Guatemalan Mission Outreach
Bernard, Trish and Sarah Cohen
Bernard Cohen, 53, was born in Philadelphia, PA and had been previously married for five years with no children. His wife died from complications of childhood onset diabetes.
Trish Snyder, 65, was born in a small town in Western PA had been married eighteen years and had four children when her husband died in 1975.
Bernard and Trish were introduced by Trish’s neighbor in Delaware and were married in 1977. The first five years were a difficult adjustment, but in 1982 they both received Christ, along with Craig, their second son. They immediately plugged into church and began to seek God’s will for their lives.
Bernard had worked in construction with his father for 10 years during his teens and early adult years. Shortly after they were married, Bernard moved to Clearwater, FL to join Trish and her children. Bernard worked with Scotto´s Plumbing for a period of time and in 1982 founded People’s Plumbing Company in Clearwater. Bernard spent most of his spare time working in lay ministry at Harvest Temple Church of God of Indian Rocks, their home church, where he was an elder. In 1985 he became Pastor of the Harvest Temple Children’s Church after being stirred at Camp Meeting.
At that same time Trish, A Registered Nurse, worked on an IV Team, gave Chemotherapy, and eventually worked at Hospice. Trish was also Director and Founder of Gift of Love Cancer Ministry, a helps ministry to cancer patients and their families.
December 1990 - After seeing the need for ministry to children in that area Bernard and Trish moved to a latchkey neighborhood in Hollywood, Fl. as home missionaries. They helped grow a new Southern Baptist work there. Bernard was Associate Pastor in charge of Worship and Children’s Ministry. Trish worked at the hospital and helped with Children’s Church and Women’s Bible Study, while continuing her work with cancer patients.
August 1992 - Bernard was called back to his home church as Pastor to the Senior Adults. He and Trish continued ministering as a team. In Jan 1993, they took a short mission trip to visit an orphanage in Guatemala. This trip changed their lives and the direction of their ministry. That same July, they returned with five others to Guatemala for 10 days of medical missions.
February 1994 - Bernard and Trish moved to Guatemala as full-time missionaries with a Guatemalan Missionary Doctor (MD). During the next 2 1/2 years, they shared the Gospel with thousands of Indigenous people in primitive villages in every part of Guatemala, driving through rivers, riding horseback and sleeping on dirt floors in small churches with no water or electricity. Each time, they returned to the capital (Guatemala City) to bathe, wash clothes, and buy new supplies, they realized that their hearts were really in the small aldeas (villages).
December 1995 - Bernard and Trish asked the overseer of the Guatemalan Church of God where they were most needed for full-time ministry and he replied, "Panimaquin." That next week he took them to several areas and introduced them to needy churches. The last place he took them was the small village of Panimaquin (Paw-knee-maw-keen), which is located 27 miles west of Guatemala City, in the department (state) of Chimaltenango (Chimal-ten-ango). The Indigenous people groups are Cakchiquel (Catch-chee-kell) -Maya.
Panimaquin is 7300 feet above sea level with a breathtaking view of a mountain range and 2 volcanoes. It is a farming community with approximately 350 people that received electricity in 1991. Most of the homes consist of one small room with the bottom half of the wall block and the top a type of fiberboard with open space below the corrugated tin roof. There is a separate room (always smoke-filled) usually made of dry cane stocks tied together with a dirt floor and no chimney. This is their kitchen. The women still wear typical woven garments. The main crop is cauliflower, but they do grow carrots, beets, and of course corn. The people here do not eat the vegetables, they produce and sell them.
June, 1996 - Bernard and Trish moved to Panimaquin where Bernard was made pastor of the congregation of seven with a new, small, church building. Here the new work began. They slept on the church floor for the first four months while Bernard and two village men (from the church) along with a pastor / block layer built their apartment. They immediately noticed that many very tiny children were left in the care of their 7 and 8 year old siblings while their fathers worked in the fields and their mothers went down the hill to sell vegetables. The school-aged children attended the deficient public school only sporadically where most dropped out by 3rd or 4th grade. They were barely able to read, write, or do simple math.
1997 - Bernard and Trish started a pre-school with 12 students. They served breakfast and lunch. The team consisted of two cooks, a woman to clean, three teenage helpers, and the two men who worked alongside Bernard as he taught them the many skills he had learned by working with his father. Trish taught class with her limited Spanish for the first year only. In 1998, Bety, a Guatemalan, joined GMO to teach the children for the next four school years. In 2002, GMO had two teachers with full teaching credentials.
July 2002 - Bernard and Trish were given an indigenous baby girl just ten minutes after she was born. Her single mother, unable to support her, sought a Christian couple to be her permanent parents. Sarah Catherine was a gift directly from God! It is amazing how she has touched everyone in the community in such a short time. Now, they can teach family life by example, it certainly has more impact than words.
Sept 2006 - At this time, the Cohens have four grown children ages 40 to 49 and their spouses. There are 15 grandchildren, ages 3 1/2 to 26 and 2 great grandchildren 2 and four.