Monthly Archives: September 2015

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Book Review: A Way Beyond Death

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“A Way Beyond Death,” by Jemimah Wright.

“A Way Beyond Death,” by Jemimah Wright recounts the struggles and unceasing missionary work of a married couple, Marcia dos Santos and Edson Suzuki, in the Amazon jungle.

The couple works tirelessly to help the indigenous Indians in the area to combat their own tribal customs of infanticide and suicide, and eventually succeeds at getting new laws enacted to protect indigenous children who are at risk.

Facing challenges ranging from illnesses, threat from wild animals like jaguars, and sometimes even from those whom they are trying to help, Marcia and Edson rely on their faith in incredible situations.

Marcia describes her first encounter with the Surawahá as she and her husband prepare to live in the tribe’s community.

“Immediately they started to inspect me. They couldn’t tell if I was a man or a woman under all my clothes. I had hands grabbing me from every direction. The Surawahá were so intrigued by me that they wanted to take my clothes off to ins pet me more. As quickly as they tried to peel away my clothing, I put it back on.”

After that embarrassing welcome, the tribe celebrates the couple’s arrival by dancing all night.

In her first week there, Marcia learns of the tribe’s suicide custom: “If a person has no value among the Suruwahá or is not liked, when that person eats kunaha he or she is left to die. But if the person is much-loved, then everyone does all they can to bring the person back.”

Her first experience with this happens when an 18-year-old boy sucks the poisonous juice from the root, giving his desperate family only 30 minutes to save him. When the family gives up, accepting the boy’s death, they leave him alone, but while Suzuki continues to pray over him, he gasps and starts breathing again.

The book is well-written, and engaging. In fact, it is difficult to put it down because the challenges the couple faces are so interesting and difficult to imagine. I wanted to finish the book as quickly as possible to find out what would happen next.

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Enjoying the Show

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These girls at the side of the stage are watching their peers perform traditional dances to welcome Compassion sponsors to their project, GU-479. They are wearing traditional Mayan clothing, and they live in the mountainous community of Cantón Paxot II, Guatemala.

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Cantót Paxot II, Guatemala: Sponsor a Child

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The road to GU-479 in Cantón Paxot II, Guatemala.

After a 3-hour drive north from Antigua through lush mountains with beautiful valley views, we were greeted by firecrackers upon arrival at Compassion project GU-479.

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Children lined up to greet us when we arrived.

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Playground at GU-479. New classrooms are being built at the right.

Compassion International has been partnered with Metodista Paxot II, a church in the community of Cantón Paxot II, Guatemala, since 2012. The area is home to about 1,500 residents, and the most commonly spoken language is the Mayan language Kiche.

Children lined up outside of our buses to shake hands and greet us before leading us down a rural road to their project, where they performed many traditional dances for us, including a dance to honor St. Thomas, the dance of the monkeys, the stealing of the bride dance, and the dance of the bull. It was an honor to be among the first group of sponsors to visit this project.

The staff and parents were warm and welcoming in this remote community, where we learned the most common health issues are intestinal diseases and respiratory illness. The community has water and telephone service, but needs employment opportunities, public transportation and vocational training. Most adults are unemployed, but some work as day laborers, earning the equivalent of $75/month.

Please consider sponsoring one of these beautiful children from this project:

Jaymerson

Jaymerson, born Sept. 9, 2007.

Jaymerson, 8, lives with his parents and six siblings. He is responsible for gathering firewood and running errands, and his father works as a farmer.

He enjoys soccer, basketball and playing with cars, and he attends church activities and Bible class regularly.

Jennifer

Jennifer, born March 24, 2005.

Jennifer, 10, lives with her parents and one sibling. She helps care for animals and makes beds at home, and her father works as a farmer.

She enjoys playing house and playing with dolls, and her performance is average in school. She attends church activities and Vacation Bible School.

Fernando

Fernando, born May 29, 2008.

Fernando, 7, lives with his parents and two siblings. His duties at home are carrying water, gathering firewood and making beds, and his father is a farmer.

He enjoys playing soccer, swimming and playing with cars, and he attends Bible class regularly.

William

William, born July 9, 2004.

William, 11, lives with his parents. His father works sometimes as a farmer, and there are two children in the family.

He enjoys playing soccer, ball games and bicycling, and his school performance is average. William also attends Bible class regularly.

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A view of the area with the church in the background.

If you are interested in sponsoring one of these children, please contact me.

Sponsorship costs $38/month, and the benefits to both the child and the sponsor are priceless.

Compassion has worked in Guatemala since 1976, and there are more than 130 child development centers in the country, serving more than 32,400 children.

Compassion works in 27 countries world wide. If you would like to sponsor a child in another country, please click here to see children available for sponsorship.