Cross International

God’s love, transforming deepest need into thriving joy

Meet our Partners in Guatemala

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For more than a decade, our strategic ministry partnerships in Guatemala have helped children and families affected by poverty and abuse. Since 2006, we’ve worked alongside these partners, and we’re excited about what is ahead! 

Casa Bernabé Ministries provides hope and healing to children rescued by Guatemalan courts from neglect, abuse, or abandonment. Once placed with Casa Bernabé, children receive food, shelter, medical care, and education. They’re grouped into family units lead by local Christian couples who raise the children in warmth and support. The school and medical center provide transformational Christ-centered services to these children and to children from surrounding communities. Edgar, the Executive Director, is a heartwarming example of this transformation. Casa Bernabé plans to add school classrooms, offices, and a soccer field, and to develop vocational and mentorship opportunities for the children. 

Casa de Vida offers shelter for victims of abuse, which is a tremendous problem in Guatemala. Attacks are often unreported and countless women are trapped in abusive homes. Casa de Vida provides a way out, with a safe home and the promise of a new life. Run by Lesbia Gonzaléz, a domestic violence survivor, Casa de Vida aims to serve 180 women and children each year. Most women stay at the safe house from 3-6 months up to a year, receiving psychological care and job training to empower them to start a new life independent from their abusers. Through our partnership, Casa de Vida will be establishing a bakery to train women for job opportunities and also to provide income to help support the ministry.

Hope of Life International’s child rescue program sends trained teams into the mountains to find village children suffering from malnutrition and preventable diseases. With no time to spare, children are rushed to the hospital and nursed back to health. Meanwhile, parents are trained to make changes to strengthen the health of their families. During a recent visit, we met one family impacted by this ministry. A single mother was preparing to welcome her children back to their simple wood stick house after a hospital stay. But before they returned, the house burned to the ground. Through our partnership, Hope of Life rebuilt the home and met the family’s needs so they could continue to grow strong.

Amigos por la Salud y la Vida is one of our largest recipients of food donations. Established by a local businessman-turned-humanitarian, this organization provides food and medical support to communities. By working within an existing network of local medical clinics, our partnership helps stock the pharmacy shelves, providing free medication to those in need. 

Through long-term partnerships, we commit to these ministries, learning about their needs and celebrating stories of changed lives. Join us as a partner in God’s work and make a meaningful difference for the people of Guatemala!

Meet Edgar: A Thriving Kid shares Christ’s love

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What happens when a child is given basic needs, education and words of hope and affirmation through the love of Christ? 

They thrive. 

That’s Edgar’s story, and it was out of a vision for stories like his that Thriving Kids began. 

Edgar was born in Guatemala. Here, and in places like Haiti and Zambia, children wake up each morning with incredible challenges to overcome. They are without clean water and food, homes give little shelter, school isn’t an option, and life-threatening illness is a constant danger. 

When Edgar was 11 days old, his father was killed. Wanting the best for her children, his mother placed Edgar and his siblings in an orphanage that could provide for their basic needs.

That orphanage was Casa Bernabé, a refuge that provides hope and healing for vulnerable children, and our longtime ministry partner in Guatemala.  Edgar and his family found help, love, care, education and the life-giving story of Jesus. 

Edgar grew into a young man who knew he was loved by Jesus. He attended college, fell in love, got married and had a family of his own. He began to pour love back into the community that supported him. 

Today, Edgar is the director of the entire ministry at Casa Bernabé, sharing Christ’s love and caring for children just like him. 

We’re sure you’ve caught on by now, but we LOVE stories of Thriving Kids like Edgar. Lives filled with transformation and grace are the direct fruits of your love, prayer and giving. With your continued partnership, kids in Guatemala and around the world  can continue to thrive from the inside out. 

Guatemala’s Vibrant and Colorful Culture

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Cross International is proud to work in Guatemala, a vibrant country with a colorful culture. From bright textile patterns to the sounds of marimba to the delicious flavors of its cuisine, Guatemala is a lively mixture of indigenous Mayan, European, and Caribbean influences. This blend is reflected in the many languages spoken here. In addition to Spanish, more than 20 languages are commonly spoken, most of Mayan origin. The array of vivid colors in the local markets show off this diversity. Using a rainbow of dyed yarns, artisans weave bags, rugs, capes, shirts, dresses, and blouses, with a unique pattern representing each village.

