Meet Jose Mario

One of the things I love about El Rosario is that kids don’t run up to us and ask for candy or money.  They run up to say hi and give us hugs.  Their parents don’t ask us to build homes but instead they ask us to pray with them.  I could not be more honored to be serving our Lord in Guatemala.  We are living at the epicenter of the blessings God promised. 

Yesterday the principal, Sr. Rosales, asked if we could meet with him.  He explained that he had a very special student he would like us to meet.  He told us about a little boy who had sores on his hands and the sores continued to get worse.  He asked if we would pray for him. 

 “What is your name?” I asked.

“Jose Mario.”  He answered in a timid voice.

“Do you have brothers and sisters?”

He nodded his head, no.

“What are your parents names?” I asked.

“I only have a mom.”

Sr. Rosales explained that a man had come to the school 3 weeks ago asking for Jose Mario.  They had never met this man and thought it was a possible kidnapping.  As it turns out, the man was his biological father and came to visit Jose Mario for the first time.  Sr. Rosales said it was a blessing for Jose.

The principal told us that Jose Mario’s hands are often in so much pain he can’t write and he recently missed 2 weeks of school.  His teacher asked if he would like to attend class and just listen.  He agreed and that is where we found him today.  

“Can we pray for you Jose?”

“Si.”

This little guy crawled up on my lap as we began to pray.  In the 12 months I have been in Guatemala, I have never seen the team pray like we did yesterday.  With conviction and by the power of the Holy Spirit we asked God to heal his little hands.  We asked God to restore his body to perfection.  We prayed for protection from ridicule.  We prayed for his mother and father.  We thanked God for Jose Mario’s life.  We thanked God for trusting us with His child.  We thanked God for His healing.

We will be visiting Jose Mario and his family this week.  Please pray for him.  We believe in miracles.  We believe in healing.  We believe this little boy will be a living testimony to the love of Jesus Christ.

Today we were not missionaries, nor pastors. Today we were family, saying goodbye to our sister who we love deeply. She is with our Lord and Savior.

As soon as I answered the phone and David started talking I knew something was wrong.  We had spent most of the day in El Rosario and had only been home a few hours. 

“We just got a call from Silvia…and Blanquita’s heart stopped…and her lungs failed.”

“Is she ok?”  I didn’t know what to ask.  Her heart had stopped once before.  But I knew. 

“She didn’t make it.” He said.

“How is Silvia?” I asked. 

“We didn’t talk with her for very long but she is obviously upset.  We told her to call us if she needed anything.”

I spent the next few hours frustrated.  I was frustrated at God but really, I was frustrated with myself.  Had I prayed enough?  We have been so blessed by God since we landed in Guatemala and I just didn’t understand this.  Why didn’t God answer my prayers?

At 11pm Silvia called and asked if we could pick her up from the hospital and drive her to El Rosario to be with her family.  She asked if we could also bring baby Blanquita. 

“Of course!” we said but we had to ask if she had paperwork to take Blanquita with us.  She assured us that she did.  I’ve never heard of anyone being able to take a persons body from the hospital like that and I definitely didn’t want to answer questions if I got stopped in the middle of the night by the Guatemalan police. 

We arrived in El Rosario just before 2am.  It was a quiet ride.  Silvia and Lindsey just held onto each other.  Silvia’s mom, Alvita, had prepared a room with a beautiful white material covering one of the walls and the same white material covered a small table.  Alvita asked me to carry the tiny white casket to the room and set it on the table.  It’s something I will never forget. 

Some of the neighbors had already started showing up and as some left, more stopped by.  David, Lindsey and I sat quietly, praying, and supporting our friend.  As Silvia and Alvita changed Blanquita into a little white dress, I sat there imagining the pain she must be going through.  I couldn’t do it.  I couldn’t imagine the loss of one of my children. 
At 4am we asked if there was anything we could do to help.  Silvia said they were working on the details of a funeral and would call us as soon as she knew.  We each kissed her on the cheek goodbye and gave her extended hugs.  Again, it was a quiet ride home.

At 6am, two hours later, Alvita called to let us know that the funeral would be in Patzun, a small town about an hour and a half away.  She asked if we could take her family to Patzun later in the morning. 

At around 11am we gently set Blanquitas casket in the back of my van and drove to Patzun with a van full of family.  It’s clear at this point we have no idea what to expect.  This wasn’t in the missionary handbook.  No one prepared us for this day when we were commissioned as missionaries. 

During the drive I prayed that I could somehow express the love of God to this family.  I prayed that God would allow them to grieve but cover them in peace. 

