Julio Rodriguez is a native Guatemalan born in San Lucas, accepted Jesus at the age of 13 by waving a towel in the air at a man proclaiming the gospel from an airplane (people giving disaster relief in San Lucas, food and salvation message after a major earthquake) indicating that he wanted to make a decision for Christ. Julio studied accounting and administration and then in the late 1980's he started Getsemaní School, and was pastor of a girls’ orphanage in San Lucas that Jodi's father and mother, Lamar and Nancy Esbenshade had been supporting financially for many years, and co-pastor of a church in his home town.
Jodi Esbenshade (de Rodriguez) was born in Lititz, PA., accepted Christ at the age of 8 and at the same age felt the call to missions after seeing a film about needy African children. She studied to be a music major and took a Spanish minor in Bloomsburg,PA., lead a missions trip to Guatemala in 1989 with her parents and home church and her team was housed in San Lucas with Julio coordinating their various outreach activites . Later on Jodi served in the girls orphanage a few months and then led various other mission teams. They met and became friends through these missions experiences.
After working together they both felt God's hand in their lives, leading them to marry and continue the work that was started in San Lucas. In the past