Doug Bursch is a man of many talents: he’s a pastor, columnist, blogger, teacher and radio host just to name a few. Doug is also a friend to the poor of Guatemala.
He traveled to Guatemala with a team of radio hosts earlier this year to meet some of our brothers and sisters there. Since then he has shared about his experiences on his fairlyspiritual blog, and on his daily radio program “Live from Seattle with Doug Bursch” on on 820 AM KGNW.
Please take some time to reflect on Doug’s profound, eloquent response to what he experienced.
Day 1 – As I headed back to my nondescript room, I was struck by the obvious contrasts. Here I am in a airport hotel in Houston, waiting for my adventure in Guatemala to begin. In the next few days I will see gorgeous scenery and devastating poverty. I’ll experience the cultural landscape of Guatemala for the first time and I’ll experience some of my first interactions with poverty induced sickness, disease, and malnutrition. In Guatemala I will celebrate life, and I will be confronted by death; the daily threat and reality of death that faces thousands of impoverished Guatemalans... read more
Day 2 – Our last room is a room of pictures. A wall full of starving children. . . children with hollow eyes and despairing cries. A wall full of skin and bones. . . . children with life in their blood, but little else. These are the before pictures. The before they were rescued by sister Ana and her team of surrogate mothers. Before they received the nourishment and medical care provided by Food for the Poor. read more…
Day 3/4 – Everyone will eventually die, but not this way. No, everyone will not, and should not, die this way. But at 10,000 feet above sea level, in the scenic hills of Guatemala, families are dying daily. They are dying physically, psychologically, and spiritually. Poverty steals their dreams, stunts their growth, destroys their youth, and takes away their children. Within the breathtaking vistas of the Guatemalan countryside, poverty is destroying lives made in the image of God. read more…