Ramirez, Lourdes

Maria de Lourdes Ramirez Meneses (Lulu) is a missionary with the United Methodist General Board of Global Ministries. Commissioned in the spring of 2017, started serving in Nicaragua. She was relocated to serve with the Evangelical Methodist Church of Guatemala in September 2018.

The Evangelical National Primitive Methodist Church of Guatemala (The National Church) is an Indigenous church with approximately 12,000 members, 120 congregations, and 70 youth and women organized groups. The National Church Headquarters are in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala. Most of its members work as merchants in the public markets, as weavers and small farmers.

Spanish is primarily a second language. Worship services and meetings in the rural areas are conducted predominantly in the Quiche language. This church, however, continues to grow in numbers and in witness in Guatemala and beyond. Since the early 1980s, Global Ministries and the National Church have accompanied one another in mission and ministry in numerous ways.

Church development happens very naturally. When one congregation grows, some of the members who travel long distances to the worship services sometimes establish a small group that eventually becomes a congregation. Land is donated by a member or purchased by the community, and the church building is built by the church members with local resources (first wood and, eventually, adobe). Most often, given the members’ economic situation, the National Church is asked to furnish or raise support for purchase of building materials and furniture.

Lourdes is from Puebla, Mexico, where she is a member of the Shalom Methodist Church. She holds a range of degrees and certificates in business administration and finance and did postgraduate work in agriculture. She has worked in the financial and retail industries.

While not born into a Christian family, Lourdes learned to surrender and fully trust in God.

In 2019, she married Richard Mroczka from the Western Pennsylvania Annual Conference. Richard is also heavily involved in mission. They have served together since then.

“Through the years,” she recalled, “I learned that it is not my decision, but the Lord’s decision. I would like to share with others how Jesus shapes our lives so we can be his instruments to show his glory.” She was introduced to mission opportunities when she served as an interpreter for a medical mission team in Mexico from Tennessee. As she became increasingly involved with the team, she realized that she, too, could serve God and others in a missionary role.