Vanessa in Guate

Santa María de Jesús is the little town where Proximos Pasos, Mission Impact 's all-girls school, is located. This region is home to an agricultural community; it consists of men who are primarily farmers and field workers, and women who are homemakers as well as vendors of the harvest and their own handmade goods. When I make my way through the town at 6:45am there are small boys, young men, and older men who are probably grandpas who head out with their machetes, rain boots, and empty nets for a day of work. There are some boys and girls who go into the center of town to collect water from the public water reservoir (I guess you can call it?) because their home has no running water. There are women carrying baskets of food/produce/product on their heads to the market to sell for the day. Sometimes they carry their product to the microbús (big vans) to ride into the more populated city in order to sell to a larger population. This is the way that the community fun...

Hello! Happy 5th day of the New Year, I hope it's treating you well! :)    So, if I’m being honest, I think it’s a bit crazy that I’m leaving home to live in a foreign country for a couple years. It would be far easier to stay home to be with my family and friends while working for a paycheck, but I know that God is calling me to serve in the mission’s field - Guatemala will soon be my home for 2 years. :)    Throughout preparations God has already been making me step out of my comfort zone, but this only means that growth is happening and I’m so thankful for it! Last night, I visited a church for a midweek sermon where the pastor encouraged the church to keep investing in eternity and not to worry too much about temporary investments. This was definitely affirmation that I needed because the departure date is approaching quickly! Only 3 weeks and 4 days until I leave but I trust God more than I feel nervous. ...

Hello Family and Friends! I just wanted to update you all on what is going on during this time. I recently booked my flight to Guatemala for January 30th - that's only 6 weeks from this coming Monday!  I am not fully funded as of yet, but I don't doubt that God will provide what I need for the work that He has called me to do. Would you please continue to keep me in your prayers as the date approaches? Like I mentioned, the departure date is coming up quickly (and the flight is for 6am which means driving to the airport at 1am/2am! - yikes lol). I just want to let you all know how much I appreciate your support and prayer! I feel God's evident presence in this time of transition, and I love you all for your involvement and support - from near and far! Happy Holidays! Love you all! Vanessa Salcedo I'm heading out soon! If you would like to help me become more fully funded you can visit  Mission Impact's Website  to...

Hello everyone! I hope you have all been having a great week. It's almost Friday, hang in there! :) I'm just super excited to let you guys know that I visited my old school. I visited Project Hope, which is now called Skyview, and I was able to let them know that they have helped me acheive some of my goals. I told them that once I started going to church my dreams really took off, but I am so grateful for their service. I was a student at Project Hope from 2003-2006. Of course, 10 years later not all of the same teachers are working there, but I was able to reunite with a teacher and another staff member. They were so excited that I went to visit them and let them know that I have graduated college, I'm moving to Guatemala, then going to get my Master's in Social Work. I am so so thankful for their work and the difference they made in my life! Please consider helping me make a difference in the lives of the girls in Santa Maria de Jesus, Guatemala...

     My little brother messaged me in a panic, asking why I was going to a third world country. He told me I was crazy, then asked me “why two years!?”      My response to questioning the duration is that I believe I should be present in the community that I will be serving. I want to be fully present in the community during my time with Mission Impact, and I want to be there long enough to get to know the people as well as their needs. I think that living with them, creating relationships with them, and seeking to accomplish a goal together will do good and hopefully create room for progress. These are my intentions, and I am fully aware that the Santa Maria de Jesus natives have made progress; they're amazing :) There are now easily accessible roads going into the village that make some technology possible when it wasn't even on their radar while my pastor was there 20 years ago.      I have been po...

Project Hope School So, how was this foundation of caring for others established in my life? Why do I want to serve with Mission Impact? I was a witness to poverty, but I was offered a helping hand. I have lived life in motel rooms for long periods of time as if they were apartments, and I have lived in basically every motel in a certain diameter of Santa Ana. And I have gone to a school that cared for students beyond the necessity of education. The school was geared towards kids living in motels/shelters and kids who were troubled. The school provided 2 meals a day, a safe place to be a kid, and even an after school program so that we were busy until 5pm. We were there all day, we were given clothes and shoes when we were in need. They would send us home with clear bags of bread, canned goods, and top ramen. 12 times a year, every month, they would have a monthly birthday cake and if it was your birth month they would add our name to it because they knew we probably wou...

Hi! I hope you're having a good week! :) Just sending an email to tell you a little bit about Guatemala. Guatemalan's celebrated the country's 195th Independence Day 2 weeks ago on September 15th (also the day of my Guatemala-loving-Pastor's daughter's birthday). September 15th is a day of joyful celebration all throughout Guatemala; parades and bands march the streets. Students spend a couple of weeks before Independence Day preparing to walk the streets in celebration through music, decoration, images, and the waving of the Guatemalan white and blue flag. The girls at Proximos Pasos spent 2 weeks preparing for their Independence Day festivities. Here are some pictures of the girls in Santa Maria de Jesus! God willing, I will be moving to Guatemala in 3 months, but I can't do it alone. I've created a chart of how many monthly supporters I'll need for living expenses while I am working at Proximos...

This morning I was reading Hebrews; I read about how Jesus became like humankind and tasted death for every single person, so that we are able to live in eternity with God. By God's grace, He sent His Son to overcome sin and death and because of that we are called to obediently place our faith in Jesus Christ. The way that we declare our faith is by serving/loving people and therefore serving God, by spreading the Gospel through loving others and teaching them the word of God. John 13:35 says that “by this all people will know that you are my disciples,  if you have love for one another ." As I was reflecting on Hebrews, I just kept hoping that through education and discipleship I am able to be a servant for the girls of Proximos Pasos. Hebrews 1:3 says that God is sustaining in all things, this made me realize that sustainability is an important attribute of God. For the girls i...

Hi friends and family! As most of you may already know, I just graduated from Azusa Pacific University with a Bachelor’s in Biblical Studies. Woohoo! I’ve been praying about where God is calling me next, then my Pastor suggested mission work in Guatemala and working alongside the social worker at an all-girls school for the next two years. The opportunity is to join Mission Impact, a U.S. registered 501(c)3 non-profit Evangelical Christian mission agency. This presented opportunity seemed perfect because my ultimate academic goal is to receive my Masters in Social Work! This past May, I was able to actually go to Guatemala for the first time, meet the staff of Mission Impact, and visit their work sites – including Próximos Pasos, the school that provides a Christian education to the young girls in the village of Santa María de Jesús. Mission Impact has accepted me into their program and I will return to Guatemala in January 2017. During the first few months I will enroll in ...