Newsletter Archives
March 2024
We are nearing the end of Lent, the liturgical season in the Catholic church, that invites us to ongoing conversion and transformation of life. One of the Lenten practices given to help us on this journey (along with prayer and fasting) is almsgiving – giving to the poor and doing acts of charity.
In Santiago Ixcán and the surrounding area, I walk with many people whose lives are impacted by material poverty. In different ways we try to help alleviate this. I’ve often referred to Matthew 25: 35-40 as part of our ministries’ job description. Jesus says, “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, sick and you visited me, in prison and you came to me.”
January 2024
Last night I attended a birthday party celebrating the lives of Flor and Elvia, identical twins. I couldn’t help but remember my first encounter with them eleven years ago in Cobán’s regional hospital where they were born one month premature.
Their mother, Vilia, and I stood together looking at them through the glass window. They lay in an incubator side by side, like little birds, with their arms sprawled spread eagle at their sides. Tubes sent liquid nutrition through their nose and their tiny bodies wore only a diaper.
November 2023
On the 10th of every month, a group of about 20 women with children in hand and a few dogs straggling along, walk up the long dirt road on the outskirts of the village to our mission house in Santiago Ixcán. There they will gather to pray. They are the jewelers and weavers of Ixcán Creations.
Ixcán Creations, their microbusiness and an outreach of Ixcán Ministries, began in 2007 as a mental health program rather than a viable business. Eridenia, from Panama and working out of Playa Grande started the program knowing the positive effects of bringing women together to create. She showed them how to make simple bead necklaces and earrings. When the women ran out of materials...
Fall 2023
“There is no place like home,” Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz said over and over as she tapped her ruby red shoes to return there – to Kansas – to home. I am thinking of housing as the television flashes devastating images of houses turned to ash in light of the fires most recently in Maui, HI and Medicine Lake, WA that left so many without homes and possessions. Many lost their lives.
In the Ixcán, Guatemala, poverty is the fire that leaves some without adequate housing. Our outreach ministry once a year assists someone with that need. This year, Magdalena, one of the women from our luchadora program, (our program for mothers raising their children alone) asked for help. She lives in a small wood house with her two little ones, ages ten and three, on land that belonged to her uncle, transferred to her cousin, who now wants to use it and asked her to leave.
June 2023
I’ve been in Santiago Ixcán long enough to see children I know grow into young adults who now are parents with their own children! Time passes and the results of our labors aren’t always seen. In our educational outreach with local youth this is often the case. However, I recently had the chance to run into three of our Junior High School graduates and scholarship recipients from long ago: Maria Imul, Jose Perez, and Sindy Raymundo and was pleasantly surprised to learn what they are doing with their lives.
April 2023
Maria who is ten years older than me, was one of the first women who reached out when I moved to Santiago Ixcán in 1999. She owns one of the few ‘tiendas’ – small family-owned wood hut stores in the village where she sold the supplies that were brought in on the backs of mules: salt, sugar, soap, oil, and even Pepsi Cola! She said, “You can come here and be with me anytime.” On lonely days, I would sit on the long wooden bench outside of the wide rectangular window of her store chatting with her in my early haltering Spanish. As time evolved, I saw less of her, but always her presence permeated the village in church, in her store, in her home.
January 2023
Before leaving the house I always pack a book just in case there is a lull time between my comings and goings. What I take for granted in reading words on a page, or signs on a highway, or even signing my name to a document isn’t a ‘given’ for many women in Guatemala. Many, especially in rural areas, are illiterate – not because of choice necessarily, but because of cultural norms and economic hardships that shaped their lives when they were young and studying wasn’t an option
November 2022
She stayed after the meeting, sitting at my kitchen table, while I hovered about cleaning up. Inez (name change to
protect privacy) recently started participating in our Luchadora’s women’s group, but I already knew her well. She is a skilled back-strap weaver in our Ixcán Creations microbusiness group, a faith-filled Catholic, mother of love, and married whose undocumented husband and young son are in the United States working.
August 2022
I returned to Guatemala in early July and immersed myself into life and our various mission outreaches. It is said, “A picture is worth a thousand words.” So, I thought I would share more pictures in this newsletter and use fewer words…
We couldn’t do what we do without our donors. One of our donors jokingly said, “Like the rich and famous, I always wanted a building, named in my honor. I will fund a latrine (with our organic latrine project) and would like it named in my honor.” I smiled. It was built. In a hidden spot in the Ixcán jungle stands a wooden organic latrine with the name Maria Dorotea hung above it. I love Maria’s humor and her concern for the poor in providing this important but humble basic need structure.
May 2022
Spring has finally sprung in North Dakota and the greening of grass and trees sings of hope and new life following a long winter. Seasons speak to me of change. Ixcán Ministries entered a new season of leadership in January 2000, when our president and co-founder, Marlane Peterson, died due to cancer. Our then treasurer assumed that role, but when she faced a serious illness, I was named board president in October 2021. Subsequently, the past seven months ushered in some new faces to serve on our U.S. board of directors.
