Second Day & Third Day

Blogging fell by the wayside yesterday..  Everything is proceeding nicely.  In the last two days the construction crew has finished six houses and built a rocket stove in each one.

The team at Amor del Nino finished cleaning and painting a 175 foot wall and loved on babies.

The dental team worked overtime today trying to attend to everyone who came.  I think Carol and Debbie may have new careers as dental assistants.

Tomorrow, Don, D. J. and I will go with the team to Antigua, get them settled, and then head for the airport and home.  The team will dedicate the houses and distribute food to families.  On Friday they will go to the seminary to paint or whatever needs doing there.  Another few team members will leave for home on Saturday and the remainder will leave on Sunday.

It has been a good week.  The team has been blessed with good health and safety, as well as being a blessing to some folks in Guatemala. This trip is almost behind us and we will look forward to next year.

Luisa

First Full Day

The teams reported in today with good progress.  The construction team is ahead of schedule with two houses built and one more started.  The dental clinic worked steadily from 9:00 to 4:00 and will be back at it again tomorrow.  The team at Amor del Nino got more than they bargained for.  They are cleaning a wall to prepare it for white washing.....hard work.  Everyone is tired and should sleep well tonight.  So far, all are well and healthy.  Hopefully, there will be some pictures to share tomorrow.

Luisa

Starting Up

It is Sunday night, June 3rd, and all of the team is here, the last ones having arrived sometime after midnight last night.  Church this morning was at New Life Church in the chapel at the Seminary in Chimalentango.  It was good to worship and take communion with our brothers and sisters in Christ.  The common ground of a relationship with Christ knows no difference in skin color or language.

We have just finished a meeting where assignments have been made as to who will work where.  Some are going to Amor del Nino to paint walls, do repairs, and feed and rock babies.  Some will assist Manuel Chavez, a dentist, to provide dental care to folks in el Tejar.  Some will start building houses near el Tejar.  The goal is to build six houses complete with a rocket stove.  These stoves are a blessing to the people here who do most of their cooking inside the house with green wood which contributes to respiratory diseases.  The rocket stove has a chimney to take the smoke out of the house.  A couple of the pastors at Foothills Bible Church will meet with some pastors near Guatemala City with perhaps a pastor's conference in mind or some teaching and training of pastors in the near future.

We are looking forward to a good week ministering to and being blessed by the people of Guatemala.

Please pray for the team as they go separate ways tomorrow, for safety, for good health, and for Christlike attitudes.

Luisa

WINDING DOWN

Sorry for the lateness of this blog. My fingers were willing last night, but my brain and eyes were shutting down.

In the previous blog I said that the team was going to the seminary to help in the con-struction of an apartment complex. It was more like de-struction. We moved a lot of broken concrete blocks that came from a wall that had been torn down and put them in a pile for a truck to come in and carry them off. We also dug up a lot of sod so the ground could be leveled. Someone made the comment that this was the most physical labor they had done in a year.

Most of the team is off to Monterrico on the coast today for some sand, sun, ocean breezes, and swimming. Three of us older heads stayed back to tour Antigua. (Rusty may take exception to being called an older head, but that's what he gets for having gray hair.)

The entertainment we enjoyed Thursday evening at Restaurante Don Rodrigo bears further description. Although, words cannot completely describe it.....you needed to be there. At one point during the dinner, a group of Guatemalans came out dressed in elaborate costumes complete with masks and did a dance routine to the music being played. After they danced for a while, they invited members of the guests to participate, which several of our group did. It was fun and entertaining and then, one of the members of our team, I'll not mention a name, but he is head, shoulders, and overall body bigger than the dance team. He started doing the can can and the Guatemalans retreated to the sides of the dance floor, their routine blown out of the water. If it had not been for the masks, I am sure we would have seen stark terror on their faces.

All in all, the trip this year has been a success even with some of the delays and at times not knowing if we were going to be able to accomplish what we came to do. But God is good and is able to complete His work in spite of us.

Hopefully, we will get the vehicles out of the parking lot at an hour much earlier than the attendants want to open and be on our way to the airport. It has been fun blogging and from time to time I hope to continue. God bless you all.

Luisa

THE SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS

Four families in Alotenango have a new house today with a new rocket stove. No more smell of smoke in the house, no more red eyes, and no more fighting to breathe. The ladies of the house were shown how to start the fires and safely operate the stoves.

Manuel Chavez brought a short gospel message at each house dedication and two people made a profession of faith in Christ. One other person is a believer and the others were not ready yet to make the commitment. They have been given the Word so they have it in their minds and we pray that as they think about what they heard, the Holy Spirit will convict them and draw them to Jesus Christ. We build houses, do dental clinics, hand out food and clothes and play with children, but the main focus is to present Christ to the Guatemalan people.

