Seven Cars for a House

A pastor we worked with in Xela wanted to show me his house one day. I didn't really understand because he lived in housing provided by a missionary, but I went anyway. After arriving I realized that construction had just finished on a rental property. I am a big fan of investing in real estate, and had nothing but praise for him and his decision to think about his future.

He answered the question so I didn't have to ask it. How did he get the money? He explained:

"In the past 10 years I have been given 7 cars by pastors in the States. They come down here on a trip and see that I don't have a car, so they buy one while they're here and give it to me. I drive it for a little while, but after not too much time I sell it. Then the next time a different pastor comes down, he does the same thing and buys me a car. The same scenario has repeated itself, and I have traded those seven cars for this house."

This is, obviously, blatant exploitation of the generosity of Gringos. I don't know whether to blame the pastor for lack of due diligence, the missionary who started the church (and was still paying the pastor's salary) for not giving the pastor the complete picture, or just blame the Guatemalan for everything.