Welcome to Ixcán Ministries

Ixcán Ministries is a Christian lay mission serving as a ministry of presence with the Maya people in the Ixcán jungle of Guatemala. We act as a bridge between cultures for the exchange of gifts to transform lives and society.

Ixcán Ministries was founded in 2003 to support the ministry of Kathy Snider, a lay missioner who has been serving in the Ixcán since 1998.

What We Do

Our mission home is in Santiago Ixcán, the center of five multi-ethnic, multilingual Mayan communities. We walk with the people in their daily lives to empower and bring hope. Learning from and understanding the challenges of life here, we have been able to reach out in a variety of ways that include:

• Providing spiritual and pastoral accompaniment.
• Providing medical assistance of transport, medicine, and care for the sick.
• Empowering indigenous women through a micro-business of textiles and jewelry.
• Providing financial help in exchange for service.
• Promoting education through a scholarship program for local youth, and a community library.
• Providing interest-free loans for housing.
• Addressing hunger through a corn project.
• Providing support of the lay missioner.
• Promoting peace and justice.
• Providing opportunities for short-term missions.
• Providing "reverse mission" in the United States through speaking, writing, and prayerful listening.