Missionaries in Guatemala support neglected Mayan communities   

Thanks to support from ACN, three members of the Missionaries of Saint Mary of Guadalupe are committed to serving indigenous communities in remote and forgotten regions.  

“I don’t mind busting my sandals, Lord, in order to follow you and serve you,” says Sister Aura Marina López, one of the three Missionary Sisters of Saint Mary of Guadalupe, who work in Guatemala. And the fact is that these religious sisters do trek very long distances on unpaved roads to meet the needs of ethnic Mayan communities.  

The sisters sacrifice their personal comfort to take the message of the Gospel to the most remote locations, such as Pueblo Nuevo, a village with only a few inhabitants, located at the foot of the Tajumulco volcano, in the Boca Costa region, which is composed of 21 local communities. This is where the missionaries carry out their work. Most of the population here belongs to the Mayan Mam ethnic group, but there are others, such as the Kekchi, an indigenous community that is largely concentrated in the mountainous regions of southwest Guatemala.   

“For years, these communities have lived in neglect, struggling against extreme poverty and lacking access to basic services. Most of the population makes its living off small-scale coffee plantations, and many migrate due to the lack of available land, or the impossibility of finding steady employment,” the missionaries tell Aid to the Church in Need (ACN). 

They add that over the past ten years, these communities have become more vulnerable. However, the religious also note that they are “strongly committed to keeping alive the testimony of the experience of the Risen Christ and show admirable faith and courage. The faithful have done all they can to keep alive this witness of faith.” 

“The parish priest asked for help, and we decided to stay” 

“In the best-case scenario, the priests would visit these Mayan communities around once a year for the celebration of Holy Mass, since it takes eight hours to get here from the parish of Tajumulco,” the sisters remember. “In 2012, after assessing the situation, a parish priest in Tajumulco, asked for our help, and so we ran a month-long mission. Following that experience, seeing how necessary it was to accompany the faithful in the area, we decided to stay for good, to support the parish priest.” 

Initially, the sisters did not have a parish house to stay in. For seven years, they lived in private houses, depending on the generosity of two families who lent them their homes. They had so little that for two years, they were not even able to buy material for their religious habits, though they finally managed to, with the help of ACN.  

In 2021, thanks to a collective effort, they were able to build their own house, and in 2023, the new Parish of Saint John the Evangelist was erected in Pueblo Nuevo. 

The arrival of new vocations 

The sisters have no intention of slowing down their mission. “With the help of Our Lord Jesus Christ, we want to begin with the challenge of reaching out to another ten communities in Toquián Grande, a center in Tajumulco that also needs a lot of support. Our main goal in this mission territory is to provide general pastoral support for all people, from the youngest to the oldest.” They have also planned an evangelization project through social media, to “make [the] mission more creative,” and are preparing a course to train pastoral agents.  

The three religious are now accompanied by a young indigenous girl, who is in formation. “At the moment, we have a young girl living with us, who comes from the Kekchi people,” the missionaries explain. “She accompanies us and helps in the house, and her heart is set on a religious vocation. We support her, since she receives no support from her family. This is another way of living our charism of supporting women with greater needs, or with few opportunities.” 

The sisters are overflowing with gratitude for ACN and its unconditional support. “The financial help we receive has been a true blessing, that allows us to keep up our work among the poor and needy,” they say. “We are deeply grateful for your kindness and generosity, and we offer our humble prayers for the intentions of your benefactors.”  

– Lucia Ballester