Pray with Guatemala, June 22, 2025
Lectionary Selection: Luke 8: 26-39
Prayers for Guatemala
Creator God, builder and teacher,
We invoke you today and give thanks to you for the gift of life and the lives of our brothers and sisters in Guatemala. We give thanks for the gift of memory that helps us remember the thousands of Guatemalan victims of war.
Help us restore our flesh, our spirit, and faith in you, God, as we work toward hope and reconciliation in a country whose spirit and hope have been broken multiple times. Help us, Creator, to work toward restoring the spirit and faith of the thousands of Guatemalan victims of the genocide that took place in the country as a result of the 40-year civil war. Help us work toward restoring the social and cultural fabric that has been torn by the different acts of violence in the country. And God, help us remember that you are omnipresent and all-healing.
Invoking you, God, and your son Jesus Christ, we pray for all Guatemalan women, men, children, and elders who sacrifice their lives for the common good. We pray for them, and thank you for giving us examples of true discipleship. Amen
Prayer by Gloria Vicente Canú
Mission Moment from Guatemala
National Coordination of Widows of Guatemala (Coordinadora Nacional de Viudas de Guatemala or CONAVIGUA) was founded in 1988 to respond to the suffering of women in rural areas amid the internal armed conflict of Guatemala. The widows of CONAVIGUA were women whose husbands, sons, and daughters had been either killed or had disappeared during Guatemala’s civil war. They organized to alleviate the most urgent food, medicine, housing, and clothing needs for children and families.
Much of their current advocacy work is centered on holding the Guatemalan government accountable for its actions. This includes demanding that the government ensure the education of all children by offering economic support and school supplies when needed. They also demand that the government create protection laws for widows and mothers. Further, they ask the government to ensure that international aid falls into the correct hands instead of the pockets of corrupt institutions and opportunists.
CONAVIGUA also works locally by developing projects that help Guatemalan women, particularly indigenous women of the countryside, foster community and address societal problems. They also work in exhumations of mass graves of victims of armed conflicts. They then offer dignified burials that allow family and friends to honor those who have passed.
In all of this, CONAVIGUA demands that its voice be heard and recognized in Guatemala’s political, economic, and social life as it advocates for the oppressed and marginalized.
Mission Partners in Guatemala:
- Ecumenical Christian Council of Guatemala
- Guatemalan Cultural Action (ACG)
- National Coordination of Widows of Guatemala (CONAVIGUA)
Make a gift to support the work of the National Coordination of Widows of Guatemala (CONAVIGUA)