Guatemala Mission Trip 2024: Update #3
I woke early Monday morning and sat in the courtyard of our cozy hotel. As I sipped my coffee, birds chirped and mist blew over the mountains surrounding San Juan La Laguna, our beautiful home for the week. After a hearty breakfast, we set off in tuk-tuks to build our first stoves in the neighboring town of San Pedro. Our group was to work together that day to build two stoves for related families living next door to each other. Their
UCH Guatemala Mission 2024 Update – Days 1 & 2
On Saturday morning, June 23, 2024, the Union Church Mission Team to Guatemala met at O’Hare International Airport for our American Airlines flight to Guatemala City. The team included our leader, Trayce Biancalana, and members Jane Grimm, Robb Knuepfer, Cathy and CJ Mitchum, Hugh, Nate, and Bella Robinson, and June Scott. We would meet team members Kristen and Katie Meyers in Guatemala. As we completed our immigration forms for Guatemala in Spanish, we realized we were “not in Hinsdale any
Guatemala Mission Trip: First Report
On June 22, a group of 11 set out for San Juan Laguna, Guatemala on a journey to make a lasting impact. Our journey was focused on building connections, learning about the Mayan people and their rich history and creating tangible change. We set out to construct smokeless stoves and support an educational program for Mayan children. The smokeless stoves project aimed to improve health conditions by reducing indoor air pollution, while our time at Hope and Dreams, the educational program
The story of Sueños y Esperanzas and their impactful work in Guatemala
Union Church began supporting Sueños y Esperanzas 4 years ago by sponsoring 2 students in their after-school program. Since then, we have seen the program blossom into a full-scale support system for both students and their parents. It is a true community center at the heart of the town of San Juan Laguna in the mountains of the beautiful country of Guatemala. With our support, they began the Abejita’s program because many children in the community were malnourished. They wanted
A Deep Dive on “Sacrifice”
One of the great things about Union Church is our Simple Supper group program. These are monthly meetings of about 12 people who share a meal, share about their lives, and share in good discussion about the Christian faith and/or the Bible. All the groups are led by members of the church, but often Rev. Mike prepares the material the groups use for discussion. For May's topic, Mike prepared material on the topic of sacrifice, in the religious/Biblical sense. The