In the World

New Denver Church is not only concerned with needs in our own church and local community; we believe that we have the opportunity and responsibility to engage the needs of the world. When we share God’s love in both word and deed with those around the world, something special happens. We leverage the incredible time and resources we have to address legitimate physical, economic, and spiritual needs. And we are challenged to step out of our comfort zones, use our gifts and talents, and learn new things about God from those in other cultures.

With that in mind, New Denver Church has chosen to focus on one particular area of the world for now—the Mayan highlands of Guatemala—and partner with local churches and organizations there. Our hope is to build long-term relationships with people in these churches and organizations and bless them however we can, as they in turn bless us.

“Why did you choose Guatemala?”

Great question. For starters, we should say that many people involved in New Denver Church (staff included) support organizations, missionaries, and causes in other parts of the world. And we encourage that. But we also believe that during this season in the life of our church, it’s good to focus our efforts as a community where possible. The Mayan highlands of Guatemala felt like a great place to start for several reasons:

1. It’s geographically close, so the time and cost of travel there is very low compared to almost anywhere else.

2. The needs are great: 80% of all children there living in poverty or extreme poverty; comparable only to Haiti in the Western Hemisphere.

3. There are some indigenous Christian churches already there with which we can partner–we believe partnership is crucial to any global efforts.

4. We’ve established a great relationship with one organization in particular–Healing Waters International–who does a lot of work in Guatemala.

5. One of NDC’s pastors has two children adopted from Guatemala and  a lot of experience in the country–this means we don’t “start from scratch.”

6. The people of Guatemala mostly speak Spanish, which is the easiest foreign language for most Americans and prominent among the large Hispanic population of Denver.

7. There is an openness to Americans working there.

“So, how can I get involved?”

1. Begin investing financially. There are three organizations in particular that we believe are doing some great things in Guatemala.

• Consider giving a gift of $50 or more to Healing Waters International (HWI). Their vision is to see safe water provided in the name of Jesus in every poor community of the world. We are currently partnering with HWI and a local Guatemalan church to install a water filtration system that will provide clean, affordable water in an area where clean water is scarce (and preventable disease is high). Donating $50 to HWI provides clean water to one person for the rest of their life.
• Consider making a micro-financing loan of $100 to a business entrepreneur in Guatemala through kiva.org. Kiva is the largest micro-lending broker in the world and their mission is to connect people through lending for the sake of alleviating poverty. When you profiles on the site, choose someone to lend to, and then make a loan, you are helping a real person make great strides towards economic independence and improve life for themselves, their family, and their community. This kind of assistance in places like Guatemala provides real long-term solutions to the systemic problems of poverty.
• Consider sponsoring a child for $38/month in Guatemala through Compassion International. Compassion exists to release children from spiritual, economic, social and physical poverty in the name of Jesus. They serve over 25,000 children in Guatemala—many in the area where we are currently working.

2. Learn about the Mayan highlands of Guatemala and pray for our partnerships there.

• Wikipedia entry on Guatemala.
• Wikipedia entry on the Guatemalan Civil War.
• Wikipedia entry on the Lake Atitlan region of Guatemala (where we are working).
• Unicef report on needs in Guatemala.
• Reports from Norton’s trip to Guatemala in April to learn about Healing Waters International: overview of trip and updates.

3. Consider going on a short-term partnership trip to Guatemala in the summer of 2011.

• We anticipate taking a group of 8-15 people to Guatemala for about seven days next summer. The goal will be to continue building our relationship with a local church and beginning preparations for installing a new water filtration system.
• There is no substitute for physically participating in one of our partnership trips. Start making plans now!