Guatemala’s colorful culture is on exuberant display during its many festivals and holidays commemorating historic events or a mixture of indigenous and traditions. Some festivals are small and distinct to one village. Others are celebrated by the entire country, including many holidays shared with the USA and the rest of the world, like Christmas and Semana Santa, or Easter week. Depending on the holiday, Guatemala celebrates with percussion bands featuring the marimba (the national instrument), dancing, fireworks, and processions of costumes and floats through the streets of its towns.

No Guatemalan celebration is complete without tamales, traditionally eaten at every holiday and special occasion, including Sundays, which are recognized as holy days. Dough, called masa, is stuffed, wrapped, and steamed. Hundreds of tamale recipes in Guatemala vary what is in the masa (corn, potatoes, or rice), in the filling (meats, nuts, or fruits), and how they are wrapped (leaves or husks). Guatemala’s Mayan heritage is obvious in its food, which features corn—especially tortillas, served at almost every meal—beans, rice, and chilies as main ingredients. The country’s fresh vegetables and fruits are also regular staples. 

To savor fruit like a Guatemalan, enjoy a licuado, an extremely popular smoothie-like drink. A blend of fruit and water, milk, or yogurt, licuados come in as many flavors as Guatemala has delicious fruit, such as pineapple, banana, papaya, or mango. To share a Licuado de Banana with someone in your family, blend 12 ice cubes, 1 banana (fresh or frozen), 1 cup milk, and a dash of vanilla in a blender until smooth. Pour into two glasses and celebrate Guatemala’s flavorful culture.

Cross International works alongside partners like Casa de Vida, Casa Bernabé, and Hope of Life, providing food, safety and support for abandoned children and endangered women, and building suitable homes for families. In each partnership and with your help, Cross International brings health and hope to Guatemala, a country with a rich and wonderful heritage.

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Help Children With Disabilities

The UN estimates that between 93 and 150 million children worldwide live with a disability. In developing countries, these children are often unable to attend school, play outside or access specialized resources. Negative stigma or superstition among their parents, neighbors and community leaders often reinforce these barriers.

This year, we’re providing $60,000 worth of medical equipment to Kupenda for the Children in Kenya. This is a very remote location, and your gift will help cover the shipping costs to this very worthy medical outreach.

This gift will benefit: Kenya

Recommended Gift

  • $243 would provide a wheelchair to a remote facility
  • $950 would provide 60 pairs of youth crutches to a remote facility
  • $2,430 would provide 10 wheelchairs to a remote facility

Heal the Sick

In developed countries, basic medical supplies such as gauze, wraps, bandages, and syringes are commonplace. Unfortunately, that is often not the case in the developing world. Christian doctors and volunteers in developing countries frequently run low on these supplies, and they also lack the funds to keep large inventories on hand.

This year, we’re providing $84 million worth of medicines and medical supplies. Your gift will help cover the shipping costs to medical outreaches in some of the most remote areas of the globe

This gift will benefit: Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Kenya

Recommended Gift

  • $866 provides $100,000 worth of medicines and medical supplies
  • $4,328 provides $500,000 worth of medicines and medical supplies
  • $8,656 provides $1 million worth of medicines and medical supplies

Build a Family a Home

A gift of a safe, secure home is tangible affirmation of God’s love for a desperate family — it brings hope, health, stability and opportunity. Most poor families must settle for much less. Mired in poverty, they are forced to live in unsafe shacks fashioned from mud and thatch.

You can provide the life-changing gift of a safe, storm-resistant new home with Cross partners Ambuya Development Center in Malawi and Hope of Life in Guatemala. A new home will ease the family’s burdens, protect them from the wind and rain, and help them achieve their dreams.

This gift will benefit: Guatemala, Malawi

Recommended Gift

  • $1,881 will install an eco-stove, for safe, economical and healthy cooking
  • $8,900 will finance the construction of a safe, sturdy concrete- block home

Education

The gift of an education is an investment that reaps long-term dividends for a child’s future. By opening doors for the children of the poor to enroll in Christian schools and get the same educational opportunities as their more economically well-off peers, you are giving not just a hand-out but a “hand-up.”

Your gift will fund Christian education to nurture vulnerable children mentally and spiritually — for thriving futures that will transform hopeless places.

