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On Wednesday evening we took the 4 hour mountain drive to return to the ministry center.  Have I mentioned how many roads were impacted by the recent weather?  Many roads had large piles of mud and boulders on both sides of the road from the landslides.  The roads were generally cleared, but occasionally on four lane highways two lanes were closed.  At one point we went through a large area of water and I was concerned that we might get stuck, but we got through fine.  Usually the team travels in a fleet of 4 wheel drive Suburbans, but several of the Suburbans are at the repair shop so we had rented a small bus.  The bus was not 4 wheel drive so I was so glad that we made it through the "stream" across the road.

Our fourth and last clinic took place in a suburb of Guatemala City called Villa Neueva.  The area was much more modern in building and dress compared to the villages.  We had a busy day and 110 patients were seen. 

Our intention is to send part of the team to prayer walk in the area during each clinic.  This means the prayer walkers would walk around the area and pray for the people and goings-on.  I was assigned to the first prayer walk team in Villa Neueva, if we were allowed to go.  We asked the pastor and received permission to go.  Louise, Steve, and I prayer walked with three Guatemalans from the church.  I thought it was humorous that Roger (pronounced Roy-air) first told us, "Not dangerous," and then when we asked him if there was anything specific we should pray for he replied, "The bad people."  I felt very safe as I walked.  Not sure if my feeling of safety came from the three Guatemalans accompanying us, the fact that Steve is a strong looking guy, or directly from God's comfort.  We had a great time of prayer as the three of us took turns praying out loud for the people, businesses, and spiritual revival of the area.  We prayed for individuals who follow Christ to be a light in their families and peer groups to lead other to a good relationship with God.

Upon returning from the prayer walk, I was a runner to take patients from the doctors to the counseling stations.  I thought this would be an easy job but it was more difficult than I thought to keep each station with an equal number of patients and figure out which stations were available.

The most emotional part of the day for me was when I was in a counseling station.  In contrast to the people's responses in the village, two thirds of the people I saw in the counseling station in Villa Neueva did not have a relationship with God.  Some were even running from him.  Two sweet gentlemen loved the Lord, but the four women I saw did not know him.  Three of them prayed to become Christians, and the fourth wasn't sure if she wanted to do so.  She did want to pray with us that if God is real that he would reveal himself to her.  The patients I saw told us many of their needs and asked us to pray for them.  The woman who wasn't sure if she wanted to be a Christian really confided in us.  She admitted an area of her life she was ashamed of and hadn't told anyone in the eight years it had been an issue.  We had a deep time of prayer with her and she thanked us for our concern for her and our nonjudgemental attitude.  The translator exchanged contact information with her so that they could be in contact in the future.  I feel God planned for that translator to be with me because I don't think she would have admitted her problem if I was with, for example, a teenaged boy translator.  A 44 year old female translator allowed her to feel comfortable opening up.  I have great hope for her, and I praise the Lord for bringing her to the clinic.

Tracy

Our first three clinics were in rural Guatemalan villages.  As Cindy mentioned, the entire team stayed in a church fellowship hall.  Except for the bathrooms, the church was a fine place to stay.  The water supply was only available for a short time--perhaps an hour--each day.  Therefore during that hour we filled bucket after bucket with water and stored it in large barrels.  The main reason we needed the water store was to flush the toilets.  We had four toilet stalls, and three were functional.  (The fourth was very stinkily non-functional.)  In order to flush the toilet, one needed to fill the tank of the toilet with a bucket of water.  The bathroom floors were always covered in funky water, so I tried not to allow my skirt hem to hit the floor.  We were required to wear long skirts for the clinics, so it was difficult to keep the skirt out of the water.  There was mold growing on the wall of the bathroom, but no one except me seemed concerned about it.  I thought we needed a mold intervention, but it didn't happen.

Besides the bathrooms, being in the villages was a delight.  The people welcomed us eagerly at the clinics as well as in out in the community.  Especially the kids were friendly towards us and some followed team members as they went about their duties.  The warm smiles of the children were encouraging.

We had three doctors, 23 team members, and about 8+ translators working with us.  Churches advertised our free medical clinic and in each case a long line awaited us when we arrived.  We quickly set up three doctor stations, six to eight counseling stations, and a pharmacy.  We also set up a waiting area if needed, but in the villages the people simply stood in a line reaching out the door and into the front yard of the church.  Usually volunteers from the church assisted us in managing the waiting line.  In most cases we set up games outside for the young children as their parents waited and were seen in the clinic.  Our team includes numerous kids and teens and they did a wonderful job running games and face painting, etc. with the village children.  We all took turns in counseling stations, running medications, working in the pharmacy, prayer walking, and in the eye clinic.

The doctors would see the patients, and then send them to a counseling station.  Awaiting them in the station would be one or more of our team members and a translator.  A runner would collect the prescriptions and take them to the pharmacy as we counseled the patient.  As we awaited the prescriptions to be filled, we asked the patient how we could pray for them and told them the reason for our hope--a relationship with God through Jesus Christ.  I counseled 17 villagers in three village clinics and all reported that they were Christians.  They eagerly accepted our offer to pray for them and shared their medical, physical, relational, and emotional needs with us.  In my station, several were moved to tears during prayer time.  It was wonderful to meet with my brothers and sisters in Christ.