Just a short note about Manuel Chavez....he is a dentist by profession and an evangelist by calling. He does not miss an opportunity to tell someone about Jesus. We got to know Manuel when Don was looking for a dentist who was willing to do dental work for free if we bought the equipment. Manuel has been more than willing to fill that position. I count him as a dear friend and will miss him tremendously.

Tonight we are in Antigua in a hotel and dined at Restaurante Don Rodrigo. The food was excellent and the entertainment was.....entertaining. I hope to have pictures soon. Tomorrow we are off to the seminary to help in preparing the ground for the construction of an apartment complex.

I think the team will rest well tonight, they are tired. Rusty fell asleep at the table in the restaurant.

Luisa

THE GREATEST GIFT IS LOVE

This week has been about giving in the form of building houses, pulling teeth, feeding and rocking babies and we're not done yet. There have been four houses built complete with concrete and the dentist have relieved toothaches for over 100 people. Tomorrow plans are to build rocket stoves in each of the new houses. A lot of the people here suffer from respiratory illnesses due to the open cooking fires inside the house. The rocket stove is a cook stove as well as a source of heat and the smoke goes out the chimney instead of in eyes and noses. Late in the afternoon, the team will congregate back in Alotenango to dedicate the houses.

I realize I am prejudice, but this has been one of the best groups I have been a part of. The ages range from 12 to 72 and everyone has been treated with love and respect. They have worked together in harmony to give to the Guatemalan people and have discovered that it is hard to out give them. They want to show their gratefulness by giving something in return.

It is time to pack and get ready to vacate the mission house since another team is coming in tomorrow. Please continue to pray for the team as they finish the work and continue to be an example of Christ love to the people here.

Luisa

SOUTH OF THE BORDER....THEY CAME OUT TO PLAY

God has blessed, the weather has been good and the houses are almost finished. The dental team was busy and another group returned to Amor del Nino. Kids were loved on and our own Mr. Fixit did some maintenance.

Tonight was a night of cross cultural dining, fellowship, and games with several families from Chimaltenango here to eat and visit. On a personal note, it is probably the last time I will see some of these folks so I was especially glad they could come.

Everyone is doing well with the exception maybe of one young man by the name of Jackson Doshier. We have nicknamed him "popper" and he may still have blisters in his mouth. Don bought some little peppers that he calls poppers that are just a little smaller than a pea and hotter than blue blazes, Jackson took one and popped it in his mouth and instantly regretted it, hence the nickname.

Tomorrow the team hopes to finish the houses and Thursday morning will leave the mission house and move to Antigua for a couple of days. We are buying four rocket stoves to assemble and put in the four houses that were built and those will be installed Thursday and Friday.

Hasta Manaña

Luisa

AND AWAY WE GO

For a bunch of people that didn't get to bed until almost 1:00 a.m., this team was up bright and early and ready to go to work this morning. Razorbacks are tough!

Rusty Castleman from Batesville has been here with the Arkansas team along with his family before, and he is here again. He is the original Mr. Fixit and spent the day repairing things in the mission house. He was in his element.

The team broke up into three groups....one to build houses, one to do a dental clinic, all in Alotenango, and one working at Amor del Nino. Two houses were almost finished, 30+ dental patients are in less pain tonight, well maybe not tonight, but soon, and Shyrel at Amor del Nino had help taking some children to the doctor for vaccinations. Before returning to the mission house, 75 families were blessed at a church near el Tejar with food packages and shoes.

New teams have cultural shocking/eyeopening/life changing experiences and those were shared tonight as the group met for devotional and sharing. It is not hard to see Jesus in the lives of some of the Guatemalan people with their gracious attitudes and generous spirits. May they see the same attitude and spirit in our team and may God be honored by what they do here.

Luisa

MISSION TRIP TO DALLAS

It seemed for a while that the Arkansas mission team to Guatemala was going to be doing mission work in Dallas, Texas. Due to mechanical problems with the airplane in Little Rock, the team arrived late in Dallas after switching airlines and is 24 hours late arriving in Guatemala. However, Don, DJ, and John are on their way to the airport as I am writing this at 7:30 p.m., Sunday night, to meet the team and bring them to the mission house.

Don, DJ, John, and I attended church in Pastores this morning where Max Lara is pastor. Danny Lafferty is visiting here now, so we got to hear him preach. We enjoyed lunch in Antigua then returned to the mission house for rest and regrouping.

