Guatemala · July 2026
Oasis Impact Report
Since 2015, Athentikos has partnered with Oasis Residential Home in San Lucas, Guatemala, walking alongside girls and young women who have found refuge after escaping abuse, exploitation, and other dangerous circumstances.
Overview
What happened
At Oasis, girls receive legal advocacy, trauma-informed therapy, and the loving support of a safe community as they begin rebuilding their lives.
Through I AM ART, Athentikos complements this ongoing work by creating spaces where creativity becomes a pathway to healing. Through art, storytelling, music, and shared creative experiences, participants discover new ways to express their voices, reclaim their identities, and move toward hope, courage, and restoration.
Partner
Oasis Home For Girls
Oasis Residential Home is a Christ-centered residential community in San Lucas, Guatemala, providing a safe home for girls and young women who have been rescued from abuse, exploitation, and other dangerous circumstances. Through family-style care, trauma-informed counseling, education, legal advocacy, and Christian discipleship, Oasis helps each girl experience healing, hope, and the opportunity to build a new future.
Through I AM ART, Athentikos partners with Oasis to create spaces where creativity becomes a pathway to restoration. Through art, storytelling, worship, and mentoring relationships, participants are invited to discover their identity in Christ, process their experiences, and embrace the hope that their stories are still being written.
What We Witnessed
Not just participation. Transformation.
students ages 5–22 participated in workshops, worship and large group Bible teaching.
volunteers from Dominica, the US, Guatemala, and Scotland.
workshops including Creative Writing, Wooden Dolls, Shapes & Textures, Recycled Trees, and Bear’s Birthday Party.
art projects affirmed that every voice matters and every story has value, reflecting God’s creativity at work in each individual.
Featured Story
Discovering Freedom
What does it feel like to be safe enough to create? For the girls at Oasis, the answer wasn’t found in a single breakthrough, but in quiet moments, a shared meal, a burst of laughter, an unfinished project, and the growing courage to believe their story could become something new.
"I came carrying broken pieces of my story. I left believing God was still creating something beautiful."
Five Ways the Story Unfolded
Each workshop carried the same journey in a different form.
Large Group
Where the Story Begins
Each day of I AM ART Camp began with the story of Ruth through engaging storytelling, helping students reflect on the themes of I AM ART.
Wooden Dolls
Freedom to Become
What begins as a woodworking project becomes a journey of healing and identity. As broken pieces are restored, the girls at Oasis discover they are not defined by their past, but by the God who is making them new.
3D collage
Shapes & Textures
Girls learned new ways to express themselves through pattern and texture, observing nature and creating beautiful prints to redesign in 3D collage.
Mixed-Media
Recycled Trees
The girls created symbolic tree artwork from recycled branches, wax crayons, glass frames, and paint. Disbelief in transformation changed to astonishment as restoration took place.
Creative Writing
A Journal of Encouragement
The girls learned to express their story through journaling and abstract painting. They repurposed their broken canvases as journal covers and a yarn note board holding encouragement and truth.
Preschool
Bears Brithday Party
Celebrating each participant through decoration of birthday party elements and bringing light in the darkness through making lanterns.
Featured Story
Freedom to Become: The Wooden Doll Workshop
“The truth is, I don’t know who I am.” The room fell quiet. It wasn’t the kind of answer a woodworking project was supposed to uncover. But over the next four days, every crack, repair, and unfinished piece of wood became an unexpected invitation to ask a deeper question: What if what feels broken isn’t the end of the story?
"Freedom wasn't found in forgetting my past. It was found in discovering who God says I am."
Featured Story
Freedom to See: The Textures Workshop
Sometimes the hardest part of creating is letting go of what you thought it was supposed to become. When the girls were asked to cut apart artwork they had carefully made, it felt like everything was being undone. But one quiet reflection transformed the moment into something entirely different, revealing that God’s patient work in our lives often looks more like unfolding than starting over.
Featured Story
The Story That Continues
Some stories were never meant to stay on the pages of Scripture. As Ivette Alvarado shared the story of Ruth, she unexpectedly watched its themes unfold before her eyes through a young mother and her daughter as they experienced creativity, healing, and the Gospel together. Discover how an ancient story became a living one at Oasis.
Team Members
The Hands and Hearts Behind I AM ART
Angel Hernandez
Workshop Leader
Guatemala
“I’m so proud of the girls who spoke more at the Art Show!”
Christa Fuentes
Workshop Leader
Guatemala
“Here I am reminded that we are part of something much bigger than ourselves.”
Ivette Alvarado
Bible Teacher
Guatemala
“It is a blessing to come back to Oasis and serve these young girls!”
Gemma Moreau
Assistant
Guatemala
“I found community here!”
Irma Woltke
Assistant
Guatemala
“My favorite part was a group hug from the girls.”
Julia Halterman
Workshop Leader
Tennessee, USA
“I was surprised to see the love the girls have despite what they have experienced.”
Kristin Beyer
Team Leader
Guatemala
“I praise the Lord for guiding all the details.”
Martita Villela
Workshop Leader
Guatemala
“I am grateful for all the blessings that I have seen.”
Morena Tercero
Workshop Leader
Guatemala
“I loved seeing the girls play with the flowers in the workshop. They returned to being little girls for a moment, laughing.”
Noe Chan
Workshop Leader, Athentikos Program Director
Guatemala
“The time after and before dinner, laughing and sharing with the team, was special.”
Rosie Messeder
Athentikos Intern & Storyteller
Guatemala & Scotland
“It was impactful to see the difference between the new girl and those who already understand that there is hope.”
Kathlyn Chan
Team Leader, Athentikos Program Director
Guatemala
“This camp was truly one I will never forget. I was so encouraged to see the growth and leadership of this team. Each one knew what to do and showed up in incredible ways. I personally was so much more able to relax and engage in camp as Kristin took the lead. What a joy to serve together and compliment one another with our strengths. I’m just so grateful.”
Chris & Liz Campbell
Workshop Leaders
Guatemala
“We were inspired to witness the girls struggle through a challenge in their art projects to make something meaningful.”
Kevin España
Large Group Music
Guatemala
The I AM ART Journey
Created. Broken. Restored. Loved.
Each workshop invited students to experience the Gospel through creativity, reflection, prayer, and restoration.
01
I AM ART
The girls began by creating something beautiful and recognizing that they, too, are intentionally made with purpose in His image, reflecting His creativity through their artwork.
02
I AM CONNECTED
The girls explored and expressed through art how they are connected to God, their community and the world around them.
03
I AM BROKEN
Artwork was covered, cut, melted, altered, or disrupted — creating space to name pain and brokenness honestly.
04
I AM RESTORED
Students carefully restored what seemed ruined and discovered that beauty could still remain beneath the broken places.
05
I AM LOVED
Through prayer, sharing, and encouragement, participants experienced belonging, connection, and the truth that they are loved.
Volunteer Highlight
Faithfully Returning: Christa Fuentes and the Freedom of Restoration
After more than a decade serving at Oasis, Christa Fuentes has discovered that the most meaningful moments rarely happen according to schedule. When one young woman’s artwork fell apart, Christa quietly stayed behind, revealing the kind of faithful presence that keeps drawing her back year after year.
Gracias
Partners in Creative Restoration
I AM ART is possible because of the generous support of people who believe in the power of creativity and faith to transform lives. Special thanks to these individuals who brought hope, healing, and connection to life at CEIVA ’26 through their financial contributions.
Help more students experience restoration through creativity.
Your support helps create spaces where young people can discover identity, healing, connection, and hope. Become a monthly partner and help us create spaces where creativity transforms lives.