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I always love it when you meet someone and from that point on your life takes a difference course than you could have ever expected. About a year ago, at an IdeaCamp conference I was introduced to a young looking, old man named Bill Cummings (I seriously had no clue he was in his 40′s, I thought he was 33 at most!).
I had heard that the director of Lemonade International was at the conference and I really was looking forward to meeting him. Lemonade International focuses on educating and empowering people in the largest urban slum in Central America – La Limonada in Guatemala City. Since one of our soon to be four children is adopted from Guatemala, we instantly connected.
La Limonada, a ravine in the center of Guatemala City, is the largest slum in Central America and is also home to the fourth highest murder rate in the world. The slum developed in the 1950s as people came to Guatemala City seeking work. When they were unable to find work they ended up taking residence in the ravine. Since then, it has grown to be the home of somewhere between 60,000 and 100,000 people.
The conditions?
They are nothing short of horrible. The terrain is so rough there are no roads. The homes are made of corrugated tin roof, cement block and sometimes plastic sheeting and cardboard. Gang violence is a major problem (as it is in all of Guatemala City). The drug of choice is glue sniffing. The river running through the center of the ravine is serves as the garbage dump and sewage system.
Add all this up and these men, women and children are outcasts of their city. There is a saying in Guatemala City that “Even Santa Claus doesn’t visit La Limonada.” If you are applying for a job and you put La Limonada as your address on your application, you won’t get the job. Most churches in the city don’t touch this community because it is so unsafe and the people “aren’t going to support your ministry.” Yes, that’s an actual quote from a pastor who serves in Limonada as he was explaining why he gets flack from other ministers for “wasting his time” with “those people.”
Generally speaking, if you are from La Limonada you …
