Investing in People who Invest in People

What does it look like to get a 100x return on your investment?

One of my favorite passages in Scripture is Jesus’ explanation of the Parable of the Sower. In Mark 4:20, he describes the seed that falls on good soil:

“Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop—some thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times what was sown.”

Over the years, I have often reflected on what it means to see a hundredfold return on an investment. In a world that constantly encourages us to invest our time, energy, and resources in things that promise financial gain, Jesus points us toward something far more valuable: investing in people.

Recently, as our Cadaniño team gathered to celebrate Jonathan’s birthday (he is our Robotics teacher in San Jose Pinula), everyone took turns sharing words of encouragement and appreciation. As I listened, I found myself reflecting on the many people who had invested in Jonathan’s life and the many lives he is now influencing in return.

That moment brought me back to a conversation I had more than fifteen years ago with Dr. Robert Little.

Dr. Little was one of the earliest supporters when we started out as missionaries during our formative years. Long before Cadaniño existed, he challenged us to think differently about ministry. Rather than focusing only on what we could personally accomplish, he encouraged us to invest in people who would, in turn, invest in others.

His vision was rooted in 2 Timothy 2:2: “And what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also.”

Make disciples who make disciples. Teach people who teach people who teach people.

At the time, many of the ideas he shared seemed ambitious. He talked about empowering students to lead, creating systems that multiply influence, and developing environments where students could become teachers. Years before STEM education became popular in Guatemala, he encouraged us to explore science, technology, innovation, and self-directed learning as tools that could help young people discover and develop their God-given gifts.

In fact, before we launched the Cadaniño after-school program in a garage in 2016 with just 35 students, Dr. Little came and led a workshop focused on empowering community leaders to serve and on teaching them to multiply their impact by creating leaders who serve others.

Today, nearly a decade later, I am amazed to see many of those ideas, now rooted in Cadaniño’s culture, bearing fruit.

Jonathan’s story is a perfect example of this.

Jonathan first came to Cadaniño as a student way back in 2017. Along the way, our teachers invested in him, encouraged him, and gave him opportunities to grow.

Key to his journey was Eduardo Lux, our first teacher, who now runs the Cadaniño center in Santa Fe where we started.

Eduardo invested in Jonathan’s growth and development, helping him discover his abilities and potential. Today, Jonathan serves as one of our STEM, robotics, and science teachers. He is helping to develop and lead programs that prepare students for opportunities most of them never imagined were possible. I still remember Eduardo calling me up and begging for Jonathan to be added to a group of early Cadaniño students who had been given a scholarship to a robotics course: “Tim, he is new here, but he is really interested in technology, has a really good heart, and I think he is worth investing in.”

But the story does not stop there.

Today, Jonathan is investing in students just as others once invested in him. Some of the teenagers he teaches have become leaders themselves. They help teach robotics clubs, guide younger students through projects, and patiently share the skills they have learned with others. What began as an investment in that young boy has now grown into a community of students learning not only how to succeed but also how to help others succeed.

When I step back and look at it, I realize we are witnessing something remarkable. Dr. Little invested in us. We invested in our teachers. Our teachers invested in Jonathan. Jonathan is investing in students, and those students are now investing in others. Six generations later, that chain of influence continues to grow. That is what multiplication looks like.

As I write this, we are gearing up to host the first Guatemala Science and Technology Fair. As I watch students prepare projects in robotics, programming, 3D printing, engineering, and electronics, I see far more than science projects on display. I see the fruit of decades of investment in people. I see students discovering abilities they never knew they possessed and gaining confidence in gifts that God placed within them long ago. I see future teachers, engineers, entrepreneurs, and community leaders beginning to emerge. Most importantly, I see young people learning that their gifts were never meant to be kept for themselves, but used to serve others.

Perhaps that is why this lesson resonates with me so deeply.

You see, before coming to Guatemala, I had a career in technology and systems engineering. Over the years, there were seasons when ministry was difficult. Raising support was challenging, and providing for a family with six children required faith that stretched us beyond our comfort zone. There were times when I wondered whether it would have been easier to return to a career in technology, earn a stable income, and simply volunteer on the side.

If I am honest, there were moments when I looked at my gifts and abilities and wondered if I was wasting some of the skills God had given me by not pursuing a career that would maximize my earning potential.

But looking back now, I realize that God was using those years to teach me something far more valuable. The greatest us of my skills has been to build a ministry that empowers people to use their skills to serve others.

The technology labs, robotics clubs, science fairs, and educational programs are all wonderful tools, but they are not the true legacy. The true legacy is found in the people. It is found in teachers like Eduardo, in young leaders like Jonathan, and in students who are already investing in the next generation. Those are the investments that continue growing long after we are gone.

After more than twenty years serving here in Guatemala, I have come to realize something profound: the greatest investment we can make is not in technology, business, property, or even programs. The greatest investment we can make is in people. People carry the image of God. They shape families, communities, and future generations. Unlike any other investment, people can multiply their influence by investing in others. When we intentionally create opportunities for that multiplication to occur, the impact expands far beyond what any one individual could accomplish alone.

That is what I believe Jesus was talking about when He described a harvest thirty, sixty, and one hundred times greater than what was originally sown.

Every time a teacher patiently helps a struggling student, a seed is planted. Every mentor who takes the time to encourage a young person plants another seed. Every volunteer who serves, every donor who creates opportunities, and every student who chooses to help a fellow student is participating in the same process. These simple acts may seem small in the moment, but when they fall on good soil, God uses them to produce a harvest far beyond what any of us could imagine.

And that is what a hundredfold return looks like.

Sincerely,

Timothy and Sharie Martiny

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