Summer Days...

Karl came out for a visit and we enjoyed Shish Kabobs at Pt. Defiance

CTM in Guatemala

CTM Guatemala

Beyond North America and Nairobi, CTM is involved in transformational work in other parts of the world. Last week, I had the opportunity to join Kris on a trip to Guatemala. As a rookie to the region and not much time to mentally prepare, I had few expectations, big eyes and gobs of curiosity. Joel VanDyke, the CTM director in Latin America and Grand Rapids native (we actually went to the same elementary school) was nothing shy of the gracious, energetic host that we thought he would be. 100 mph, all day long, 6 days straight-this guy is a force to be reckoned with. His energy is contagious among the people that he works with and his gigantic heart always has room for more. It was a quick trip…long enough to get a feel for the people, the culture and some of the ailments of the country, and short enough to make me want to come back again (next time with Mandy!).

Rockin' Public Transportation in Guate


A trip to the city dump...home of 11,000 people

Goin' to Prison

Within 12 hours of our arrival, we were standing at the gates of the Zone 23 Prison*. While I always enjoy seeing obscure places through travel, Guatemalan prisons do not exactly surface at the top of my list. Our visit stemmed from Joel’s work with a group of chaplains and community organizers to build relationships and opportunities for imprisoned gang members. Trumping drugs, poverty and corruption, gangs are the central issue that Guatemalans face on a systemic level. I cannot attempt to capture the essence of what the cells, inmates and stories represent, but can offer a few insights that might spark your curiosity.

While most countries assign gang members to prisons, Guatemala assigns entire prisons to house gangs. Approximately 175-200 inmates lined the walls of the claustrophobic space as we entered. Each symbolically displaying their group affiliation. Tattoos, signs and handshakes spoke a thousand words in their world. Their skepticism waned within a few minutes as they realized that we were not there to cause harm, to preach, to scold nor shame their lives. We rode on the shoulders of Joel’s four year relationship with many of them. His model-listening over talking, honoring over condemning and loving over judging.

It was a unique space to say the least: killers, lovers, violators, innocence, artists, fear, pain, anger, hunger, desperation and survival lined the room. Behind each of their tattoos and slang was a story…perhaps a circumstance away from a talented teacher, leader or politician. Many of them couldn’t yet grow a mustache or beard and were below the age of the US legal system.

Perhaps the biggest sign of hope that they had seen over the past five years was due to CTM’s relentless struggle to honor them with a touch of dignity. Upon Joel’s arrival, gang members were locked in tiny cells. The highlight of their day was 7 minutes in a larger space (15 feet x 60 feet) where they could walk freely, get their blood flowing a bit and see get a taste of natural light. Only one cell group (8-10 prisoners) was released at a time. Five years later, the cell doors remain unlocked and people flow from their cell to the common space. Mattresses are pulled to the common area at night for people to sleep. There is a rhythm to life in this unit…one that in some ways represents a little microcosm of the world we live in. There are leaders and followers, hard workers and lazy ones, cooks, cleaners, educators and story tellers.

Yet, each of them is still shunned by every corner of society. Politicians, pastors, police and even non-gang prisoners curse this group with every possible ounce of energy. Guards deal with defiant gang members by sending them to a general prisons to be killed by non-gang affiliated prisoners. Police attribute corruption to competing gangs in their war to be known. 3,000 military personnel were released into a 15,000 person community to find and deal with well-known gang affiliates. I am in no way justifying the actions of gang members throughout Guatemala, but wonder if they are simply resisting the very system that has oppressed them for years.

FAFG

I had the pleasure of traveling to Guatemala with Kris Rocke, a good friend and the Executive Director of CTM. He wrote a short piece about a memorable aspect of our trip when visiting an organization committed to honoring the lives of those lost in the Guatemalan Civil War in the 1980’s. As a staff, we reflected on the implications of this work deeply and what it means to honor the story of those living in hard places while they are alive, and in this case when their life has been taken. Thanks Kris for your reflection http://www.geographyofgrace.com/2009/06/valley_of_dry_bones.html#more

At the FAFG Forensics Lab

Long Range Planning

During the last two days of our visit, we committed significant time to thinking out loud, discerning and strategizing the future of CTM’s work in Latin America. CTM works closely with Christian Reformed World Mission, an incredible organizational partner to form a local organization called the Estrategio de Transformacion (EdT).

CTM and our gracious hosts

A beautiful place to be inspired

Due to tremendous leadership and a strong commitment to grassroots leaders, several leaders from Central America have formed a community around what it means to teach and preach good news in hard places throughout the region. Ranging from city dumps and urban slums, to gang prisons, seminaries and NGO’s there is contagious energy around leadership development of those working in extremely vulnerable and marginalized communities.

VanDyke with a group of students at Seteca, a new education partner.

EdT will launch a two year Trainer of Trainer programs to sustain local leaders and is in the process of helping to develop a local organization whose purpose is to support and provide an infrastructure for leaders to gather, to pursue larger resource opportunities and to share resources in transformational community work. It is our hope that the existing community of grassroots leaders will translate into something bigger than individual needs and desires and into a hub for transformative work in and around Latin America.

Kris and VanDyke led a consultation on understaning violence in Central America

We are encouraged by the enthusiasm that has been developed over the past five years and look forward to how things will continue to develop in the future!

*Some of the names have been altered in this posting in order to protect certain individuals or communities.