Becoming Esperanza de Guatemala

        In 2014, a group from Cary Presbyterian Church (CPC) in Cary, North Carolina, traveled to Guatemala to investigate establishing a relationship with an indigenous Mayan community. In 2008 a group from the church had gone on a mission trip to a small village in Guatemala, following a "one and done" model of service. For the next several years, CPC supported the work of another church and non-profit working in rural Guatemala; the next step seemed to be “to do more."

        With the help of two Guatemalan partners, Martin Sop and Mario Mejia, Cary Presbyterian Church and Iglesia Presbiteriana Monte Sinai signed a covenant in 2015. From the beginning, the goal of the two churches was to evolve beyond a two-church ministry into a nonprofit able to serve the entire village. Programming and support would be open to all in the village of Nimasac, Guatemala, and to other villages in the future.

       By mid-2017 Esperanza de Guatemala became a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization made up of people passionate about supporting the village of Nimasac. Esperanza has patterned its work in Guatemala on the important idea of partnership. The book, When Helping Hurts, by Stephen Corbett and Brian Fikkert, explains how mission trips and non-profits can actually hurt the economy of developing countries. From the beginning, Esperanza’s work is guided by local committees of Guatemalans, complete with officers, to plan and implement all our work. Shared-decision making is embraced and when problems occur, as they always do, more joint decision-making happens. For example, the Scholarship Program was first introduced to the Nimasac community as an idea to consider, as information was shared in person and over the next year by emails. The Nimasac scholarship committee was formed, as was a US committee, with joint representation from Esperanza de Guatemala and Cary Presbyterian Church as the originator of the relationship. Those committees continue to administer the program, which grows yearly. 

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       Esperanza de Guatemala's major partner continues to be Cary Presbyterian Church, but Esperanza also  partners with the Monte Sinai church, local townspeople, other nonprofits such as Engineers Without Borders, and Rotary. We seek other congregations and nonprofits who will partner with us as well.

 

        Esperanza de Guatemala is governed by a Board of Directors; the President of the Board is also the CEO. No staff in the US receive compensation so that most funds are spent to actually further the mission and work of Esperanza.
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        We trust our work is for development, not rescue, with the goal of encouraging sustainability.
The work we do together is driven by the community’s priorities. The people in the Guatemalan community prioritize needs, and it is the supporters of Esperanza who respond “yes, we can.” While the needs far surpass the resources currently available, our desire is to continue our efforts and build upon the partnership’s successes as resources allow.

Esperanza de Guatemala
614 Griffis St
Cary NC 27511
919-467-8700
© 2024 by Esperanza de Guatemala in the U.S. |