The third and final blog featuring Life of Promise Ministries where Tom and Arlene Richmond labor for Christ in Zacapa, Guatemala.

2020 may very well go down as the worst year in Guatemalan history since the 36-year civil war ended in 1996.  Covid-19 has crippled the poorest communities, and our area of Zacapa was particularly hard hit.   

Pandemic lockdowns, curfews, and restrictions amplified the situations of the poorest mothers and children living in extreme poverty in our Zacapa villages. There were food shortages at the street markets and prices skyrocketed as a result. Shopping was only allowed on certain days from 8am-11am, and food delivery trucks were scarce. As soon as the trucks parked at markets, they were overrun by people clamoring to get food before it was all gone. Guatemala's president declared a countrywide “State of Calamity” in March, and the situation became worse as the number of new cases rose to more than 1,600 daily. No one was allowed to travel between departments (states) within the country, and strict curfews were enforced by the police and military. 

Unemployment rose greatly, especially among the uneducated who provide menial labor. Murders, suicides, abortions, and infanticides quadrupled,  with so many losing hope. 


Single mom, Rosa, with her children. Oscar, on her lap, cannot walk or talk.

Guatemala's health care system is terribly inferior, lacking the most basic equipment, medications, and sanitary standards even during “normal” times. Virus test kits were hard to come by, and even the largest national hospitals in Guatemala didn't have the capacity to care for critically ill patients. The health care system collapsed rapidly as the number of new virus cases increased each day. Many workers in essential services contracted the virus, and were also working without pay.

This situation is continuing today, as the Delta variant has created a new and very large wave of Covid cases.  On Saturday, September 4, the government reinstated curfews and restrictions on public gatherings.  People may not be traveling outside their homes from 6pm to 5am nightly.  No public gatherings or events are allowed, including church services, weddings, and other celebrations.  All government mandates are strictly enforced by the police and the military.  Violators are arrested and put in jail.  

The government has also announced another total collapse of the public health system.  Hospitals cannot handle new Covid patients, and there's a much more severe shortage of oxygen, ventilators, and medications.   


Tom and Arlene have been raising funds to build better housing for the poor. Here a family gathers around theirs with contractor, Jose.

The requests we've been receiving for food since the start of the pandemic have been heartbreaking -- not only from Zacapa, but from areas as far as 90 miles away. The number of malnourished children countrywide has quadrupled since March of 2020. Families have been hanging white flags outside their huts to beg for emergency help. Others have been thrown out of apartments, huts, and shacks because they couldn't pay their rent. Many families have been moving from mountain villages down to Conevisa (our village next to the city garbage dump) due to family feuds, farmland take-overs by drug gangs, increased crime, and civil unrest. 

There are virtually no social services or government assistance programs—only missionaries on the front lines.  During the height of the first Covid wave last year, water trucks were not allowed to enter the villages to sell drinking water.  These are poor settlements where there are no wells. More families are having to drink water from the contaminated Zacapa River.  2020 lockdowns, curfews, and other restrictions remained in place until March, so the people have only had a six-month reprieve to try getting back to “normal” life before these most recent mandates were announced.   


A new home under construction.

At the city garbage dumps, mothers are actually boiling trash to make “soup” for their children!   Those more fortunate are living on one corn tortilla each day. It truly breaks our hearts, because these are the people we love, worship with, pray with, celebrate occasions with, lead to Christ, baptize, disciple, listen to, hug and cry with, and support through mission work.  These are the people who inspire us every day with their faith, strength, courage, and joy in the midst of tragic circumstances. They are our heroes for sure. 

Many of our widows, single moms and grandmothers are also caring for extended family members such as nieces, nephews and grandchildren who have been orphaned. They simply cannot provide for these children without help.  Men are often absent from their families due to crime, murder, abuse, abandonment, recruitment by drug gangs and migrant caravans. 


Single mom who lost her job during Covid. LOP has been able to help her with food and medicine needs.

While we have been in the states since January 2020 for surgeries and other needs, we have been sending down donations to our trusted pastors and fellow missionaries.  We're so grateful for the relationships that God has given us with the churches where we minister.  We have pastors whom we've worked with for 11 years, and missionary friends we've worked with for six years. They are wonderful servants of the Lord, and we know the money is spent appropriately for the most immediate needs.  Life of Promise has even been able to pay for Covid treatments at private hospitals for our pastors and missionary friends, thanks to our donors.  The calls for help are endless, and we are always in need of financial support.

