Our Christmas Offering this year will again be divided between Union Church and a special mission organization. The organization is our partner agency in Guatemala, Sueños y Esperanzas (“Dreams and Hopes”).
The mission of Sueños y Esperanzas is to reduce poverty in Guatemala’s Mayan communities through education.
They equip and empower Mayan children and youth to have the best future possible in Guatemala. They help young people develop the skills to successfully compete in higher education and obtain careers of their choosing. Founded in San Juan la Laguna in 2018, the initial focus of Sueños y Esperanzas was to offer scholarships for students to continue their education past elementary school. In Guatemala, families must pay for their children to attend middle and high school, so poverty prevents many children from continuing their education beyond elementary school. The mission of Sueños y Esperanzas continues to grow from there.
Part of our Christmas Offering (up to $6,000) will fund the Abejitas (“Little Bee”) program for one year. This program provides nutrition, health, and learning opportunities to elementary students, preparing these students to continue their education into middle and high school. Staff and volunteers provide the children with a safe place to have a nutritious snack/meal, learn, play, and grow at the Center at least twice each week.
Our overall goal for the Christmas Offering is $30,000. Maybe this is a good year for you to give $10,000? Maybe this is a good year for you to give $10? However you can support this effort this year will be wonderful. Between the Abejitas program of Sueños y Esperanzas and the wonderful ministry of Union Church, this is a great way to give a Christmas gift to Jesus as we celebrate his coming into the world to give peace, love, joy and hope to all.
Go to “https://onrealm.org/uchinsdale/-/form/give/now” to give now, or find links in the regular Wednesday church emails. Or send in a check made out to the church, and put “Christmas Offering” in the memo line. For both online or a check, if you want to split amounts between the church and Sueños y Esperanzas, just put that in the “memo” line on the giving page or on the check. Thanks, and Feliz Navidad to all!