Thousands of children in Guatemala are going to have a special Christmas, but it wasn’t easy.
Grace Martial Arts in Tampa had the privilege of helping raise money and Christmas presents for GO! Ministries again this year. Grand Master David Sgro visited our class in October and picked up our gifts for the extremely poor children he and his family minister to in Guatemala. It’s called “Christmas for 5000 Orphans and Mayans.” GM Sgro visited many Christian martial arts classes and churches in 23 states this Fall. Things were going well, until … well, here’s how GM Sgro explained what happened.
“Last week I started my 57 hour, 3119 mile drive home. Before I did this I had a mechanic check the car and all was well. On Tue 27 Nov my alternator died, leaving me stranded on I10 just outside of San Antonio, TX. We were able to get the car back on the road, but 3 days later my left front tire flew off my car! This left me in Monterrey, Mexico.
Here’s my challenge: The two repairs cost $1,500 to fix, but the real problem is in the other challenges they caused me. In Mexico the mechanic said the parts for my car would take 4 days to arrive. I didn’t have 4 days to wait, so I had to rent a truck, which cost me $600 for a week. We also had to get a couple extra hotel nights due to being stranded. I also have to return the car back to Monterrey as they didn’t have a one way rental, which means I will have to drive back up to Monterrey, (1500 miles from my home). Once in Monterrey I’ll need to take my car back into the States, as Monterey is only 178 miles from the US border. Once my car is back in the States I’ll need to fly back to Guatemala, and this will be right before Christmas. All this was unexpected and will add up to over $3,000, and this is right at the last minute! On Sunday we’ll give away Christmas to thousands, and on 23 Dec we’ll give Christmas to the 163 widows in town that are part of our “H.O.W” Ministry (Helping Orphans and Widows).
So I was hit with $1500 in repairs right before I began my drive back to Guatemala. I rented a truck and will have to rent it for an additional week to get it back to Monterrey, and that will be another unexpected $1500 between the rental fee, gas, hotel and food. All this came right as we were getting ready to start our ‘Christmas for Orphans and Mayans.'”
As you can see, GM Sgro is not going to stop until he gets presents to all of the 5,000 children. However, this has put a financial strain on their ministry. Many people are asking how they can help GO! Ministries right now and the answer is “pray.” Pray for spiritual protection for the Sgro family and for enough money to come in to cover the extra expenses this has cost the ministry. If you would like to help financially, go to www.goministries.info. You can either send a check to:
GO! Ministries
29 Dam Road
Chittenden, VT 05737
or use the PayPal option on their website.
Thanks and have a great week!
In Christ’s Love and Grace,
Mark McGee
Grace Martial Arts
Grace Martial Arts 