Where do our Shipments go? Meet Our Partners: Impact Ministries

This week we are introducing you to one of our major partners, impact ministries! Get to know who they are and the amazing work that they do in their community!

Impact ministries was founded in 1998 by Les and Rita Peters. Their mission is to serve the people of Guatemala through education, skill training, health care aid, and the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Education

At its inception, Impact’s first school had less than 100 students, but the years that followed boasted substantial growth. The organization currently accommodates approximately 1500 students in 10 schools where they take pride in providing quality education for Guatemalan children. The schools are located across the municipality of Tactic in places like Chijulhá, Chamché, Chicoy, and Nueva. These areas are mostly occupied by the Q’eqchí and Poqomchí people of Guatemala.

The schools are referred to as Vida Schools (vida means life in Spanish) and they teach students from preschool to grade 13. They incorporate academics, health care, nutrition, community, leadership, and the gospel of Christ to build up the future leaders of Guatemala. Many of the current teachers are Vida school graduate students themselves and are using the leadership skills and vast knowledge that they attained to further the education of those under them.

Health Care

Impact Ministries has also planted medical and dental clinics in Guatemala to provide quality health care and aid to those don’t have access to health services. These clinics are located in Tactic, Guatemala and are run and supported by short-term mission teams as well as various medical groups from across Canada and the United States. Students and their families are able to access care in Tac Tic and outreach clinics are sent into mountain villages to provide care to indigenous groups who face geographical isolation. The clinics focus on treating common diseases and various injuries. They also provide patients with information on how to stay healthy and avoid certain illnesses.

Skill Training

The organization has also started many sustainability projects that facilitate development of career promoting skills in agriculture, mechanics, and wood working. The agriculture project is significant to Impact Ministries because it allows them to provide healthy and hearty meals to all of their students. Excess produce that is not used for meals is sold in local markets and generates income to help sustain the work of the organization. Crops such as tomatoes, onions, corn and blackberries are grown in the Chisac greenhouse and surrounding fields. These projects allow Impact Ministries to train Guatemalan men and women in various skills and assets and also provides education on the importance of nutrition and sustainability.

The organization is also currently working on building a large orphanage that will allow them to reach out to abandoned and orphaned Guatemalan children and to provide them a safe haven where they can grow and be loved.

Our Partnership

We became partners with Impact Ministries in our humble beginnings in 2017. As many members of the HLH team were blessed with the opportunity to visit Guatemala and work with Impact Ministries first hand, they were one of the first organizations to come to our mind. We sent our first shipment of vitamins for the school and clinic in March of 2018, and have been working together ever since. In order to get vitamins from Calgary, Canada to the children at Impact Ministries in Tac Tic, Guatemala, we first raise the necessary funds and purchase the vitamins from quality vitamin suppliers. These vitamin packages are then sent to Guatemala via a short-term mission team , a shipping company, or through an organization like Vine International that enables shipping of supplies into Guatemala.

Our current focus is on helping them ensure they have a sufficient supply of daily vitamins for the children in the Vida Schools. In keeping with our mission, we aim to come along side Impact and help to provide the medications and supplies they need to serve their community in Guatemala with quality medical care . We hope to supply their clinics with medications also in the near future. One of our current goals is to ensure that every child is able to have a vitamin a day.

We have developed an incredible friendship and partnership with Impact and we are excited for what the future holds . We are proud to work with Impact Ministries to not only impact the lives of these Guatemalan children but the heart of the nation as a whole.

TOGETHER WE CAN MAKE AN IMPACT ON THE HEALTH OF THE NATIONS AND THE GENERATIONS TO COME.

The mission of HLH is to increase accessibility to medications and supplies for healthcare facilities in Guatemala. If you are interested in hearing more about the work we are doing, or in connecting with us, you can visit our website, check out our instagram or facebook, or sign up to receive our newletters. If you would like to support us in our work, please donate here.