Come back tomorrow and I'll try to update you on what God is accomplishing through the team in Guatemala.

Luisa

Last Day

Today, Friday, March 18th, is my last day in Guatemala after a visit of five and one half years. That visit was supposed to be for six months. Often when I start in one direction, I find that God has other plans. Many people have asked me what I'm going to be doing in the states, and at this point, I have no definite plans.

I took one last turn in my garden this afternoon and looked at all the flowers and lanscaping that Freddy has done. He is truly an artist when it come to gardening. Some have inquired about Freddy, Pedro, and Berto. All are very much still in need of prayer. Freddy does not have a job yet and his spiritual condition needs improving also. He is a hard working young man who is trying to keep his life on the straight and narrow and a relationship with the Lord would help him so much. Pedro is still incapacitated and is in need of physical therapy. I don't know if the hospital here provides that or not but I intend to keep up with his progress. Berto is not doing well as is to be expected. He is increasingly getting worse. The only thing that can be done for him is to make him as comfortable as possible. He is with his mother and dad now as there has been some difficulties with him and his wife.

I've said goodbye to a lot of people this week and have more to see tonight. If all goes well, I will see many of you this Sunday in church. God bless you all and thank you for following my blog. My plans are to continue to blog from time to time, just to vent if nothing else.

Luisa

Walking the Walk

I did not realize the symbolism until today of people walking with the family to a cemetery to bury a loved one. For those of you who know Samuel who works with teams here in Guatemala building houses, you may know that he and his wife Reina lost their four month old baby girl yesterday. They are still reeling from the shock and disbelieve that this has happened.

Today at about 1:00 we will walk with the family from their house as Samuel carries the casket with little Genesis Raquel's body to the church then to the cemetery. It will be the longest walk he and Reina have ever made and he will have many friends and family walking with them. This is what the body of Christ does. We walk with our brothers and sisters in grief and sorrow as we try in our feeble way to comfort them and love them. As much as we may try, there is no one who can comfort them like God's Holy Spirit.

Last night we went to the wake which is different from anything I have been to in the states. They actually had a service at the house with singing and a sermon and then all the guests were served food and coffee. I watched Reina as she sang right along with the rest of us and thought "how can a person sing when their heart is breaking". Of course, the answer is only by the grace of God. God is truly their Sheperd as they walk through this valley of death, He is with them, His rod and staff comfort them. He is the strength of their heart.

Please remember Samuel, Reina, and their teenage daughter, Denise, in your prayers today and the days to come.

Luisa

Un Hombre Muy Feliz (One Very Happy Man)

When I first started trying to sell my Nissan Patrol, I had a lot of inquires and several people looked at it and drove it. Almost to a person, they said it was a good vehicle and worth what I was asking for it. Two people at two different times even went so far as to pay a deposit on it with intentions of buying it. Neither person was able to come up with the rest of the money for it.

I don't remember when the thought came to me that if no one bought it before I was ready to go to the states, I should just give it to Manuel Chavez. Today, that's exactly what I did. He was, to say the least, very surprised and pleased.

This man rarely comes to my house that he doesn't bring his Bible. I didn't notice until after I had taken the picture that he had it in his hand. He read scripture to me this morning and told me what it meant to him. I told him he reminded me of what Jeremiah said about not being able to not preach because the Word was a burning fire in his heart if he kept quiet. That's a paraphrase, but it describes Manuel.

My prayer is that the Patrol will give him good service as it did to me and that he will use it to keep spreading the Gospel and ministering to the people of Guatemala with his dentistry and evangelism.

Luisa

Team and a half

The 29th of January the biggest team yet came to the mission house....53 people in all. Every house on the mountain had team members staying in them with the exception of the huge one in which no one lives. There were a number of doctors, nurses, and one dentist. The pictures in this blog are of the dentist, his wife, the dental clinic, and the dental waiting room. This is what Don Tibbett and Foothills Bible Church wanted to accomplish when they purchased all the dental equipment and instruments. The dentist, Dr. John Gissal from Michigan, tried to count the number of people he treated, but gave up before the end of the clinics. All together, with dental and medical, over 2,000 people in five different villages were seen and treated. I was able to help with the pharmacy three of those days and thought by the end of Friday if I had to say "tres veces al dia" one more time, I would pass out. By the end of the week, everyone was tired but content.

Six weeks from now, I will end my extended stay in Guatemala....extended because originally I had planned to come here for six months. By the time I leave, I will have been here almost five and a half years. A lot of things have happened in those five years, most good and some not so good. One thing I hope has happened during these years is that I have grown in the Lord. I think I have, some, although I am not fully grown yet and God help me if I ever think that I am.

