"When you enter another place, take off your shoes.
For the ground you are standing on is holy.
You must not forget that God was there before your arrival."
— former Anglican Bishop of Jerusalem, Kenneth Cragg

Hope Lutheran Church is proud to have a partnership with a Lutheran congregation in Guatemala by the name of San Juan Bautista (Saint John the Baptist).  It is in the community of Zaculeu, which is located in the northern, Peten region of the country.

We have made four visits to the members of San Juan Bautista, each time developing stronger relationships and better appreciation for their faith (and their struggles).  San Juan Bautista is a member congregation of the Iglesia Luterana Agustina de Guatemala, or, in English, the Augustinian Lutheran Church of Guatemala (ILAG). 

The primary purpose of our visits is to build relationships with the people who are members of the church.  We are humbled by the faith of these brothers and sisters in Christ who live without running water or electricity and whose houses have tin roofs and dirt floors.  Yet they are a joyful people who greatly appreciate our visits.  While we are there, we worship with them, we do a Bible School program with the children, we play games and sing songs together, we eat with them, we listen as they share their stories of survival during the civil war, as well as visit people and places in their small community.  One year we also helped to plant a number of orange and mango trees in their yards.

We have had eight different members of Hope travel to Guatemala over the past four years, each time accompanied by Pastor Jonathan.  Please enjoy the photo gallery including both members of Hope and members of San Juan Bautista.

Click on the thumbnails below to see the big picture.