Guatemala Partnership

Buenas Nuevas

Our sister church, Buenas Nuevas is located in the city of Coatepeque, about 1 hour from the Pacific coast in Southwestern Guatemala. Buenas Nuevas has a little over 100 members, a large portion being children. The congregation celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2005.

The deep faith of Buenas Nuevas members can been experienced in their services and witnessed through their hard work both inside and outside the congregation. Lively Sunday School and Youth programs are held weekly, engaging children with Christian teachings and songs. The women of the church carry out a local prison ministry. Elders visit and pray with the sick and elderly. After Hurricane Stan flooded Guatemala in 2005, Buenas Nuevas sheltered and fed as many as 100 refugees for several weeks. Buenas Nuevas continues to foster the development of other Presbyterian churches in the area, mostly for workers on local coffee plantations. 

Organization & Mission

First Presbyterian Belmont and Buenas Nuevas have been in Partnership for a little over 14 years. The Partnership organization is composed of Partnership Committees at both First Presbyterian Belmont and Buenas Nuevas. In addition, committees exist at the Presbytery level, both in Western NC and Guatemala. At both levels of the Partnership, representatives from here and there meet to decide on goals and the plans to reach those goals.

In large part, our Partnership is simply about encouraging one another in the Faith and striving to be a living expression of unity in Christ, across the human barriers of language, culture, and circumstance.

Mi Esquela

The key to the future for every child in Guatemala is education, but most children in Coatepeque never get a chance at the future every child deserves. The Guatemala Partnership Committees, here at First Presbyterian Belmont and at Buenas Nuevas, are supporting a Scholarship Program we call “Mi Escuela” (“My School” in Spanish) for the education of approximately 125 children in the Coatepeque community.

With a donation of $100, just a fraction of the cost of a week of summer camp here in North Carolina, you can send a Guatemalan child to school for an entire year. Your donation will provide for a child’s tuition, books, uniform, shoes, and lunch, making it possible for a child to receive a basic education their family could not otherwise afford.

To sponsor a child, simply complete the form below or contact the church office. With your help, our congregation can improve the prospects for the children of the Coatepeque area. Please give your prayerful consideration to the support of Mi Escuela.