Additional Monday post from Pat

Last evening we had the pleasure of meeting Andres who was born into slavery 58 years ago as his family were Mayan slaves living on a Finca (plantation). He made the tough choice to escape this position when he was helped by priest Gregory Shaeffer from Minnesota who ended up in Guatemala and was gifted in working with people of many cultures and offered Andres his freedom. Andres was only able to visit his family who was still in slavery in the night time. Schaeffer offered housing and land and Andres learned work that would eventually change his life to become a community organizer and amazing gift in his area of San Lucas Toliman in Guatemala. When expecting his first child his parents told him that he needed to be present at the actual birth of his child. When the birth occurred and his daughter was born, the witnessing of the birth gave him a respect for women that made him feel in awe. From that day forward he said "no" to the machismo culture that surrounded him and believed totally in the strength of women. He hopes one day for a Mayan woman to lead his country, though he wouldn't mind being the next president of Guatemala. He told us this while laughing though he told us the first things he would do as president would be to #1 Give land to many of the Mayans and #2 Educate and give more power into the hands of the women. Though 70% of the country is indigenous (Mayan), the power is in the rich 18 families that control Guatemala and still try to control the Mayans. As one who loves people and their culture, Andres still works extremely hard daily to help others. Right now he is working on a very involved project to bring water to a community. His wall is covered with certificates acknowledging his service. We were truly honored to meet this leader who obviously lives to serve all!