The majority of these kids live in a non-Christian environment. Many grow up without a father figure present in the home. Reasons for family disintegration in Guatemala are many. Some more common ones are as follows: cycle of poverty, lingering effect of past civil war, high birth rate, rural to urban migration, natural disasters, and health issues such as disease and malnutrition. Every family ha
s its own story. The result is that children and youth often look outside the home for protection, identity, hope and a future. Formal education is often seen as less important than is “street” education. Gangs are seen to offer what a dysfunctional family can’t—identity, protection and hope. We all know that this is a false hope which often leads to imprisonment or death through violence. As followers of Christ we know that Scripture exhorts us to defend the rights of the poor and fatherless (Ps. 82:3, Deut. 10:18, James 1:27). Proverbs 24:11 takes it a step further and asks us to, “Rescue those who are being taken away to death, hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter.” Zechariah 11:4, 7 take it even a step farther. It states, “Pasture the flock marked for slaughter…particularly the oppressed of the flock.”
Engadi Ministries is called to do just this—rescue and disciple those male youth who currently reside in the neighborhood called el Paraiso in Zone 18 of Guatemala City, Guatemala. A voluntary safe Christian refuge is being built in Zaragoza. Throughout their adolescent life, Christian mentoring is given as well as continual contact with the family. A supplemental Christian family structure is provided through house parents. While in Engadi’s healthy environment we hope the boys from troubling situations will become the Mighty Men of tomorrow that will transform Guatemala and the world from the inside out.
