It was January 1988 in Canton, Ohio, when Tim & Doris Spurrier and their two children, Joe and Amy, packed all of their belongings -- including their dreams -- into a 1972 Ford pick-up.
They drove five days through the United States, Mexico, and across the Guatemalan border. Previous to this trip, Doris and the children had never ventured outside the United States. However, when they crossed into Guatemala, Doris looked at Tim and said, “I feel like we’re home.”
For the next six years, the family operated a mission in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala, and it was during this time that they founded New Covenant World Missions. In 1996, Tim and Doris relocated to the Peten jungle region in northern Guatemala. Over the course of the next decade, they raised the funds, located the resources, spear-headed the effort, and worked with local Guatemalan leaders to build Hospital Shalom, a state-of-the-art medical hospital in this very remote area.
New Covenant World Missions
P.O. Box 35968 | Canton, OH 44735
Phone: 330-477-0184
Why Guatemala?
Current estimates put the population of the Peten region at well over 550,000 people. Approximately 85% of that number has no access to “quality” healthcare apart from Hospital Shalom and the remaining 15% live in isolated villages with no access to even “basic” healthcare. Emergency care does not exist at all.
A recent UN report shows 60% of Guatemala’s population lives in poverty, earning less than $2 US per day. Guatemala suffers from a chronic shortage of health care services, including adequate numbers of clinics, in-patient services, and hospital beds.
According to the World Health Organization, in 2003, the government of Guatemala spent just $44 per capita on healthcare (based on an average USD exchange rate). The governments of the United States and Canada spent $2,548 and $1,866 respectively.
In the United States there are 2.56 doctors for every 1,000 people. In Canada this ratio is 2.14. Guatemala has less than one doctor for every 1,000 people.
With statistics like these, the question should be, "Why Not Guatemala?"
