Raising the White Flag

Raising the White Flag

You know what the white flag is right? It is the universal symbol for surrender and is normally associated with war or battle. Have you ever seen one used in battle? I have.

Here in Guatemala there are currently two battles being waged. The first battle started 6 weeks ago when the President instituted sweeping restrictions to curb the spread of COVID-19. These restrictions include a mandatory curfew from 6pm to 4am, shutdown of “non-essential” work, and travel restrictions. There is little doubt that this battle is being won because, as of Apr 24, there are only about 350 active cases in a country with a population of 17+million people.

Unfortunately, these restrictions have created an unintended new battle front that has caused hundreds of thousands of Guatemalans to go hungry. Most jobs in the rural impoverished areas are considered “non-essential”. Therefore, these folks, who had very little to begin with, are now without work.

As I have talked with families over the past 6 weeks, the overriding theme is fear. But they aren’t afraid of the virus because it hasn’t affected them directly. They are afraid because they are being told they can’t work and that they can’t leave their home for a good portion of the day. In Guatemala, there are no unemployment benefits nor government bailouts. They are worried about how they are going to provide food for their kids. They are worried about how they are going to provide for their parents and grandparents.

Five weeks ago, we dropped off food for Pastor Josue’s congregation. He is a local pastor that lost his church and home in the volcanic eruption a couple years ago. Yesterday, I talked with him and he was clearly preoccupied for his congregation and for his neighbors. He explained that their food supply was running low and many people in their large town were suffering. He told me that in the block where he lives there are 5 white flags that are hanging outside houses.

Those five flags represent five families who are surrendering because of hunger. They have no money and no food. Pastor Josue told me in his town there are too many white flags to count.

I assured Josue that they would receive another delivery of food for his church – and it will include food for some of the white flag homes in his community. We can’t feed everyone, but we will help those that God puts in our path.

We want to thank everyone that has already donated to our COVID-19 response. Your generosity and investment are making a huge difference. Together, we have already shared about 10 thousand pounds of food.

We just purchased 10 thousand more pounds yesterday to help these families for the upcoming weeks. However, this battle is far from over.

If you would like to help us fight this battle, we would love to your help. 100% of your donations will go directly to purchase food for families in need. Visit www.handsofgrace.net/donate and select “Emergency Food Baskets”.

Thank you so much for your time!

Doug Harrold