April 2022
In the Catholic world the liturgical season of Lent has begun when we focus on the sufferings and passion of Jesus. We believe our sharing in the sufferings of Jesus will lead us to the joy of the Resurrection at Easter. It is a 40- day retreat when we are encouraged to take up the practices of prayer, almsgiving, and fasting to help us grow closer to God and one another. In light of our beliefs and practices, amid the present reality of world events, I share the following true story of faith lived by the community in Santiago Ixcán.
February 2022
At the bottom of the hill from the mission house, I often pass a home bustling with children. In that household of eight, lives seven-year old Hamilton. From the distance, I didn’t notice anything unusual about him. I didn’t know that he stuttered and couldn’t pronounce his r’s. I didn’t know Hamilton suffered bullying at school because of his speech impediment. Later, his father told me, "We didn’t know what to do. We took him to a doctor in Playa Grande hoping that maybe there was a surgery or something to correct this. But no one could help him."
November 2021
Recently, I was driving down a major Bismarck thoroughfare and saw her. It wasn't uncommon to see drifters, homeless men standing on this corner at the intersection where the red light stops the cars. Poverty looks very different here in the U.S. than from what I experience in rural Guatemala. What struck me this time was a disheveled middle-aged woman standing at the corner holding a cardboard sign that said, ‘Lost my job, need help’. And I noticed she was crying. The green light whooshed me past her, but as I turned the corner, something in me said, “Go back.”
October 2021
Recently I attended a lovely outdoor wedding in southern California on the property of where a one-story beautiful stucco house stands on a hill overlooking land dotted with avocado and fruit trees. Tropical flowers, vines and plants grace the area and even the bathrooms, with exquisite tan tiles and gleaming porcelain, added to the charm. I felt like I entered a mini-spa to do a basic function.
When Jesus mandated his followers, "Go into the whole world and proclaim the Good News to all creation," I never connected that mission mandate with well, building latrines.
May 2021
While spring Flowers bloom in the 'north', here in the Ixcán during the months of April and May, spring is 'summer' when rain rarely falls and the heat index soars. We sweat just sitting, we bake while walking under umbrellas to deflect the sun’s rays, and in the hottest time of day with no air conditioners, we seek refuge in the shade of trees or in the wet coolness of rivers. Often a conversation will begin with, “Que calor!” (What heat!) and “No hay agua!” (There is no water!)
March 2021
“This is the place,” Daniel said pointing to an area of the thick jungle underbrush. “Here is where I fell.”
Daniel, Andres, Candelario and Eliezar, leaders in our Catholic Church, and I stood surrounded by bushes, vines and towering trees in misty rain. We had trekked an hour along a muddy narrow path, barely visible through the dense vegetation that choked our way.
December 2020
Before leaving Guatemala in May 2019, Juana, a friend in Santiago Ixcán informed me, "Francisco (her eldest son working in Guatemala City) wants to help the poor. He'd like to talk with you." "Really? Have him call or come and see me." I replied.
Francisco and I never had that conversation because a few days after speaking with his mom, I raced out of the Ixcán to return to North Dakota. My friend and Board President, Marlane Peterson, had been diagnosed with terminal cancer. Sadly, Marlane died in January 2020 and COVID-19 hit in March. I've been in the United States ever since.
October 2020
When I am in the United States, I go to the quiet of libraries to write. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, finding a library, like almost everything else, hasn't been easy. Our local university libraries are closed to the public, and the Mandan library is being renovated. I feel grateful to be sitting here in the Bismarck Public Library writing this. The stark contrast of this state-of-the-art U.S. library to our Ixcán Ministries cramped one-room library in Santiago Ixcán speaks volumes of the disparities between my two worlds. Granted, the coronavirus treats us the same; inside we are all wearing masks and library hours and days of operation are reduced both here and there.
July 2020
The petite child smiled at me from the center of the video frame. Alicia stood barefoot bedecked in a flowered skirt and a pink shirt splattered with small white hearts. In her hands she clasped flaming red hibiscus flowers she extended toward the camera. Little sister, Mayli, from behind wrapped her small arms around Alicia’s waist, gave a hug, then trotted off. The child’s sweet voice called, “Where are you, Hermana Katy? Thank you for our house. We are peaceful. I am content. I send you greetings. Thank-you.”
April 2020
I find myself with the rest of the world in an unsettled inner and outer place in light of the coronavirus pandemic. It seems life has changed overnight. We are confined in our homes where food and basic supplies (like toilet paper) that once overflowed shelves in grocery stores, are now empty. Church services are suspended, and restaurants and coffee shops are closed. Isolation has been normalized and we are being asked to live with less in many respects. This can be hard.
