to laugh with each other across cultural differences, of enjoying meals together in fellowship, and of making good use of God's gifts and blessings.

Thank you for your prayers and support today. Stay tuned for another GAP team update tomorrow!

Tuesday update, written by Cora Bierma:Today we were blessed with the opportunity to work with the organization Saq Be w...
21/01/2026

Tuesday update, written by Cora Bierma:

Today we were blessed with the opportunity to work with the organization Saq Be which means path of light. This morning joined one of their women’s workshops in the village of Talmiche and learned with the women how to make a vitamin concentrate for their chickens using plants and materials that they would have on hand at home. We worked alongside them to prepare the vitamin concentrate so that they would each have a years worth.
This afternoon we went to the village of Suculque to meet with another women’s workshop to learn the same thing as the mornings workshop, and help build a chicken coop using the materials that were already on hand.
Today was amazing, we met so many wonderful people, learned some incredible things and got to glorify God as we worked.

Monday update, written by Joel and Julie De Haan:Today marked our first full day with our Guatemalan partners. We visite...
20/01/2026

Monday update, written by Joel and Julie De Haan:

Today marked our first full day with our Guatemalan partners. We visited the community of Agua Calientes and met with the women’s group working to increase production in their small plots of land. Agua Calientas is perched on a side of a beautiful mountain in the Guatemalan department (think state) of Huehuetenango. Each family tends a small portion of land, some of which is fed by natural springs (natural hot springs = Agua Calienta), some of which is extremely dry and sandy. Pop No’j works with the women with the goal of allowing them to be self-sufficient. This means they will not rely on fertilizers (costly and harmful to the environment) and they will preserve organic seeds for next planting season. They also are learning soil conservation and composting to increase the fertility of the soil. They have procured chicks which provide nutrition via eggs and meats, but also provide manure as fertilizer. They are planting several different types fruit trees.
Another aspect of self-sufficiency is the ability of their land to produce enough food for their family that they don’t need to “migrate” elsewhere to earn money. Although migration to the US has decreased, Guatemalans continue to travel to Mexico or large farms in Southern Guatemala and work as field laborers. When their harvest is sufficient, they can stay in their community, send their children to school, and improve their community as well. These beautiful women displayed incredible resilience.

During our next activity, we met with the Young Adult leaders of various communities who were meeting in the morning to establish their vision for the new year and discuss ways to increase young adult participation in their communities. Their passion for bettering their communities and love for their culture was inspiring. The young women who spoke were articulate and confident. They desire that the “youth” understand the ability they have to change the narrative in their communities. The Mayan people have and continue to experience sufficient oppression. By providing education, and training, as well as moral support, the Youth hope to inspire people to stay and improve their communities rather than leave and pursue prosperity elsewhere.

We left both meetings with a sense of responsibility to continue to walk with World Renew and their partners, such as Pop No’j. God is at work!

Please pray for our Guatemalan partners as they continue striving to improve their lives. We are grateful for the time and opportunity to encourage each other and see how God provides.

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