Reagan's "Guatemala Girls" Challenge

Our little Reagan just turned 6.

And the 6 year old princess of the Hughes household decided that she didn't need any more toys.

That sounds shocking, I know.  And it is a rare statement in the Hughes household.  One of our kids' favorite past times is just walking the toy aisles at the local Target and ogling the plethora of shiny new toys.  Reagan is actually usually overheard saying something to the effect of "Can I get that for my birthday?"

Even when her birthday is a year away.

So, when Reagan claimed on her own, without any prompting from anyone, that she didn't need toys for her birthday, we had to get to the bottom of what she meant.

Reagan continued, "Well, I mean, maybe we could give presents to the Guatemala girls instead.  They need it more."

The "Guatemala Girls" that Reagan refers are girls that Reagan met in person during her visit to Guatemala in the summer of 2009.  Her Aunt Lauren (a contributor to this site) is a missionary with Mission Impact in Guatemala and the Hughes family went to visit in 2009.  Mission Impact supports two schools.  One school is a girls-only school called Proximos Pasos in the village of Santa Maria de Jesus.  A village which happens to exist on the base of a volcano.

Santa Maria is a poor village where girls really have little to no opportunity to attend education.  The public school in the area is only for boys.  There is not really the space for girls.  Proximos Pasos offers these girls a formal education AND a chance to learn about Jesus on a daily basis.

The work that this school does to invest in the lives of these girls and show them love is amazing.  The beacon for Christ that they have been to the community is inspiring.

Reagan heard her aunt share the story that many of the girls never have birthday parties at home.  Many of them don't even know when their actual birthday is.  The school tries to celebrate each girl's birthday with a small gift and a little celebration.  For many of these girls, these are the very first birthday gifts they have ever been given.

So, Reagan has decided that her upcoming 6th birthday party will be all about the "Guatemala Girls" that she loves so much.  Instead of bringing her gifts, she is asking friends, family and people with a heart for missions to instead make a financial donation to Mission Impact to help these girls attend school.  Since she's turning 6 years old, our goal for the party is to raise $600 to help offset the tuition costs for her "Guatemala Girls."

Will you join us?

You can stop by and visit the Reagan's Party page to donate.  Every little bit helps.  Additionally, feel free to share this blog and the donation page via Facebook, Twitter and email to any other folks that you think would be interested in donating toward Reagan's goal.

Finally, you can pray for the girls and the staff of Proximos Pasos that they would continue to be a light for Christ to their village.

Thank you for your support in this cause and God bless Reagan's precious "Guatemala Girls!"