The Saints Peter and Paul Formation Center in Huehuetenango will house the future seminary and mission center. Excitement is growing in Guatemala and Chiapas, Mexico, as the Orthodox Church carries out the vision of Archbishop Athenagoras of Mexico to take the Gospel message into all of … [Read more...]
VISION TEAM BRINGS SIGHT TO CLINIC
March 22, 2019 by · 1 Comment
Of the many miracles that Jesus performed, surely the healing of the man born blind ranks among the greatest. According to St. John Chrysostom’s interpretation, the man’s eyes were literally created with mud moistened by Jesus’s saliva and opened by washing them in the Pool of Siloam. While modern … [Read more...]
A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A GUATEMALAN PRIEST
December 13, 2018 by · 1 Comment
What’s it like to be an itinerant priest in Guatemalan, visiting your many parishes on a bi-monthly basis? With so much to do and so little time for hearing confessions, performing weddings and baptisms and celebrating the Divine Liturgy, there is both a sense of “great joy and great sorrow,” … [Read more...]
TOUCHING HEAVEN IN GUAXACANA
February 11, 2018 by · Leave a Comment
One of the joys in visiting a parish in Guatemala is the warm welcome given to the visiting clergy. Such was the case upon our arrival at the village of Guaxacana (wa-sha-ca-na) on January 28th. Not only was the Orthodox community celebrating the 14th anniversary of its founding, but also the … [Read more...]
MIRACLE IN THE JUNGLE: A FAITH REBORN, A VISION FULFILLED
December 11, 2017 by · 1 Comment
On May 28, 2012, Fr. Andres Giron and I made an historic visit to the humble village of Los Angeles in the region of Ixcan. It would be the first time that Fr. Andres would meet with them on their spiritual journey to the Orthodox Church. To celebrate this special occasion, some of the village men … [Read more...]
HOLY CROSS PARISH MEDICAL/DENTAL TEAM OFFERS CARE IN GUATEMALA
July 19, 2017 by · 2 Comments
Four years ago, the first OCMC mission team to visit the Mayan Orthodox Christians in the highlands of Guatemala elicited this poignant response from the late Fr. Andres Giron: “Now we know that we are not alone.” Since that time many teams have arrived offering their musical, catechetical, medical, … [Read more...]
PALM SUNDAY COMES ALIVE IN AGUACATE
April 10, 2017 by · Leave a Comment
Palm Sunday was a new and very moving experience for me among the Mayan faithful. Of course, the church was packed as usual, but they raise the celebration to a new level with their love of processions and the enormous sizes of the palm crosses, which they wave joyously to the … [Read more...]
MEDICAL MISSION UPDATE- GUATEMALA
March 8, 2017 by · Leave a Comment
As the debate rages on in the US over medical insurance, poor people in countries like Guatemala can only dream that one day they might have some kind of medical coverage or even a doctor to see them. The scale of the crisis in the highlands of Guatemala where we have our clinic is not so much … [Read more...]
CATHEDRALS OF THE POOR IN GUATEMALA
June 16, 2016 by · 1 Comment
The experience of worshipping with the indigenous people in their small churches made of baked mud and clay or wooden planks defies description. These are the cathedrals of the poor, every bit as magnificent as the hallowed shrines of Orthodoxy in the great centers of the world. What a great mystery … [Read more...]
OCMC INAUGURATES CLINIC OUTREACH
September 11, 2015 by · 1 Comment
After one year of planning, building, equipping and hectic last-minute preparations, the Father Andres Giron Clinic in Aguacate, Guatemala began operations on August 20, 2015. It was staffed by a dedicated team of nine 0CMC (Orthodox Christian Mission Center) health professionals. It had been a year … [Read more...]
