presbyterian church usa Archives - Guatemala Partnership

There’s No Escaping

February 16, 2026February 26, 2026Guatemala Partnership

By Betsey Moe and Matt Beach

The CEDEPCA USA Board met last week in Guatemala. Revs. Betsey Moe and Matt Beach, two new board members, are today’s guest writers for the blog as they reflect back on the week of meetings and traveling to visit partners. Betsey was a PC(USA) Mission Co-Worker with CEDEPCA from 2020-2024 and now serves as the installed Solo Pastor at Community Presbyterian Church in Post Falls, Idaho. Matt is a PhD candidate at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California and recently served Heights Presbyterian Church in Houston, Texas. Carrie Saathoff, co-chair of the Guatemala Partnership of New Castle Presbytery, has now rotated off of this Board after serving for six years, three as president.

CEDEPCA USA Board in Guatemala this week. Back row is Betsey Moe (2nd from left), Matt Beach (2nd from right) and Carrie Saathoff (far right).

Women United Can Never Be Defeated

February 9, 2026February 26, 2026Guatemala Partnership

By Valery Nodem, International Coordinator for the Presbyterian Hunger Program PC(USA)

This week, I traveled with Carrie Saathoff, co-chair of the Guatemala Partnership of New Castle Presbytery to the Western Highlands of Guatemala to witness the work of the Association of Mam Christian Women for Development (Association) in person. New Castle Presbytery has worked in formal partnership with the Association for more than a decade and the Presbyterian Hunger Program (PHP) has recently begun supporting the Association as well. I was excited to see the projects that I have heard so much about in the last two years. Accompanying us were Andrea Ramirez, our expert interpreter, and Kevin de León, our trusted driver. The four of us had a lot of laughs and good conversation on the road.

Kinship and Connection

February 2, 2025February 1, 2025Guatemala Partnership

By Tracy Keenan, Missional Presbyter, New Castle Presbytery

What makes us human? What does it mean to be in community and to have meaning? This post is about our trip to Guatemala, but it is also about our churches, our nation, our world, our homes and neighborhoods. If I tug on one strand, the others vibrate.

Here are some of the virtual carry-ons I bring with me on this trip:

Resistance and Justice

January 31, 2025January 30, 2025Guatemala Partnership

I am Marj Johnson, a member of Concord Presbyterian Church. This was my first immersion experience trip to Guatemala, but I was there before with a work group with my church in 2012 to build stoves. I learned so much this week about all the programs of CEDEPCA and the Association of Mam Christian Women.

On our last day in Guatemala, we were at Lake Atitlán, a volcanic caldera lake. The town of Panajachel, where we stayed, was a typical resort town with a nice beach, boating, seaside attractions, and people relaxing, enjoying themselves, buying souvenirs and eating ice cream.

We took a boat to the other side of the lake in the morning. It was a beautiful day, the sun was out and the sky was blue. We were in a safe boat and we each had enough space and a life preserver. But I couldn’t help thinking about all the migrants who travel by boat around the world at huge cost in unsafe boats, no life preservers, and crowded beyond capacity—what it must be like for them as they travel to the unknown.