Nuevo Reto (New Challenge) is a Christian ministry located in the outskirts of Guatemala City in Villa Nueva, Guatemala.
Nuevo Reto History
In 1999, the Lord impressed on my heart (Pastor Jacobo) the need to get properties for the ministry. At that time, we were still running the ministry in a rental house, a four-bedroom house that used to be our house, the church building, the Children’s Ministry and the office. We found land for the Nuevo Reto building but we did not have the money to purchase it.
The owner wanted the money within a week and I promised to get the money for her. The day came when we had to finalize the deal and we still did not have the $5,200.00. I prayed and said: “Lord, you do not make any mistakes. I did by promising to buy with no money, just give me grace before this lady that she may understand I was walking by faith. I decided to meet with her, take her for lunch and explain her I was giving steps of faith when I promised to purchase the land from her. The problem was, she was not a believer and I felt kind of embarrassed. Four hours before I met with her that day, I friend of mine, another minister who was also in the process of saving some money to buy a property for his own ministry heard of our situation and with no documents to sign, lent me the money with no interests and with six months of grace.
Six months later, the Lord provided the money to pay the property in full. In 2001, we were challenged to start building since the first building team would arrive during the summer to help with the construction. We launched on a project of $150,000.00, by faith. No savings, no pledges, only the promise of God who gave us the assurance of his provision. All we dared was to provide a house that will dignify the street kids. A place to be called “home”.
An architect friend warned us: “Do not start building unless you have 60% of the budget”. We did start in June 2001 with only 7% of the budget. Five years later, in November 2006, by the grace of God and after many “special provisions from the Lord” and his people; the Lord brought to completion the dream of having a beautiful building worth $200,000.00 with enough room for all the programs we were in later years going to be running at Nuevo Reto.
In April 2006, the Lord blessed us with a second property for Nuevo Reto to build the second phase, in this house we have our training for life projects including our carpentry and sewing projects.
Pastor Jacob Castillo
Pastor Jacobo Castillo is an ordained minister born in Guatemala city on July 19, 1962. He is the second of seven kids in his family. His parents were not professionals, so he had to learn from the very beginning to live in an atmosphere of extreme poverty. Because of lack of finances, Pastor Jacobo and his other three brothers and three sisters could not attend school on a regular basis. Instead, he had to help his parents to do some elementary jobs like selling vegetables in the streets to survive. A generous lady who was one of their customers motivated them to go back to school. She paid for school fees and school supplies to help Pastor Jacobo and his older brother to go back to school. She also used to help with some used clothes and from time to time even some food. Pastor Jacobo gave his life to the Lord when he was 19 years old. He persevered in a Christian church for four years, serving in different areas as: Sunday school teacher, youth leader and as a deacon. In the meantime, he went to Bible school where he received a call from God to serve him as a full time minister.
In 1986, he started serving the Lord as a Christian counselor, Bible teacher and then Director of a program for drug addicts and alcoholics. He also conducted a radio program and evangelistic crusades to reach young people involved in drugs and alcohol and gangs as well.
Pastor Jacob was moved with compassion, as he saw the suffering of the kids living in the streets of Guatemala. In 1991, he and his small church Templo de la Gloria started Nuevo Reto, a ministry dedicated to reach some of the 5,000 kids living in the streets of Guatemala city. Pastor Jacobo Castillo is married to Nidia, a schoolteacher and they are the parents of Ada Eunice, Pablo Raúl and Nidia Esther. They are national workers with a vision to reach their own people in Guatemala with the love of Jesus.
Our Vision
Nuevo Reto was founded in 1991 with the vision of offering hope to the unfortunate children wandering the streets. For some of them it is due to the lack of parental attention, others have been orphaned, and others have run away from abusive home environments. All of these children are left unprotected to face world full of violence and crime in the streets where many of them have lost their lives. It is our goal to rescue kids from the streets and help them to grow in a Christian family atmosphere and in an environment where they can feel safe. Our mission is to minister to the street children in Guatemala by providing education, shelter, food and basic necessities for the children. Nuevo Reto is an effort of Templo de la Gloria, to minister to some of the most needy of Guatemala, especially the children that for various reasons have become abandoned in the streets.
How to Help
Any financial donation will be very much appreciated. Please read the description of every program, and to choose what program you would like to support.
- General Fund
- As any other organization we have monthly expenses to cover including, transportation, electricity, internet, phone bills, water ( we buy 4 trucks a month for a total of $200) building maintenance, staff, just to mention some. Any amount helps.
- Feeding Program
- Children can be feed for $4.00 per day. Monday through Friday we are serving 40 meals for lunch time for a total of 800 meals during a month. Would you take the challenge to support our feeding program? $60 a month will support one student with a nutricional meals and snacks.
- Education Program
- Every day we are working with students providing them with access to internet, computers, iPads, school supplies, tutors and scholarships to attend school. With $50 a month ( more middle school) and $60 (for high school) you can help our students continue in school. Your contribution will cover monthly Tuition fee and transportation (since they need to take two buses daily to get to school). We need your help. Would you take the challenge?
- Training for Life
- We strive to provide our students with tools that will help them succeed in life. Our Training for Life programs include carpentry, sewing, crafting, music and English classes. With a donation of $50 a month you can help pay for teachers and instructors to train our students in the different areas. Be part of our efforts to provide hope for a better future.
- Dream Giver Project
- Our area giver project allows us to not only donate bunkbeds to kids who currently don’t own a bed and are sleeping on the floor or sharing a bed with more than one family member. But it also gives us an opportunity to teach our older teens how to work with wood and give back to others. The cost of a wood bunkbed is $270 including the mattress, pillows and comforters.
- Medical Fund
- We will love to provide our kids with access to health care. $45 a month will help us acquired medical insurance for them.
- Other needs
- Shoes
- Clothes
- School Supplies
- Hygiene Products
Other ways to get involved:
We need retired people, teachers, carpenters, musicians, nurses, or anyone with a heart to serve. You can consider a short term mission or a long term mission to live the experience of working at Nuevo Reto.
Nuevo Reto 