The\u00a0Santa Elena Veinte de Octubre Fund<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0was established as a Wider Church Ministries permanent fund to benefit Global Ministries in 2004 at the request of the Christian Outreach Committee of First Church United Church of Christ of Oberlin, Ohio, which has a long-standing commitment and care for the poor in Guatemala, including through its sister relationship with the Guatemalan village, Santa Elena Veinte de Octubre.<\/p>\n On the basis of a generous bequest of church members, Doctors Jim and Jeanne Stephens, this Fund recognizes the lifelong commitment of Drs. Stephens to global mission and First Church\u2019s long and abiding interest in the church\u2019s wider mission.\u00a0 Doctors Jim and Jeanne Stephens served the Oberlin, Ohio, community as an orthopedic surgeon and a pediatrician respectively for many years.\u00a0 When they retired from practicing medicine in 1976 they went to Kenya and worked as volunteers for 18 months in a hospital in Chogoria, Kenya.\u00a0 From 1985 to 1990 they were members of a peace and justice effort in Oberlin, the Oberlin Overground Railroad, that helped Central American refugees with housing, food, English language lessons, and medical care as the refugees waited for Canadian visas and permission to immigrate to Canada.<\/p>\n Distributions from Santa Elena Veinte de Octubre Fund<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0provided scholarship support for members of the Santa Elena Veinte de Octubre community for the first years, and now provides Global Ministries ministry partner, Guatemala Cultural Action (ACG), with resources for its programs including those in community development, spiritual support, communications, and empowerment of women.<\/p>\n