My name is Phyllis Groff. I’ve had a call to ministry since I was a child impacted by the conversations with cross-cultural workers who visited in our home. My parents also had been involved ministry in a neighboring city, Philadelphia, PA where I learned to relate to people very different from our Mennonite culture. My husband and I now work among the Mayan Kekchi people in Alta Verapaz, Guatemala for the past twenty years.
As a nurse I have many opportunities to help many who have no access to medical care in their rural communities. I give medical studies for the trained health workers in rural areas. The Kekchi often need assistance when staying in the hospital because many don’t speak Spanish which is the language of most of the doctors and nurses.
I also enjoy working with the women in developing their leadership skills. I accompany them to their district meetings of 60-100 women to empower their leaders.
We work in the rural areas of Alta Verapaz, Guatemala among an indigenous group, Kekchi, that number a million. To visit a village we sometimes walk on a path an hour or more as there is no road to that community. The first cross-cultural workers came to the area forty years ago. The church has grown rapidly to 120 congregations. Many of the women are illiterate, but serve their communities visiting the sick and praying for them. The Bible has been translated into their language and one hundred thousand Kekchi Bibles have been printed.
Pray for safety in traveling the many miles and for good footing on the muddy trails.
Pray for health and strength to continue serving the Lord in my aging years.
Pray for the wisdom of God in my relationships with others.
Pray that I would be given sensitivity to the Spirit of God in every conversation.
@2013 Thrive