Fr. John and friends, we want to thank you for exemplifying Christ’s love for the poor and vulnerable by continuing to serve your Guatemalan brothers and sisters through prayers, fundraisers and hands-on projects. Your relationship with the Diocese of Santa Rosa de Lima is a beautiful picture of Catholic unity and of the solidarity we are called to express with those in need. Your labor of love is changing lives in both Central America and the United States.
The men, women and children you serve are deeply grateful to you and the American Martyrs Catholic Church community. Masses celebrated in villages throughout the diocese have brought light and hope to families who cherish the relationships they are nourishing. This is what love looks like in Santa Rosa:
Before your support of the new chapel and sacristy in Agua Zarca, local Catholics met on a fellow parishioner’s patio for Mass. Now, after decades without a proper house of worship, this remote Catholic community finally has a beautiful, secure chapel where they can celebrate the Word of God, participate in the sacraments, promote spiritual formation, and even host youth activities to discourage teens from falling into vices such as drugs and alcohol. God bless you for meeting this need!
After previously providing a roof for the new chapel in this small community, you followed up with even more support by funding work on its sacristy, which is now finished! You also made it possible for the diocese to plaster the walls and lay a beautiful new tiled floor. Thank you for strengthening the spiritual mission of the Diocese of Santa Rosa de Lima by helping us achieve the goal of a fully constructed chapel in La Concepción!
American Martyrs parishioners gathered to pack 200,000 meals to feed the hungry in Guatemala. You’ve reached a million meal milestone, and you’re still going! During recent mission service trips, you’ve handed those boxes of food to families who are grateful they won’t have to put their children to bed hungry. The Vitafood meals you’ve provided are loaded with the vitamins and nutrients needed to energize, strengthen and improve the health of malnourished children and families. Thank you for serving in the name of the One who said, “I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink.”
Ana Raquel Gómez González is the coordinator for the People’s Holy Mission, the diocese’s spiritual outreach, in Agua Zarca.
For years, Ana had to walk all the way to Cuilapa to attend Mass because there was no local priest. Then, 12 years ago, the diocese sent two extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion to Agua Zarca to ask Ana to help start a People’s Holy Mission group. That same day, her son woke up with a stomachache and breathing problems, and then fainted. Ana was afraid, but the ministers prayed for her son and had a vision that the child would get up in an hour. Then, just like they said, the boy woke in an hour as if nothing had happened.
After this unforgettable encounter, Ana began working to increase the Church’s spiritual presence in her community. But since there was no chapel, the group gathered on Ana’s patio for Mass and prayers. Now, thanks to you, Ana and her fellow Catholics have a larger, more practical space for worship.
Pedro Chacón Hernández, 60, is a mason, farmer and extraordinary minister of Holy Communion in La Concepción, where he lives with his wife, Francisca.
Pedro said, “God gives us not one, not two, but endless opportunities to return to him and serve him from the heart, and he chose me so that I can teach what I have learned.”
As he looked forward to the completion of the chapel you helped provide, Pedro said, “Blessed be God, our new chapel has space for 500 people. Meetings are held every month. Around 480 people come together. We hope that in a short time, we will have our new chapel 80 percent finished and be able to provide a decent space for our brothers from the La Concepción community and surrounding communities. Our dream is to see it finished and to be able to receive Jesus, who is always with us, in the Sacrament.”
Now that the chapel is fully constructed, we thank you for making Pedro’s dream come true!
A big part of Fr. John’s impact on the Diocese of Santa Rosa de Lima involves providing spiritual nourishment to the people. By celebrating daily Mass in different communities, you bring hope, love and the Sacraments to local men, women and children who may see a priest once every four to six weeks. Thank you for bringing the Eucharist to spiritually hungry villagers!