Gaining Attitude With one of the world's most active volcanoes towering above them, the people of Guatemala's tiny mountaintop village of Panimaquin are used to earth tremors — and hardship. What they didn't experience was much hope for a different life until some missionaries, buttressed by visiting mission teams such as one from Fort Myers, came along. Living at 7,300 feet above sea level, the Cakchiquel-Mayan inhabitants have a spectacular view, but must eke out an incredibly hard existence from the mountainous terrain. When U.S. missionaries Bernard and Trish Cohen arrived in 1996, they were struck by the Mayan children's lack of hope for a life different from the difficult one lived in the mountains for generations. "They saw their future as "Cauliflower and more cauliflower . . . babies and more babies," Trish Cohen, 67, said. Bernard Cohen, 55, noted that the 350 villagers live in "survival mode." "Every day they have to get wood, food, and water," he said. "If you were to walk into their houses and look through their cupboards, there is nothing there — just enough to sustain them for this meal, or maybe a meal for tomorrow. They grow cauliflower, cabbage and beets, but with all the competition in the world right now, our people were having trouble sustaining themselves." The Cohens, moved by the people's needs, established a unique ministry. Like most Christian missionaries, the Cohens sought to teach the Gospel of Jesus Christ, but they also determined to change the physical realities of the Mayans' future through education, health care and job training. Guatemalan Mission Outreach (GMO) is the result of this multi-faceted vision. The nonprofit organization now includes a pre-school, a primary school and the village's only secondary school, along with a feeding program, dental care, and a sewing department where GMO employees produce Bible covers, baby quilts and other items. Not your typical missionaries, Bernard, a former plumbing contractor-turned-youth pastor, and Trish, a cancer-care nurse and author, received little support in the early days of their work. As Trish puts it, "I was too old. Mission school? We didn't go there. And language was a problem. But God has supplied our needs year after year." GMO gets its support from individuals and committed churches throughout the U.S. One such support team arrived in April of this year from Covenant Community Ministries in Fort Myers. "Every time a team visits GMO it is an opportunity to bring lots of needed stuff to the project (since shipping is not an option)," Fort Myers team leader Pastor Laura Mondell said. "Supplies we have taken include clothing, computers, toothbrushes, toiletries, classroom supplies, musical instruments, DVDs and books, horseradish, and Christmas gifts for 150 people. "Teams benefit GMO by providing needed services and supplies but also by actively loving and encouraging the people, laughing and crying, working and playing with them; showing them how special they are." The seven-member Fort Myers team also brought musicians and Port Charlotte music teacher Debbie Brown. "I feel that the gift of music brought joy and happiness to these precious people," Brown said. "Joy was evident on the faces of very young children, teenagers and adults as well. The musical instruments we left behind as a gift to the Panimaquin school will be a reminder of some very special beginnings of incorporating music into their school — and a reminder that people from far away love them and are willing to show that love in a tangible way." After nine years in Panimaquin, changes the Cohens have instituted are reflected in the hopes and dreams of the children. Recently, when she again asked students in GMO's school what they wanted to be when they grew up, Trish Cohen, eyes brimming with tears, said, "This time they answered, 'I want to be a teacher. I want to be a secretary. I want to be a doctor.' We've taught them how to dream." |