About three years ago, Jason and Kelly Hart moved their family from Elizabethtown to Guatemala to embark on a missionary adventure.
The initial call for the Servant Harts ministry was to care for malnourished babies and their families. But, Jason said, God was able to use the COVID lockdown and restrictions to expand the ministry in ways they didn’t imagine.
“Along with caring for malnourished babies, we are now providing quality, dignified medical care for first-time pregnant women, teenage girls and high-risk pregnancies to ensure healthy pregnancies and prevent infant malnourishment,” he said.
Prenatal care isn’t otherwise available in villages such as the one they serve. Many cannot afford the $20 obstetrician visit or $12 ultrasound which results in going without prenatal care, Kelly said.
She said C-sections are more common and are pushed without alternative options at the free national hospitals.
“Currently the pregnant women have to enter the hospital alone with very limited items and are only allowed to contact a family member twice a day due to COVID restrictions,” she said. “There is no follow-up care for them or the babies.”
Along with caring for the physical needs of babies and mothers, the couple also cares for the spiritual needs by having a weekly Bible study with mothers in similar situations. The couple has seen the women grow in their faith and grapple with their own faith for the first time.
“They are asking the hard questions of what it means to have a relationship with God, rather than just accepting what has been passed down to them generationally,” Jason said.
There are two upcoming opportunities for those back home in America to help with this ministry. One is a concert in Elizabethtown.
Jason Roy, lead singer of Building 429, will be in concert at 7 p.m. May 21 as a benefit for this ministry. Tickets are $20. The concert will be at the Elizabethtown Christian Life Center at 401 W. Popular St. in Elizabethtown.
“One hundred% of every dollar donated goes straight to caring for the babies and pregnant women in the ministry,” Jason said.
Plans are being finalized to have food trucks before the event.
In June, the Harts will celebrate their third anniversary of moving to Guatemala and the concert serves as a celebration of what God has done through the ministry in those three years.
“It will be a night of worship as we thank God for mountains that he has moved and miracles we have seen,” Jason said. “We will share words of gratitude from women in our program and one incredible family’s story through a video.”
There will be a raffle for a large basket of Guatemalan items including coffee and leather-made products.
Along with the Elizabethtown concert, the Badgett Playhouse in Grand Rivers will host a Murder Mystery Dinner Theatre in Calvert City. It will feature a build-your-own-pasta meal followed by an Italian mob-themed murder mystery. Tickets are $40 for the show and meal.
Future plans for the ministry are to start the process of being a registered Guatemalan nonprofit to allow them to hire Guatemalan staff.
“Our desire from the beginning was for this to not be seen as Americans coming in to do the work thing but to empower Guatemalans to serve their own country and disciple them to share the Gospel,” Kelly said. “It’s incredible to think that we are already at that point but we are excited to start taking these steps to fulfill this vision.”
They also are expanding their pregnant mom program to become a sponsorship program as they hope to partner with a midwifery group to cut down on the number of unnecessary C-sections in the area and increase the educational role to walk women through pregnancy and then prepare them for delivery, breastfeeding and infant care.
Those sponsorships are $35 a month for a year or $420 in a one-time gift.
At this point in the ministry, 32 babies have entered the malnourished baby program and they’ve had 60 pregnant women use their ministry from eight different villages.
The ministry just finished building their sixteenth house, have given out 84 water filters, built 23 kitchens and 37 wood stoves were installed to ensure families have a smoke-free kitchen and home.
“And we feel that God is just getting started,” Jason said.
Anyone who wants to bring a team to help in construction projects or parenting with the organization can reach them by emailing servanthartsfamily@gmail.com.
Becca Owsley can be reached at 270-505-1416 bowsley@thenewsenterprise.com.