Guatemala Urantia Association was chartered as a Local Association of Urantia Association International in 2021. The years 2020 and 2021 were atypical years for the Guatemala Urantia Association. During the first four months, the entire population was subject to mandatory confinement in their homes. We could only leave our homes for those services essential to life and food supply. Consequently, work was done at home, and part-time jobs, which are commercial activities for most of the population, reported heavy losses. As an economic fact, experts in the sector consider that part-time jobs account for seventy percent of Guatemala’s economic activities, so there was an increase in unemployment. It is important to mention this because the main efforts of Guatemalans have been oriented towards the survival of their families and the fulfillment of their individual obligations.
For the activities of dissemination and teaching, there has been goodwill on the part of the Guatemala members who sent out ten Urantia books by private mail and invited people to join study activities using social media and Zoom software. The activity of sharing the teachings via social networks has not diminished in intensity and it helps to bring readers together in Guatemala.
As a result, in-person student attendance has been irregular, despite sending invitations and weekly spiritual quotes from The Urantia Book. It seems that such irregularity is due to the activities of economic survival.
Regarding the development of new readership groups, visits to several cities are pending, including Antigua Guatemala in the central region, Quetzaltenango in the west, Mazatenango in the south, Cobán in the north and Jutiapa in the east. In each city, we try to disseminate and deliver books, and provide motivation for the formation of study groups.
Also in 2020 and 2021, we participated in Urantiathons and in the activities of the Education Committee under the direction of Jeannie Vazquez of Uruguay. In the future we plan to develop a subsite of Urantia Association’s website.