Tracy    

On Monday morning right before we left for Cerro de Oro, I had a special privilege.  Several years ago our family decided to sponsor a child to match the ages of each of our three children.  We sponsor Dorcas and Denis in Karanse, Tanzania, Africa, and Luis in Guatemala.  Luis turns 10 on September 6th so he is close in age to my son Jack.  D'Ann Renner runs the Guatamala child sponsorship program through Perimeter and is one of my supporters for this trip, so she was aware I was going to Guatemala.  She mentioned that there was the possiblity of meeting Luis while I was here.  I said that I would like to be able to meet him but wasn't confident that it would work out.  His school is about 90 minutes away from where I am staying in Mixco, and I didn't want to inconvenience him.  I was surpised as we finished morning devotions on Monday that someone called my name and said that Luis was here to see me.

Luis was much smaller than I expected, way smaller than Jack and even smaller than Garrett, my seven year old.  He had a lovely smile and gave me a warm hug and a photo of himself.  In the photo he is holding a sign expressing thanks.  It was so much fun to learn more about his likes and dislikes.  He likes "futball", aka soccer.  I found out he and his three siblings live with their mom but not their dad.  The most interesting thing I learned was that Luis had earned a gymnastics scholarship to train for the Guatamalan Olympic gymnastics team.  He attends a special school for gymnasts during the week and his mom picks him up by bus on Fridays and returns him on each Sunday.  He will continue training for the Olympics until he either achieves that goal or no longer qualifies.  We ended our time together by praying for one another.  It was a very sweet time of prayer.  We had a translator since I don't speak Spanish and he does not speak English, but we know that God understands both languages!  Meeting Luis was a special treat for me.

Tracy

I've really been enjoying our morning devotions, which generally begin at 7 am and end at 9 am.  On Tuesday Dr. Alb spoke on serving in the medical clinics from the right mind-set--considering Christ's example and following it.  Here were two key passages:

Philippiains 2:1-5

If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.  Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus.

Jeremiah 15:19

Therefore this is what the LORD says:
       "If you repent, I will restore you
       that you may serve me;
       if you utter worthy, not worthless, words,
       you will be my spokesman.
       Let this people turn to you,
       but you must not turn to them.

I had never particularly noticed this verse before.  So--I repent, he resores me, then I'm allowed to serve, and if my words are worthy, I get to be his spokesman--I love it!

For the portion of the time in which a member of our team spoke, Patrick Johnson shared his thoughts on Psalm 103.  He focused on verses 1-5.

Praise the LORD, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name.

Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits-

who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases,

who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion,

who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.

Patrick spoke about David, the author of this Psalm, and called our attention to verses two and three--praising the Lord and remembering the awesome benefits of being his child, including that he forgives our sins. 

I praise God and thank thank him for extending his forgiveness even to me-- his mercies are new every morning.

Tracy

We just returned from Cerro de Oro (Center of Gold), a rural village 4 hours drive through the mountains.  There we conducted a short clinic on Monday afternoon and another, longer clinic this morning (Wednesday).  On Tuesday we traveled to a village near Cerro de Oro and had a clinic there.

Each morning we start the day with morning devotions with Dr. Hermann Alb.  These last 2 hours each and the time quickly passes as we worship God and hear words of encouragement from Dr. Alb.  On Monday, he spoke on approval.  We should seek the approval of God and not man.  If we are following Christ, then we are already approved to share the good news of the gospel even if we have had no special training.  One key verse from Monday's devotion time is:

1 Thessalonians 2:4

... we speak as men approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel. We are not trying to please men but God, who tests our hearts.

Dr. Alb also invites one person from the team to share during the devotion time.  On Monday I was the one to speak and I shared my thoughts on Hebrews 11, frequently called "The Hall of Faith".  I love this passage because it shows how God uses imperfect people, even adulterers and murderers, in advancing his kingdom of believers for his own glory.

Our dinner is ready so I will upload this and continue later.

Tracy

As Tracy mentioned, we have returned from almost 3 days of village life that included no running water and 2 nights of sleeping together in one large room on cots.  I am happy to report that we are all still talking to each other and loving on each other.  I am also happy to report that there was a mad rush for the showers as soon as the suburbans and bus pulled into the mission center in Guatemala City. 

It has been an amazing experience to be with the Guatemalan people as they receive care from the doctors, free medicine and time with our team talking about their faith and the gospel.  I am certain we have all personally seen God in action.  An example of this is a miracle that Paige on our team witnessed.  A woman received an initial eye exam where the diagnosis was that she was almost blind in one eye and had perhaps 20-70 vision in the other eye.  After this initial exam, she was prayed over.  A follow up exam showed that her 20-70 vision eye was now 20-20! God's work for sure!

A large part of our time in the villages was also spent with the children.  What a joy to see their smiles as we painted their faces, blew bubbles, played duck/duck/goose and even put on a puppet show.  And I would be remiss if I did not share with you that we had a Gringo girls versus a Gautemalan girls basketball team game and a Gringo boys versus a Guatemalan boys basketball game!  As you can imagine, that was great entertainment for all spectators!  If I can figure out how to post the video I will! 

Oh and finally, I should tell you that if everything else we have written hasn't convinced you to come on a mission trip to Guatemala, ask me about the 4 hour bus/suburban ride to the village!...  Laughs, music, goodies to eat, and white knuckles!  I loved it! 

Cindy