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School, Water Projects To Help Break Poverty Cycle

Can the Gospel really make a difference in society? Can the love of Jesus Christ really transform a community? Or are Christians doomed to lose the battle against the powers of darkness, with no other alternative than to wait until Jesus comes and takes us out of the world

align="center">This is the Great Commission

The answer to these questions is this: Jesus has called us to make an impact on this world. He has given us an original Great Commission that is still in effect:

Genesis 1:28 says, “Be fruitful and multiply: fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” Christianity and the world need to see models where Jesus reigns through his people and where the application of God’s Word effects a transformation in society. One potential model is San Pedro Pinula, a poverty-stricken township in eastern Guatemala.

This township of 48,000 inhabitants is a perfect place to demonstrate the miracle of divine transformation because its 145 square miles (that’s about 12 miles wide by 12 miles long) is geographically very distinguishable, comprising a flat central valley surrounded by mountains.

Most Live in Poverty

There are nearly 5 thousand inhabitants in the main town, representing less than 10 percent of the township’s population but almost all its wealth and governmental and private services.

About 80 percent of the population lives in poverty compared to a Guatemalan national average of 55 percent. Worse, 30 percent live in extreme poverty, which means they barely have enough resources to survive.
One mostly paved road runs into the valley. Only a few homes in and around the town have telephones. There is a very basic medical clinic and no resident doctors or dentists. There is no high school. Over 44 percent of the population is illiterate. The list of what there isn’t is a long one, but God can supply every need

Schools and Pure Water Are Priorities

Verbo relief and development workers feel two social assistance projects in particular will have an immediate positive impact on the community. One is a potable water project among the Pokomam Indians in the mountains east of town. The other is the establishment of a grade school with an initial capacity for 150 children. There are two church buildings available to begin the programs—one in town and another in an outlying village—plus a school building.

The pastor of the Verbo Church, Jesus Estrada, is a highly experienced retired school teacher who will head up the school. Unfortunately, many extremely poor parents can’t afford to pay the real costs of tuition, so at first the School will require about $25,000 per year in subsidies.

The other plan—to introduce potable water—is significant because 32 percent of the population doesn’t have access to safe water supplies. Where there is no water for domestic needs, it falls to the women and children to sometimes walk long distances to find supplies.

Pokomam Indians Are Among the Poorest

Perhaps the worst water and education problems are in El Durazno, a rural, mountainous Pokomam Indian area. Some 7,500 people live scattered over a few square miles of land, cultivating their small plots. Few have direct access to year-around water and few children attend school.

With the deep water well Verbo-sponsored technicians plan to dig, and a strong pump to move the water to a tank on a nearby ridge, it will be possible to provide a gravity fed distribution system for almost the entire community. The cost of the drilling is about 30 to 35 thousand dollars.

Later, as funds permit and farmers are trained in new agricultural techniques, including the production of market fruits and vegetables, there are several other locations where deep water wells can spur the growth of the agricultural economy.

Irrigation Can Help Provide Extra Income

Wells are necessary because when the rainy season stops, it’s not possible—without irrigation—to grow crops for another four to six months despite the excellent growing climate.

The school and wells are projects that will make an enormous difference almost immediately, but they are just the leading edge of an ambitious plan to bring Jesus to the entire region through vigorous evangelism and discipleship coupled with a visible expression of God’s love.

The Epistle of James says, “I will show you my faith by my good works.” This project to bring God’s Kingdom to San Pedro is based on this premise of transforming the society through the practical application of the Gospel.
As local residents learn to apply Bible principles to their lives they will work a transformation that will show the world that Christians have a God whose plans work, whose laws change society, whose power breaks the bonds of sin and poverty and hopelessness—here and now and not just hereafter.