Heidy and G2G celebrating 5 years!
Written by Edgar Güitz
On December 5th, 2020. Heidy Juarez and G2G Network were celebrating our fifth birthdays. Was that a coincidence?
I met Heidy Juarez in 2016. She was just a few months old but hovering between life and death. She was in a severely malnourished condition with scabies over almost all of her body. When Heidy was born, her mother abandoned her the next day when she knew she had Down Syndrome. Heidy is one of 13 siblings.
A lady who sells in an open market found her and for some days she did her best to nourish Heidy. Yet due to her extreme poverty, she decided to give her to the public authorities. A judge providentially assigned Heidy to a Christian Home Los Gozosos (Joy Filled), partner of the G2G Network. There she received love and the proper care that all babies need.
I watched Heidy recover and become a cute, very active girl. I saw her when Heidy began to walk and grow. During these five years I can see the difference!! Now she is ready for adoption.
My heart broke when I heard Heidy’s story of rejection, mistreatment, and discrimination from her parents and family. ☹
I WAS INDIGNANT! I even took it personally and discussed with Gladys her possible adoption. We concluded that maybe we are not the right age to begin the process of adoption.
What if Gladys and I would have made that decision? Maybe we could now have a wonderful full-time ministry of saving ONE precious girl!!
Sadly, in Guatemala there are hundreds and even thousands of cases of rejection due to the hard conditions the children are in. ☹
In 2016, the Lord began to lead me through a painful yet wonderful journey.
He opened my eyes, ears and heart to get INSIDE another world (not just as visitor), the world of the orphans, kids with disabilities, and children in extreme poverty.
Getting to know their families, we found they are impressive and admirable “fighters”. We all fight for our life and challenges. Yet the parents with kids with disabilities are real fighters. They are kind and tender, yet they can become tough when they react in LOVE when somebody messes with their PRECIOUS kid.
I got to know the remarkable leaders of ministries. They do not begin with a strategy or a business plan. They just received the hard news that their kid had a type of disability. They joined efforts with other parents in similar conditions and became a nonprofit to survive in a society of “passive discrimination” and indifference.
To start a new ministry from the scratch was not easy. One nephew of mine told me once something that summarizes it:
“Uncle, as a salesman I find big companies as clients that can pay me a lot of money for my professional services. Yet you look for unknow organizations who serve kids that nobody cares about. In addition, they cannot pay you back for your professional services! That does not make sense… I will start as a volunteer”
G2G Network as an organization many times has been between life and death in the turmoil of a new endeavor. Yet providentially, we celebrated 5 years of service on December 5th, 2020. We know G2G is God’s idea.
Now when I see cases like Heidy Juarez, where Restoration of Dignity has overcome rejection and dehumanizing circumstances, I know the efforts and sacrifices are worthwhile.
I am eternally grateful for YOU, friends who gave me a vote of confidence when G2G Network had not even a name. YOU were not here in person, yet YOU were present serving the vulnerable children during these five years.
Let’s continue Recognizing, Reaching and Reclaiming, the rejected children in Guatemala and Central America, in the name of Jesus!