Fourteen people representing Xenia: Faith Community United Methodist and our Common Cup shared ministries are participating in the Guatemala mission trip.The purpose of the trip is to share the love of Jesus Christ with the people of San Lucas Toliman and Pachitulul, a small town in the central highlands by helping with a water project that will make life a little easier in that community.
The town is about five thousand feet above sea level on the eastern shores of Lake Atitlan. Situated at the base of two volcanoes (Atitlan and Toliman) the economy of the town depends on coffee production. We have been selling Guatemalan coffee the past several weeks at church which will be used to provide additional support during the trip.
In addition to coffee, they also have a busy local market that provides avocados, pears, maize, tomatoes and other vegetables.
San Lucas Toliman has a population of 12,000 with another 12,000 in the surrounding villages. According to a European Union supervised study in 2002,
- 76% live in poverty and 33% live in extreme poverty.
- 57% are less than 20 years old but only 3% are over 60 years old.
- 47.8% (ages 15 to 60) are illiterate.
78% of the children attend elementary school, though maybe only for a year or two.
The Guatemalan mission trip is one of four mission trips Xenia: Faith Community is participating in this summer which includes approximately 60 people from our church and Common Cup shared ministries.
Look for pictures and highlights from the trip to be posted at a later date.
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