The Tabacal High School Program
I am not ashamed of the gospel because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes…
For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.” Romans 1:16-17
It was during Tropical Storm Stan in October 2005, that our friend Pastor Jose Luis Ordonez found 40 Mayan Quiche families, a little more than 200 people, in the mountains of Escuintla, Guatemala, who were hiding and taking refuge in the woods homeless, cold and hungry. Many adults and children became sick due to being exposed to rainstorms and difficult weather conditions. This was the beginning of the Mayan community of Tabacal men and women, who because of their poverty, lack of resources and work opportunities in their communities to support their families; moved from their land of origin in the mountains of Quiche to the South Coast in Escuintla to look for work opportunities in the sugar cane fields and harvesting coffee, many times earning less than the minimum wage and only having four months of work a year.
Since that time, 17 years have passed, and El Tabacal is an established community where all families have their own homes thanks to the generosity of many people, churches, and Christian and Missionary organizations that have supported this noble work. In the village, there is a church, an elementary school, and a community meeting room. Most importantly, these families own their land which each family has paid for by their hard work.
Throughout the years our family and the My Father’s House Ministry have been able to show the love of God in practical ways by supporting, helping, and contributing to the development of this community.
In the last 16 years, we have built the Center for Christian Family Development, which is a multi-use purpose building that will have 7 classrooms, a full kitchen, and a dining room with a capacity for 200 people at a cost of more than $150,000.00. On January 3, 2017, we started using this building begins The Tabacal High School Christian School program where many young people and Christian leaders will be trained to make a difference in their communities and help build the kingdom of the Lord on this earth.
For many years the Tabacal children were able to finish elementary school, but not middle or high school due to a lack of resources and funding. This has changed in the past 4 years since we open the Middle School and High School programs! Currently, we have 29 students enrolled and 5 students have graduated with High School Diplomas in areas like Accounting and Business. Our goal is to continue supporting the student who graduates and will like to continue their University Studies or Trade Training and at the same time continue to support and help the children passing from elementary school to Middle School and 10 students have graduated in the area of accounting and business, currently we have 3 students in college, studying Computer Engineering, Industrial Psychology and Accounting and 1 student going though Formal Theological training, 2 of these student are teaching in the High School program.
You can donate any amount to the Welcome To My Father’s House Scholarship fund and this will help us to continue supporting these children and youth to have a bright and better future! Thank you for considering partnering with us!
This building represents the hard work of many volunteers who have come to serve with Welcome To My Father's House in the past 10 years to help the Tabacal Mayan Community and also the adventure of the Fernandez Family where in the year 2010, Carlos (50), Charles (15) and Danny (13 years old, climbed 10 volcanos) climbed the 36 volcanos of Guatemala to raise the first funds to start the construction of this building!
The Tabacal High School Program
The Village Water Purification Plant
Medical Clinics
Dental Clinics
Entrepreneurship and Educational Programs
And it represents an opportunity for a better life for the Tabacal Community and the villages around them!
There is still a lot of work to make this dream that God put in our hearts become a reality and we want to invite you to be a part of helping us achieve it. Below are the different ways you can get involved:
Pray and share this vision with others, your family, friends, colleagues at work, and your Church.
Put us in contact with charitable organizations and companies that may want to support this project.
Help us organize fundraising events.
Send a donation to support this project. Your donations to Welcome to My Father’s House Ministry are tax-deductible.
Finally, if you have already come to Guatemala and have had the blessing of supporting and working on this project, we ask you to come back. If you have never come we invite you to get involved and be a part of this work. We will be waiting for you with open arms.
Thank you for being a part of this awesome project.