This gift will benefit: Haiti, Ecuador, Uganda

Recommended Gift

  • $515 provides Christian primary school scholarships to 10 children
  • $1,030 provides Christian primary school scholarships for 20 children
  • $1,240 provides one week of Vacation Bible School for 100 children
  • $3,300 provides one year of vocational school scholarships for 60 girls
  • $3,660 enables 30 adults to attend a Christian adult literacy program

Rescue Women and Children in Crisis

Through emergency child rescue services, vocational training, anti-trafficking programs and Bible literacy classes, Cross International is helping vulnerable women and children reclaim their lives. Inspired by Jesus’ love, we work shoulder to shoulder with our in-country partners, empowering them to create change that lasts so that those who need help will eventually be able to stand confidently on their own. Be a part of this good news and make a life-saving gift part of your holidays.

Your gift will help protect victims of gender-based violence and also help save marginalized women and children from harm.

This gift will benefit: Haiti, Guatemala, Nicaragua

Recommended Gift

  • $891 supports a family rescued from trafficking or abuse for 3 months
  • $1,782 supports a family rescued from trafficking or abuse for 6 months
  • $3,564 supports a family rescued from trafficking or abuse for one year

Provide Clean, Safe Water

Our ministry partner, the Kachere Development Center, has an ambitious plan to install 20 wells, providing 5,160 adults and 8,414 children with clean water. Our goal is to finance the drilling and installation of one well – part of an entire community water system, which includes training to maintain the well, and sanitation and hygiene training for improved health.

One borehole can provide 2,800 gallons of safe, life-sustaining water every day. Help us bring clean, safe water to one of these villages today — in a way that will last for generations.

This gift will benefit: Zambia

Recommended Gift

  • $3,105 will train the community for water care system and use
  • $10,755 will finance the cost of drilling the well
  • $18,975 will finance the cost of installing a community water system

Give Tools for Sustainable Farming

One of nine people worldwide survive on less than $1.90 a day. Without training and supplies to grow moneymaking crops and breed profitable livestock, poor farmers stay locked in the cycle of poverty.

By supporting this fund, you’ll help families break free of poverty — transforming lives for generations. When families get the training and tools they need, it means bountiful harvests and small animals that produce income for a sustainable business model.

This gift will benefit: Guatemala, Nicaragua

Recommended Gift

  • $495 provides training, tools and assistance for one farming family
  • $990 helps provide training, tools and assistance for 2 farming families
  • $1,840 will provide 10 goats for children to raise for breeding
  • $8,500 provides a family with a chicken coop, 40 hens & feed, plus small business & animal husbandry training. Creates $1.20 family income/day – a 60% increase!

Feed Hungry Children

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that 811 million in the world suffer from under-nourishment. By providing the gift of food, you will save the lives of thousands of hungry children and their families in developing countries.

Your gift will provide meals for ministry partners such as Divine Shelter Schools in Haiti and Hope of Life in Guatemala. A generous donation during this season of giving will change lives forever.

This gift will benefit: Haiti, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Malawi

Recommended Gift

  • $146 will feed 10 children for a month
  • $292 will feed 20 children for a month
  • $584 will feed 40 children for a month
  • $2,336 will feed 160 children for a month
  • $4,672 will feed 320 children for a month
  • $9,334 will feed 640 children for a month

Most Urgent Needs

Inspired by the love of Jesus, we work shoulder to shoulder with local leaders overseas, equipping families with the resources they need to thrive – basics like food, clean water and healthcare, as well as longer-term community transformation projects that will ensure lasting change.

By giving to our Thriving Kids Initiative, you’re not only meeting children’s Most Urgent Needs, you’re also helping lift their families – even entire communities – out of poverty.

This gift will benefit: Africa, The Caribbean, Central America, South America

Recommended Gift

  • $1,000 helps lift 9 kids out of poverty
  • $2,500 helps lift 23 kids out of poverty
  • $5,000 helps lift 46 kids out of poverty
  • $10,000 helps lift 92 kids out of poverty
  • $20,000 helps lift 184 kids out of poverty

Feed Hungry Children

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that 811 million in the world suffer from under-nourishment. By providing the gift of food, you will save the lives of thousands of hungry children and their families in developing countries like Haiti, Malawi, Guatemala and Nicaragua.

Your gift will support the provision of meals and other basic services that are essential for survival. A generous donation during this season of giving will change lives forever.

This gift will benefit: Haiti, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Malawi

Recommended Gift
$1,000 will feed 30 children for a month | $5,000 will feed 80 children for a month | $10,000 will feed 92 children for a month | $20,000 will feed 184 children for a month

Donate to Cross International’s Thriving Kids Initiative