Giving new homes to the poor

Ken Johnston

It is the season for giving and what more could a person give to a person than a new home?
That is what Mark Mast and his daughter Miriam, 13, of Rainy River, just did while in Guatemala for a week. Mark, a pastor at the Covenant Church here, heard about the poor people of Chimaltenango, Guatemala from his cousins in Michigan. They have been travelling there twice a year for the past five years to do relief work through Grace Ministries; a group based out of Grand Bay, Alabama.
Mast who was interested in helping with the poverty problem there, was also interested in doing some missionary work there. “I told them when they decide to do a ministry component (as well) to knock on my door.” The knock came and informed him they were going down just after American Thanksgiving and would be conducting two bible schools that week.
A team of 40 were going and right away Miriam expressed an interest. “She is our adventurous one and wanted to go,” said Mark. However, the trip was booked solid so he told the group that if a space came available to put Miriam down for it. Fortunately one did and the pair of them left Nov. 25th and returned Dec. 2nd.
The Masts help build a staggering 16 new homes for residents of Chimaltenango. While that sounds amazing, Mast pointed out that the new homes are actually only 12 feet by 12 feet. “People were living in corn stalk homes with scrap metal for a roof.” So the new wooden framed, tin sided buildings were a vast improvement. The scary part is the homes are usually occupied by as many as 10-12 family members. “Some of the richest people there are poorer than our poor people. It is like building them a palace.”
Mast said many of the old homes are left standing to be used for cooking as a fire is often going inside making things very smokey and hence not very healthy.
The Masts and company, also travelled to two orphanages while there. When visiting them, Mark noted that the first children one sees are the very young babies. “You go in the nursery and all the arms go up wanting to be loved.” However, his group decided that the older kids probably needed attention and love more than the babies since they are kept way in the back due to a lack of interest by prospective adopters. “We took 45 (older) boys to the mission house and threw them a pizza party. They loved it!”
Each member of the team adopted a boy to bond with and Mark’s was named Henry. “I am going to correspond with him... he constantly questioned me saying, ‘When are you coming back?’”
Mark and Miriam only had one day where they did not do either construction or teach bible school and that was Sunday. They went to church and then off to Antiguea where they were overwhelmed by the marketplaces. “It was like a maze and went on forever,” said Mark. He added that once you bought one thing the salespeople were all over you. Bartering was the norm and and he and Miriam had fun using Quetzals (the local currency) to buy things. They brought back a real bottle of vanilla that would cost about $12 here but was only about 50¢ there. One Quetzal is equal to about 12¢ Canadian.
Mark said that he helped out with the bible schools teaching about the Lord via a translator, which he admitted was a bit awkward but seemed to work in the end.
The group also brought clothing, candy and toys for the omnipresent kids. “There were always kids around and they were always smiling,” said Mast.
Despite the poor living conditions, which Mast described as “Squalor,” he said everyone seems to be content there. He noted that the people live in dirty conditions and eat mainly corn tortillas but are happy.
The locals were very excited by the digital camera Mark brought. “Many of them had not seen themselves before as they do not even have mirrors. So when we took their picture and showed it to them right away they were amazed. The kids often laughed at the way they looked.”
After each home was completed the group would hold a blessing ceremony for the family giving them some food, a blanket and a bible. “Everyone was so grateful for what we did,” said Mark.
The experience really made the Masts appreciate what they have in Canada, even if they went from 80 degree temps down to 11 degrees when they returned home. “We feel like we lived a lifetime in eight days,” concluded Mark.
Mark hopes to return again and do more relief and missionary work in the future.