Many people ask, "What does the parish need? How can I help?" They usually ask this in terms of financial and material donations. However, the most complete answer goes far deeper than dollar amounts and measurable goods. The parish has consistently maintained an attitude of total human development. Any answer, then, to the question of the parish’s and the community’s needs must take into account the whole of each individual.

     Responding to the needs of the people of San Lucas involves five levels: spiritual, physical, personal/developmental, communal, and social/political.

     The first level of response is spiritual. The people need continual reminders that they are good, holy, and beautiful. They need to be loved, accepted, treated with respect, and celebrated as the daughters and sons of God that they are.

     This first level has some practical implications that may be challenging for those who traditionally have an outside-in view of people living in obvious physical need. Regarding each other with love, acceptance, respect and celebration needs to be carried into daily attitudes and interactions. One needs to realize that the people of San Lucas are living in the process of poverty; they are not, as a common catch-all phrase describes them, "poor people." The difference is subtle, but the distinction is necessary. One perspective carries a sense of hope, the other a sense of pity, and pity is not needed here. It is easy to inadvertently show pity and insult through taking pictures of "the poor," through giving out candy and toys to kids, through expecting them to understand our English, and through any kind of outside-in approach. It is far more difficult, requiring far more personal vulnerability, to build relationships that will become conduits for hope. Simply giving a kid a piece of chocolate enables his or her begging. Building a friendship, in which a piece of chocolate may or may not be shared, builds the kingdom of God in a manner far closer to that which Jesus modeled and continues to teach: active, personal love.

     Second is generally the most obvious, physically measurable level. It is the what can I donate level. At this point in time, the parish needs around a half-million dollars per year. This pays salaries and acquires materials needed for the construction and operation of the projects. A great percentage of the material needs of individuals and of the parish can be purchased in the region; supporting the local economy in this way is better than directly donating needed items. Some things cannot be found locally, or can but not without major headaches and hassles; then it is better that they be directly donated.

     The third level puts into action the notion of give a person a fish and that person has a meal, teach a person to fish and that person has meals for a lifetime. (Father Greg states, "teach a person to fish or weave or build or farm or do whatever the heck he or she wants to do.") The parish has a strong focus on apprenticeships and on directly involving people in the services from which they benefit. What does the parish need in this area? It needs support, patience, encouragement, and funds for the tools necessary for each project and area of service to succeed. Teaching people and developing people-based projects that will eventually be self-managing require time, money, expertise, and supplies, and those who give these need to maintain patience. There is no over-night end, or perhaps even long-term end, to this need.

     Fourth is the community level. Leaders are needed to be the driving force that keeps the community spirit a hopeful one. They pull people together and motivate the dejected. They are the teachers of the teachers, the support that everyone needs in order to keep pressing forward when the larger social, economic, and governmental situations seem insurmountable.

     What is needed on this level? Prayer. The leaders of the Parroquia gather every morning to support each other and the priests, and to receive support in return. These coordinating sessions are very important for the longevity of their service. These leaders carry a lot of responsibility. They bear many burdens; they also likely bear many complaints. Communities and individuals need to pray for them, for their work, for the ears that hear them, and for all spirits to remain hopeful and joyful.

     The fifth level is potentially the most challenging to talk about and to act upon. The situations in which the people of San Lucas and all of Guatemala find themselves are largely the results of social, economic, governmental, and even religious oppression. The people with power keep their power by exercising it with force over those who cannot respond in any way but submission. Without getting into the details of Guatemalan and world politics, the answer to what is needed is as basic and fundamental as it is difficult: change. Those with power need to use their power to serve. All leaders, especially those who call themselves Christians, need to consider the needs of the poorest members of the communities they serve. They need to make every one of their decisions, great or small, with these poorest in mind. This applies not only to the leaders of Guatemala but also to those of the international community.

     The needs of the parish and the community cover a broad spectrum. The response to those needs takes into account all areas of human experience. No one person can provide for every need on every level. However, those with hearts willing to be involved in helping people lift themselves and be lifted from their situations have many options. Time, money, donations of needed items, prayer, political involvement – there are many ways to participate in the active celebration of the goodness, beauty, and holiness of the people of San Lucas Tolimán.