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Learn to do right. Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow. 2
Isaiah 1:17 NIV
At Family Christian, we’ve always sought a greater role in ministry. Helping customers find, grow, share and celebrate their faith through our nearly 300 stores is incredibly enriching. However, we began to see that we were called to do more; for years, we prayerfully considered new opportunities to enter deeper into ministry life. Ultimately, we were moved to take up the call to action found in James 1:27 – to look after orphans and widows in distress. It was the beginning of The James Fund and a mission that would inspire Good Goers Mission‐Based Adventure Travels.
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God has called The James Fund to Guatemala to serve the widowed, orphaned and poor. We are also called to share the hope, joy and new life that come from a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. James 1:27 compels us to action in Jesus’ name: building homes for widows, providing meals, water, shoes and basic nutrition to the Quiché poor and orphaned. We work to rescue girls who are trafficked in an emerging sex trade. We lift them up, maintain their cause, rescue them and never forget them, because our Father has called us to do so. THIS IS WHY WE SERVE IN GUATEMALA ____________________________________________________ The Guatemalan Civil War ended in 1996, but the despair, poverty and the truly devastating effects of a mass genocide are everywhere present, especially among the native Mayan Quiché Indians. Among this population, where genocide massacred many of the men of the population, over 70,000 widows, as well as orphaned or abandoned children live in an area known as Chichicastenango. Thirty‐six years of political violence have left thousands dead and over one million internal refugees, creating a vast need for support, training, rescue and ministry. Also adding to Guatemala’s problems is the uneven distribution of wealth that has left many living in poverty. The victims of the state‐sponsored terror were thousands of mostly rural Mayan farmers and non‐combatants. More than 450 Mayan villages were destroyed and over one million people became displaced within Guatemala or became refugees. Over 200,000 people, mostly Mayan, were killed during the civil war. The Quiché, the Mayans were hit the hardest during the genocide. THIS IS WHO WE SERVE IN GUATEMALA ____________________________________________________
One day you will head to Lake Atitlán and participate in a zip line adventure through the jungles of Guatemala. Nine zip lines will take you from high above the forest canopy at the top of the mountain down to the beautiful town of Atitlán.
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After Aftera ahard harddays dayswork workyou youcan can kick kickback backand andrelax relaxininthe theheart heart ofofChichicastenango. Chichicastenango.Enjoy Enjoy home homecooked cookedmeals mealsand anda a beautiful beautifulterrace terraceininthe themiddle middleofof God’s God’sglorious gloriouscreation. creation.
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God sees them; their faces, tears, hopes and needs. 7 He asks us to defend them, care for them, and to lift them up.
WE CAN DO NO LESS.
It is our mission to rescue orphans and widows in their distress. We labor with partners like you from all over the world to provide them care for today and hope for tomorrow, in the name of Jesus Christ.
JOIN US.
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