The most important aspect about all of our outreaches, projects, and emergency aid efforts, is the ability to share the Good News of Jesus Christ with those who so desperately need His love and salvation. Our prayer warriors are continually asking the Lord to multiply our efforts and bring many into His Kingdom -- moms, dads, grandparents, children, and all the precious people whom the Lord created and holds close to His heart. 

Several of our pastors held services outside of homes in our villages during the time that lockdowns prevented them from meeting at church. They would invite families from six or seven homes, and hold services on the streets.  This turned out to be a great blessing, as several hundred people gave their lives to Christ at these gatherings in the past 18 months.  God is so faithful !!  They will be resuming these street services now with the new restrictions.  


LOP is raising money to build these houses which cost $1500 each for families which lost their homes in recent hurricanes.

In the midst of the Covid-19 struggles, Guatemala was blasted by two hurricanes that caused major damage, destruction, and death last November.  Hurricanes Eta and Iota (both category five) hit Central America just two weeks apart—on November 3 and November 17.  

For Guatemala, both storms were as bad as Hurricane Mitch in 1998. They each dumped more than 15 inches of rain on the eastern portion of the country in just 30 hours. In our area of Zacapa, the river's surging waters reached a level of 22 feet above normal, causing extensive flooding in the valley. The infrastructure has suffered much damage. Many towns and villages were completely cut off from access for several months.

The Zacapa River swelled to the point where it washed away homes (makeshift dwellings), and wiped out crops.  Horses, cattle, and other livestock were swept away down the river as well.  Six bridges between our town and the port city of Puerto Barrios were totally washed out. 

Four bridges actually broke from their foundations and were carried down the river.  Quite a few mountain villages became isolated due to landslides and flooding.  The death toll was more than 500, with several hundred additional people declared missing.  

The president of Guatemala declared a State of Emergency in six departments (states), including Zacapa where we live and have our mission. We have identified 70 families in crisis situations who have suffered complete loss or severe damage of their homes and crops. These are in three of our villages, where families live in extreme poverty. 

Because of Covid-19 restrictions, lockdowns, and unemployment, many were barely surviving, and now their lives are in greater danger than ever before. The rates of suicide, death from diseases, and childhood malnutrition all quadrupled in 2020. 


Christian, Astrid and their kids in front of their new home.

We're so sad once again for the people we love so dearly.  We are focusing our efforts on disaster relief right now, and we're accepting donations towards this need. There is very little assistance being given to the most impoverished areas by the struggling government at this time. We are making this appeal and coordinating emergency aid on the ground with our trusted pastors and friends.  Once again, funds are going directly to those in urgent need—the most vulnerable such as widows, single mothers, the elderly, and kids. 

We are rebuilding basic dwellings for $1,500 each. They are two-room homes measuring 12 feet by 24 feet.  Each is made of two rows of concrete block foundation, metal framing, cement flooring, wooden walls, and metal lamina roofing. These homes are a vast improvement over their previous huts, which the poor typically construct out of plastic sheeting and metal lamina attached to tree limbs. They have also lived with dirt floors in these huts which is very unhealthy, especially for the children. 

The mayor of Zacapa is a personal friend of ours, and he is currently working to make land available for these families further from the river to prevent tragic loss from flooding in the future. 

We are so thankful for the prayers, encouragement, and financial support the mission has received over the years.  This year is Life of Promise Ministries' tenth anniversary, and we could never have come this far without the help of our donors.  The Lord has made all this happen, and our donors have answered the call with faith to come join Him (and us) in loving the people of Zacapa. We are so blessed and grateful to be the bridge that God uses for His plans.  It's such an honor to have faithful partners who assist us in serving these precious families.

We are also grateful to have this opportunity to share our needs with the readers of Living Letters. If you would like to donate towards the construction of homes for hurricane victims or for emergency food/medical relief, you may do so by credit or debit card on our website: www.lifeofpromise.org.  Just write the purpose of your donation in the comments section if you wish to designate how your gift will be used. Checks can also be mailed to Life of Promise Ministries, 24 Three Point Garden Road, East Stroudsburg, PA 18301.  

Fun Run 2021 is a fundraising event being held throughout the month of September for Life of Promise Ministries. To learn more about this Fun Run 2021, click here.  Consider becoming a participant or sponsoring one to support the work of LOP. 

Correction from last blog. This photo should have been the one attached to the caption reading:
Maria's home was burned down when she and her husband left Zacapa to pick coffee in another country.