I was perusing through some stories I had written years ago about my life in Guatemala. I came across this one I called Full Bowl. It speaks to me now in a way I hadn’t experienced before. I want to share it with you.
January 2020
On the 10th of every month approximately thirty women, some with babies at their breasts and toddlers trotting behind their skirts, swell into the mission house. The women are Maya jewelers and weavers who make up our microbusiness - Ixcán Creations. They come to pray.
The women understand while sitting at the loom weaving multi-colored scarves, shawls, and table runners, and laboring with beads, seeds, stones, and wire creating earrings and necklaces; that prayer is an integral and important part of their work.
December 2019
The young mother came to my door. A baby was wrapped tight on her back and a little girl with shining eyes held her hand. I was struck by her beauty. She was dressed in worn faded traditional Quiché dress that spoke hardship but her dark brown eyes, full lips, and beautiful jet-black hair pulled back, showed a quiet dignity.
October 2019
It is Fall and I am reminded by the leaves changing from their shades of greens into brilliant reds, oranges, and yellows - that life changes. And soon, my delight in all the Fall beauty will change into acceptance, as the leaves drop one by one, or fall in one quick swoop, and the colorfully clothed trees will stand naked.
August 2019
In the past, I often wondered how my friends in the Ixcán could have survived so many hardships and surmounted incredible obstacles without some of the resources that we take for granted here in the US; resources like: professional counseling, spiritual direction, area social services, 9-1-1 emergency assistance, abused adult centers, support groups, quality health care professionals and facilities, food pantries, etc.
June 2019
I am thinking about water. In the United States potable water flows with just a twist of the hand and wrist from spickets, faucets and hoses. Dishes are cleaned, clothes are laundered, grass and flowers are refreshed, bodies are cleansed, thirst is quenched - due to precious water that comes instantly and without much effort... here.
In Guatemala, that isn't the case.
May 2019
Dear Friends,
During a recent visit in the home of Petronila Baten, I watched her: peel a banana, rise from a chair, pick up a rag and wipe the table, grab a broom and sweep a portion of the cement patio floor where we sat. We do these simple acts without thinking twice. But, two weeks ago, Petronila wasn’t able to do any of them. Only twenty-seven years old, Petronila suffers with crippling Rheumatoid Arthritis.
March 2019
It is Lent, the season in the liturgical church year when Catholics and other Christian traditions reflect on the gut-wrenching passion of Jesus to his glorious resurrection.
January 2019
The festivities of Christmas and the New Year have quieted, and I ponder now on what word or message will be given to guide me in 2019? And what comes to mind is a little girl named Miriam.
November 2018
In October 1998, Hurricane Mitch plummeted Central America. On the 27th, rain pounded the Ixcán region of Guatemala. That was also the day I moved from Playa Grande to the village of Santiago Ixcán.
August 2018
A few weeks before I left Guatemala for the U.S., six members of our villages’ health post committee came to see me, saying the clinic needs a cement floor for the outdoor waiting area.
June 2018
Sadly, alcohol abuse has increased at an alarming rate in Santiago Ixcán over the past ten years. There are no easy answers.
February 2018
It is the liturgical season of Lent, the forty days before Easter when the Christian faithful focus on the passion and death of Jesus and are invited to look deeper at one’s life and repent
December 2017
I call these women "Las Luchadoras" – The Fighters. They are women abandoned by the fathers of their children who struggle daily to provide for themselves and their children.
October 2017
Fr. Stan modeled a radical surrender to do what he perceived as God's call on his life. He didn’t run even in the face of death.
August 2017
I once heard that the first step in evangelization is hospitality. Ixcán Ministries' mission outreach emerged from opening the door.
April 2017
Justice = The quality of being fair in our relationships with God, others and the earth. The story of Glendy and her family.
February 2017
I’ve heard it said, “Children are made readers on the laps of their parents.” That works if the parents can read and books are available. In most rural areas in Guatemala, the general populous doesn’t have extra money to purchase books.
December 2016
A humble man, a poor simple farmer, came to the blue door of the mission house. “I heard that you help people in need...Could you help me build a house for my family?”
October 2016
The needs seem endless like the sea. I roll up my sleeves and the day’s activities reflect the Corporal Works of Mercy: Feed the Hungry, Give Drink to the Thirsty, Clothe the Naked, Bury the Dead, Shelter the Homeless, Comfort the Sick, Visit the Imprisoned.
August 2016
Recently, when I was explaining what I do as a lay missioner and included “reverse mission” in the list, someone asked me, “What is that?” Good question.
Easter 2016
I am reminded in this season of Easter how resurrection happens, how we can be the instrument of life for one another, how Jesus
acts in us and through us when we do whatever for the least of these, how both giver and receiver are “fed” in very different ways.
