ABOUT US
About Pat & Yesenia
Pat and Yesenia Opperman are a couple of Christians who met, married and decided to spend a good deal of their time serving the Lord together in Guatemala. This was not a predictable path for the two.
Well, maybe for Yesenia it was. She was born in a suburb of Guatemala City. Her father is an Evangelical Pentecostal pastor and her parents together started the Fundacion Ciudad de Refugio, a charity and feeding program blessing some of the poorest neighborhoods of the capital city. Yesenia left her home as a teenager to take a live-in housekeeper job with another evangelical pastor and his family. Theirs was a mission-based church and Yesenia became a regular member of their mission teams. During that time, she also became a leader of worship at their church. She remains active with the missions and worship team today. She also occasionally leads services and guest-preaches at several Ciudad de Refugio-affiliated churches.
For most of that time, Pat was wandering around New Jersey being "spiritual, but not religious". Then one day, he attended a service at a Presbyterian church that managed to get him reconnected to the Christian community. They were also a mission-based church and as fate would have it, Pat traveled with them to Guatemala, where they partnered with a local missions team that included Yesenia as a translator and cook. On that trip, Pat gave his life to Jesus and promised he would do as much mission work as he could. When he was laid off from his job two years later, he moved to Guatemala, where Yesenia was waiting to help him get acclimated and working.
The following year, Pat and Yesenia were married. After some time working for other charitable organizations, they formed "A Couple of Christians Foundation" in New Jersey and incorporated in Guatemala as "Misioneros Cristianos Unidos."
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Their little miracle, Catalina, came along in 2016. She travels everywhere with them as their missionary baby. Pat and Yesenia hope their organization grows as fast as their beautiful daughter.
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On the other hand, they pray they can close their mission someday because no one else needs their help.
PAT, YESENIA, AND CATALINA CAN ALWAYS USE MORE FINANCIAL SUPPORT, ESPECIALLY AS CATALINA HITS SCHOOL AGE. IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO HELP WITH A ONE-TIME OR MONTHLY DONATION, GO TO THE DONATE PAGE AND NOTE "FAMILY" IN THE COMMENTS SECTION. THANKS!
ABOUT OUR ORGANIZATION:
A Couple of Christians Foundation (ACOC) is a 501(c)3-certified charitable organization in the USA and follows the regulations of the Internal Revenue Service and the State of New Jersey. (As such, all donations are tax-deductible.)
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Misioneros Cristianos Unidos (MCU) is a certified civil organization operating under the laws and purview of the Guatemalan government.
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Both entities are licensed to provide charitable services and receive donations in support of those services, as well as to receive and distribute emergency funds and supplies in the event of disasters in Guatemala and New Jersey.
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MCUGuatemala.org is a communications and information website for the two organizations.
Unless otherwise stated, all projects and programs are managed by MCU in cooperation and with the financial, logistical, and spiritual support of ACOC.