When we arrived, it was a flurry of activity; Paperwork to be signed for the burial, hugs and condolences from family and women preparing meals for visitors.  Silvia and her family spent the night in Patzun and we drove back to our homes in San Lucas.  The funeral would be the next day.

When we arrived the next morning, Alvita asked if I would pray for Blanquita before the funeral procession.  What do you say to a mom and a family who just lost a baby who wasn’t even a year old?  I kept thinking about Job and what he did when all of his children were taken from him in one day.  He didn’t cry out in anger or frustration with God but rather he fell to his knees in worship.  He praised the Lord - Job 1:20-22.  And, so we praised God for the 11 months that Blanquita blessed her family.  She certainly blessed us over the last 3 months that we knew her.

For the last time, we put Blanquitas tiny white casket in the back of the van and drove down the street to the cemetery with the back door to the van open.  About 30 family and friends, who walked slowly behind, followed us.  You could see the faces of onlookers smiling and going on with their day until the van passed and they could see the casket.  You could hear gasps and whispers immediately. 

After the 45-minute walk to the cemetery David and I read scriptures and prayed.  Today we were not missionaries, nor pastors.  Today we were family, saying goodbye to our sister who we love deeply.  She is with our Lord and Savior.  Thank you God for blessing us with her life.  

The Future of El Rosario will be led by a loving, living God through the lives of 15 young boys

The El Rosario Christian Academy For Boys is on its way to becoming a reality. With a green light from Sr. Rosales, the school principal, we asked for a meeting with the “municipality”.  We wanted to present our project to those who could make a decision on using the land and abandoned school.

Last Saturday, a special meeting was called with eight town board members including el líder, (man in charge).  When he walked into the meeting we all immediately knew that this was the right person.  Sr. Leonardo Coz had everyone’s immediate attention.  I have heard stories about alcalde’s (mayors) in other villages that made it very hard to move forward on projects.  Many times, they wanted to exploit the situation and get something for themselves or their family in return.  I was a little cautious.

After introductions were made, David and I laid out our intentions piece by piece.  The board and Sr. Coz never made any kind of facial expression.  They were all very stoic.  The other members of the board did not say a thing until they heard from Sr. Coz. 

As David and I finished talking, everyone’s attention turned to El Líder.  Honestly, at this point, I’m thinking, flip of a coin.  How would I feel about a group of strangers coming into my community to propose changes?  How would I feel about strangers telling me that the boys in my community have no role models and need only to look to THE role model of Jesus Christ?

With clear words and from a visible position of power, Sr. Coz spoke.  “I’m sorry I have not met with you earlier.  I have seen what you have been doing.  At the end of my day, when I come up to the school or walk through El Rosario, I see how you care for our community.  I have seen the families who now have pure water.  Your being here is a blessing from God.  You are an answer to prayer.”

He went on thanking us and telling us that he supports what we are doing.  There were a few men on the board who were clearly holding back tears.  I was holding back tears.  It was overwhelming. 

“Sr. Coz, we don’t have a single Quetzal for this project,” we could literally hear the gasp from some of the men in the room.  “but we believe this is God’s will and will provide the money we need.”

He nodded in agreement. 

“We already have people interested in helping us, and one of their concerns is what will happen if we re-build the abandoned school and then the municipality decides we can’t use it any more.  Would you sign an agreement that would allow us to teach boys about the bible for the next 25 or 50 years?”

Sr. Coz said that the board would sign that document.  He asked if we would prepare it and as long as it describes what we have talked about, it would become a binding agreement.

Do you see what happened there?  That is our almighty God opening doors again.  Wide open.

Has God been calling you to support something bigger than yourself?  Has He called you to further His kingdom?  Please pray about supporting this project.  We will be working with a contractor as soon as next week to get an estimate of what it will cost to bring the school back to life.  Our best guess is $20,000-$50,000. 

The Christian Academy begins on JULY 19^th!  We will be meeting with the boys at the elementary school until the lower school is remodeled.  Right now, we will be meeting with them on Fridays after school.  We will feed them a healthy lunch and then spend the next 3 months getting to know them, encouraging them and tutoring them to get their grades up.  To be a part of the Christian Academy, the boys will be required to have passing grades of 70 percent or above in all of their classes.

Providing meals for the boys will cost $125 a day/ $500 a month.  Will you pray about supporting this immediate need?  Whether you are called to provide meals for a day, a week or for the entire semester, we need your help. 

Email me at georgesisneros@gmail.com if you would like to join us on this project.  You can call me directly at 970-449-9449 any time.  Please leave a message.  I will return you call within 24 hours.