Join the family.
Last year around September we made an important announcement. After much prayer, the GCM Board of Directors determined that Agua Viva and its ministry were being led in a new direction.
Since 2017, the culture in Guatemala has changed and impacted how we go about our mission. New governmental guidelines have substantially increased the costs and restricted the ability of children’s homes like ours to serve at-risk kids.
We decided to take a prayerful step back, and see this as an invitation by God to examine where we could most strategically impact and serve as many Guatemalan children as possible.
The answer to our prayer came with the recent success and growth of our Christian School. Since we launched the school in 2001, we’ve seen it grow to over 300 enrolled students. That’s an average of 300 children and their families we are impacting to God’s glory every year.
The Agua Viva School has allowed us to serve the at-risk children of Guatemala and their families in ways and numbers we never dreamed were possible. As such, we have seen 2020 as an invitation to strategically focus on improving and growing the school, as well as exploring ways we can support foster care, adoption, and community outreach projects.
(Visit our new website to learn more about AguaVivaSchool.org)
While we know the news of the home’s closing is saddening—and we ourselves have shed many many tears—we truly believe this is the direction God is leading us. Our goal within this unique climate remains the same: to help vulnerable, at-risk Guatemalan children become successful Christian adults with the desire and ability to help their own people.
We believe the Agua Viva School continues the core and spirit of our mission but within these changing times.
With the start of a new year, we want to invite you to join us in this new direction. Families grow together, suffer together, and rejoice together. While a family may outgrow or move out of a house, they never leave behind a home. Agua Viva is our home, and you and the people we serve in Guatemala are our family.
We want to ask you—as family—to stand with us, and join your Agua Viva family in this exciting direction.
Here are three important and urgent ways you can help us at this critical time of change:
- Pray: We need you to keep Agua Viva and the children we serve deep within your prayers. Pray for our new direction, for our schools continued growth, and for the salvation of children and their families.
- Give: We need you to consider supporting our family financially. In the past couple months, we have contacted you about rolling your existing home child sponsorships into school child sponsorships. Unfortunately, 13 students have yet to receive any sponsors, and 24 students are only partially sponsored. Would you consider sponsoring the education of one of these at-risk children? If you’re already a sponsor, would you consider making a one-time donation of $25, $50, $100, $250, $500, or more towards our ministry and our school’s expansion?
- Serve: Finally, we need you to send and serve on mission teams. We have countless opportunities to minister to students and staff through school activities and special events. We also have some exciting contributions you, your church, or your school can make in the local community alongside local churches. Would you consider visiting our missions page to learn more about sending a team?
If you’re not already, would you also consider becoming a sponsor and providing a quality Christian education to one of the 37 children currently waiting to be sponsored by people like you?
Agua Viva
PS: Inline with this new direction, we’re excited to launch a new beautiful website and branding we’ve worked very hard on. We think you’ll agree that it does a wonderful job of portraying the beauty and color of Agua Viva and our children. We hope you take a couple of minutes to visit AguaVivaSchool.org and learn more about the ministry.
