http://www.missionguatemala.com/

Mission Guatemala, Princeton, IN (2026)

10/08/2026

As our final summer team, we were excited to once again welcome a group from Blaine Memorial United Methodist Church in Seattle, Washington! One of the team leaders, Bob Sekijima, who brought Blaine Memorial UMC’s first team to serve with us in 2012, is a retired orthodontist from Seattle and has been leading the development of our dental hygiene and fluoride application program over the past year!

During their week with us the team worked on a variety of different projects. For part of the week, the group continued moving our kitchen project for the Godínez public middle school “INEB de Telesecundaria” ever closer to completion, laying the final pieces of tile, plastering the underside of the concrete work table and serving counter, and touching up the paint on the ceiling beams. The team also helped us with several projects at our clinic and office space, painting the wall along the front of the property, installing a roof over the clinic entrance and steps, and continuing the fencing of an area to be developed as a playground space for children who come to the clinic or participate in our other programs. The group also planned and shared in activities with children from the nearby community of Nueva Esperanza, printing photos of each of the children in the community’s elementary school and helping them fold and decorate origami picture frames.

In addition, both Bob and Teresa Yagi, another dentist from Seattle, spent the week providing dental care for many of our scholarship students, in order to alleviate pain and reduce the need for more complex and expensive work later on.

We are incredibly grateful to Blaine UMC for their continued partnership with us and for their deep love and care for our friends and neighbors here in Guatemala! We look forward to welcoming them back again soon!

09/30/2026

This month’s focus for our Diabetes Club and Expectant Mother’s Club was dental hygiene and cavity prevention! Recognizing the role that dental health plays in a person’s overall health, earlier this year we began incorporating dental hygiene as part of our health promotion and prevention focus within these programs. And a vital component of this focus is the application of flouride for each person who participates, along with providing a greater understanding of the ways in which fluoride strengthens and protects our teeth.

At this month’s Diabetes Club we welcomed 50 participants, and in the Expectant Mother’s Club we had 5 expectant mothers. (We saw lower numbers in the Expectant Mother’s Club this month due partly to weather—as well as the fact that four mothers who had previously been part of the club had their babies this past month!)

The Diabetes Club and Expectant Mother’s Club are part of our commitment to making health promotion and prevention a central aspect of our programs. It is our goal to not only provide quality, respectful and affordable access to healthcare, but also to empower patients by giving them the knowledge and tools to be able to take an active role in their own health.

To help support these programs, please visit missionguatemala.com/how-to-help/!

09/07/2026

As we celebrate Mission Guatemala’s 16 years of service, we want to give special thanks for our Founder, Tom Heaton!

Tom began Mission Guatemala in 2010 in response to God’s call to serve full time in Guatemala, signing a 10 year lease on the property in San Andrés Semetabaj that would become Mission Guatemala’s home. There was no way of knowing exactly what the future would hold, but he was guided by a vision of living out love for God and neighbor and of together doing all the good we could.

Through the years, Tom’s vision, leadership and support guided Mission Guatemala as it grew and developed, and helped to ensure that we had an ever greater impact in the lives of our friends and neighbors here in the area of San Andrés Semetabaj.

As we celebrate this milestone in his legacy, we are grateful to Tom for his continued friendship and support, and we always look forward to welcoming him back to Guatemala whenever he visits!

¡Muchas gracias, Tomás!

To join us in celebrating our 16th birthday, please click here: https://missionguatemala.com/how-to-help/sweet-sixteen.html

09/01/2026

It’s our birthday! Today, Mission Guatemala celebrates 16 years of love and service here in San Andrés Semetabaj, as we work each day to expand access to educational opportunities, to nutritional support for children and families, and to quality and respectful medical care for all!

Beginning with our founder Tom Heaton signing the lease on the property in 2010, and continuing to the present day, together we have worked to affirm the sacred worth of each individual, and to live out our belief that our love for God is inseparable from our love for our neighbor.

Thanks to the incredible generosity of each one of you who has made all the wonderful work of the past 16 years possible, innumerable lives have been changed—not only of those who have been served through Mission Guatemala's programs, but also of each one who has experienced the transformative power of selfless service and love for others.

There is so much more to be done! We hope you’ll join us as we celebrate all that has been accomplished and as we continue on each day to “do all the good we can together!” To see the impact that your support has, click here: missionguatemala.com/how-to-help/sweet-sixteen.html

Thank you! ¡Gracias! ¡Matiox!

08/31/2026

In this month’s Expectant Mothers Club we welcomed 11 participants!

Quality prenatal care is essential for the health of both expectant mothers and their babies, but in the rural areas of Guatemala many women face challenges in receiving vital care due to lack of access or of financial resources. To help meet this need, we set aside a day each month at our Clínica “La Misión” that is specifically focused on providing a monthly checkup for expectant mothers, as well as lab tests and ultrasounds as needed.

In addition to providing medical care for the expectant mothers, a significant portion of this day is dedicated to providing education on a variety of issues, including potential risk factors during pregnancy, the importance of healthy eating and lifestyle choices for the mother and baby, as well as other topics that prepare the parents to care for their child before and after they are born. This month, Ester, one of our clinic nursing staff, shared with the mothers about activities they can do with their babies to help develop their child's senses and motor skills, as well as developmental milestones that can help them track their child’s progress.

