A letter from Richard and Debbie Welch preparing for service in Guatemala
Fall 2013
Greetings friends and family members!
Debbie with children from Agua Chrystalina in Guatemala
There are so many methods and preferences for communicating these days. We have to admit that we’ve lost track of those with whom we’ve shared the latest changes in our lives, and those who have yet to hear. So this letter, sent in a more traditional communication method, is going out to everyone we can think of (for whom we have mailing addresses). Here’s the official word: We are excited to announce our appointment as Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) mission co-workers. As we prepare for our assignment as educational consultants to indigenous people in Guatemala, it seems only appropriate that we share this radical life change with those who have been with us so far on our life journeys.
After much thought and consideration, we are relatively certain that this change is not the result of a mid-life crisis, a search for life meaning, or a chance to escape our present situations. Rather, after several years of involvement as short-term volunteers in Guatemala we have sensed a calling to deeper involvement with the Guatemalan Presbyterian Church and the work they are doing to meet some of the vast needs of the indigenous population the church serves. For some time now we’ve been thinking that someday we’d seek a way to be more directly involved in this work. Someday came quicker than we may have anticipated when we responded to a job posting for just the kind of work we hoped to do. Much to our surprise, after a lengthy and thorough examination and discernment process, we were offered the job and we accepted!
Richard showing photos on a smart phone to the children.
Our new job has many similarities to the volunteer work we’ve been doing in Guatemala. Education is one of the most instrumental tools for breaking the crushing cycle of poverty that impacts so many in the developing world. We will be helping church leaders develop programs for primary, vocational and theological education, and conducting classes in basic accounting, program management, and reporting in hopes of enabling our partners to access resources to further educational opportunities for our indigenous partners.
We plan to leave for Guatemala November 9. Our first assignment will be language training in Xela as we will need to be proficient in Spanish to do this work. In preparation for our departure, we have been making arrangements for the move and sharing with churches here in the Northwest about our new job and the work we will be doing. In September we traveled to Nashville, speaking with people we’ve gotten to know though our Guatemala partnership. We were also in Chicago for Richard’s 40th high school reunion and visiting congregations there.
We’d love to keep in touch with you throughout our four-year assignment. This is a new chapter in our lives, and it’s reassuring to know we’re in the thoughts and prayers of those we’ve known over the years. There’s more information about us, how to keep in touch with us, more about our work and how to join us in supporting our efforts. Just visit our website:
https://www.presbyterianmission.org/ministries/missionconnections/welch-richard-and-debbie (or use the "Read more" link below)
Or visit our blog: http://tinyurl.com/welchguatemalablog.
We’ll try to keep these sources of information up-to-date as more develops, so visit and visit often. There’s something exciting and reassuring about starting this new chapter in a time when technology has made it so much easier for us to be in contact with one another on the journey.
Blessings and peace,
Richard and Debbie Welch
The 2014 Presbyterian Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 38
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