Through the Expectant Mothers Club, it is our goal to support mothers throughout their pregnancy and beyond, expanding access to both quality and respectful care and to the knowledge and resources they need for a safer pregnancy and childbirth experience. To help support this vital program, please visit missionguatemala.com/how-to-help/!

08/26/2026

As our summer continued, we next welcomed teams from LifeJourney Church in Indianapolis, Indiana, and Elevate Life Church in Jeffersonville, Indiana! This was LifeJourney’s fifth team to serve with us, and the first team from Elevate Life Church, though some members of the team had served with us previously. It was wonderful to once again be able to spend the week with old friends and to make new ones on both teams as we served together!

These teams spent part of the their week continuing the finishing aspects of our kitchen construction project at the INEB Telesecundaria public middle school in the town of Godinez, building the wood-burning stove in the kitchen, stuccoing, grouting the concrete work table and the serving counter, laying tile, and touching up areas where the paint on the metal roof beams had been scratched during installation. The teams also continued working at our clinic and office space in San Andrés Semetabaj, continuing the fencing of an area to be developed as a playground space for children who come to the clinic or participate in our other programs, as well as stuccoing in the future Reading Room space, and painting the fence that runs along the street.

Our heartfelt thanks to LifeJourney Church and Elevate Life Church for their support for Mission Guatemala and for their selfless service to benefit our friends and neighbors here in San Andrés Semetabaj!

08/12/2026

This month we had 50 participants in our Diabetes Club! And we also had the nutritionist and dietician Kimberly Anerol Godoy Barrera as a special guest to share about the food groups and portion sizes contained in a balanced diet, about the importance of macronutrients and micronutrients, and exposing common myths about diabetes.

The Diabetes Club is held each month to provide a focused day when patients dealing with diabetes can receive their regular checkup, lab tests, IVs or other treatments they need, as well as their medication for the coming month. But a major part of the day is focused on providing education about the causes of diabetes and the role that lifestyle and diet plays in limiting its severity.

Recognizing the integral role that health promotion and prevention plays in any successful health program, Dr. Lidia, our clinic doctor, works to provide this informational component within every patient consultation. However, the Diabetes Club provides an even greater opportunity for education and empowerment of patients by giving them the knowledge and tools to be able to take an active role in their own health.

08/11/2026

We next welcomed a team from Otterbein United Methodist Church in Hagerstown, Maryland and a team from Glenelg United Methodist Church in Glenelg, Maryland. This was Otterbein UMC’s seventh team to serve with us, and it was wonderful to again welcome Carrie Crawford, the team leader, along with her family and the other team members! And we were excited to also welcome Glenelg UMC to serve with us for the first time and for the opportunity to get to know Jennie Bepple, the team leader, and the rest of her team, which included Glenelg UMC’s pastor, Rev. Elizabeth Jackson!

These teams spent part of the their week continuing the final aspects of our kitchen construction project at the INEB Telesecundaria public middle school in the town of Godinez, laying tile for the concrete work table and the serving counter, stuccoing, and building the large wood-burning stove that the school had requested. The teams also continued working at our clinic and office space in San Andrés Semetabaj, continuing the fencing of an area to be developed into a playground. The team also helped to stucco inside our future reading room space!

We are grateful to Otterbein UMC and Glenelg UMC for their support and for the opportunity to serve together this week! We hope to welcome you here in Guatemala again soon!

08/07/2026

Our busy summer continued with a wonderful team from Zionsville United Methodist Church in Zionsville, Indiana! Zionsville UMC has been an integral supporter of Mission Guatemala since our earliest days—even sending members of the church’s pastoral staff to visit and help prep our clinic space back in October of 2010!

This Zionsville team continued work on our kitchen construction project at the INEB Telesecundaria public middle school in the town of Godinez, laying tile for the concrete work table and the serving counter, stuccoing, installing the ridge cap on the roof, continuing the electrical installation, and finishing pouring the concrete in front of the kitchen space.

During their week the team also worked at our clinic and office space in San Andrés Semetabaj, beginning the fencing of an area on our property that will be developed as a playground space for children who come to the clinic or participate in our other programs.

The Zionsville team also brought several boxes of children’s books and gave each member of our staff the opportunity to choose books for their children and families. The team shared the remaining books with us for future use in our reading room!

Muchas gracias, Zionsville UMC! We are grateful for your love and support for our friends and neighbors here in Guatemala!

07/29/2026

This past month we had the privilege of welcoming two teams in one week: one from Northwoods Presbyterian Church in Houston, Texas, and one from St. Mark's United Methodist Church in Carmel, Indiana. Amy Adams, the St. Mark’s team leader, and several of the team members—including Aaron Carlisle, one of Mission Guatemala’s board members—had served with us in years past, but this was the first opportunity we’d had to serve alongside a team from Northwoods Presbyterian Church. We were thankful for the opportunity to get to know the church’s Director of Youth Ministry—and the team leader—Mary Meghan Schnittger, along with the rest of her wonderful group!

The teams worked on a variety of aspects for our kitchen construction project at the INEB Telesecundaria public middle school in the town of Godinez, helping to stucco, grout tile, install the electrical wiring, and cut and tie rebar for the concrete work table. The team finished out their week by pouring the concrete table top!

We greatly enjoyed the week serving alongside these two wonderful teams! Hasta pronto, amig@s!

Mission Guatemala

10/08/2026

09/30/2026

09/07/2026

09/01/2026

08/31/2026

08/26/2026

08/12/2026

08/11/2026

08/07/2026

07/29/2026

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