I think I have met more people here in the last five years than I have in my whole life and have made a multitude of friends....some from Guatemala and some from many parts of the U. S. It will be hard to leave the ones in Guatemala, but Lord willing, I will see them again. I am looking forward to being with my family and friends in Arkansas.

Luisa

My Excuse

Webster's Dictionary defines lazy as; disinclined to activity or exertion: not energetic or vigorous. That is my excuse for not blogging for these last three months.

This week's events though compel me to write something in order to let the folks at FBC see the gift given to them for providing help to a gentlemen here in Guatemala.   I wish I could bring it home with me, but that not being possible, at least the folks can see it.  We call this a poinsettia...here it is a pasqua.

The gentleman's name is Pedro and he is 38 years old.  Over a month ago, he fell off a bridge while working and broke his hip.  He has been in the national hospital ever since needing surgery, but not being able to pay for the materials.  The surgery is free, but the pins needed in his hip have to be paid for.  The price for the pins is Q2,000, approximately $250.  His mother came here this week to see if we could help and we did.  He is scheduled to have the surgery Tuesday, Dec. 7.  Today the mother, Maria, came to bring this pasqua and to thank me for helping.  So while you folks have to be content with a picture, just know that this is a token of appreciation for the compassion you have for others.  If you think about it Tuesday, please pray for Pedro.

As most of you know, my time in Guatemala is drawing to a close.  And I will miss things like this....seeing people helped who have no way of helping themselves.

The Lord willing, I will see most of you next Sunday, Dec. 12th.

Luisa

 

WHEW!

I apologize to those who are following my blog.  There has not been anything to follow for several weeks now.  Since the 20th of May, there has been a team in the mission house everyday with the exception of one week when my favorite team canceled their trip.

Last Thursday, August 12th, I waved good-bye to the last team of the summer.  In May, that day seemed eons away and I wasn't sure how I was going to manage through the summer. However, with the help of Teresa Lara and some of her daughters and Kirk and Michelle Lightfield, we made it.  As far as I know, all the teams were blessed and excited about their trips and the things they accomplished.

The ministry I have been doing here has been ongoing.  There have been people who come from Santo Domingo who need medicine, medical exams, and taken to the doctor.  One little girl in particular needed to have a rash tended to on her arms.  Turns out it is eczema and she is doing better.  Her little arms looked as though they had been burned.

The last team here was from Michigan and they were so glad to get to some cooler temperatures. It seems it has been 90 degrees for a lot of their summer.  They got very little sympathy from me knowing what the temps have been in Arkansas.  Could you folks see if you can do something about that before I get there on September 3.

Luisa

The Show Must Go On

You can imagine my disappointment when the FBC team canceled their trip to Guatemala this year.  Of all the teams coming after the disasters that struck Guatemala, it had to be from my home church....bummer.  However, that did not mean that the people who had been promised a dental clinic would be disappointed.

Manual Chavez is one of the most dedicated, energetic, committed people I know.  He was more than willing to carry on with the clinics on his own.  He is pretty much a one man show anyway. The pictures above were taken at the first clinic in El Durazno at a little church called Iglesia Fuerte Ciudad Majanaim.  The man in the picture with Manuel is Pastor Hector.

I went to the clinic around noon to take him some lunch and he was in the midst of extracting a tooth from the lady in the first picture.  These are some tough people.  He was having a hard time getting the tooth out and while I won't go into detail, just know that if I had been that lady, I would have been hollering like a banshee.

The next day's clinic was in Taxisco, about an hour and a half drive from here.  Again he saw around 40 people.  He also took 80 sheets of lamina (tin) for houses for which FBC provided funds.  The third day was in a village near Chimaltenango and again he saw another 40 or so people.  In three days Manual has relieved the suffering of between 100 to 120 people.

The last clinic was to be today, Thursday, but the pastor asked him if they could postpone it until another day.  He leaves tomorrow for Panajachel for a five day jornada (dental clinic) there.

Guess what....I get to have lunch with Scott, Julie, and Aidan tomorrow.  Nanner, nanner, boo, boo.

Luisa 

Let Me Tell You About Fredy

I almost forgot I had a blog.

Grandparents are notorious for saying "let me tell you about my grandchildren".  Probably the reason I don't have grandchildren is because I would be so obnoxious in my bragging on them that people would run when they saw me coming.  So, let me tell you about Fredy.

Fredy is my gardener, but he is more than my gardener.  Fredy's story is typical of a lot of Guatemalans.  His dad was killed when he was five years old and his mother was an alcoholic.  I didn't know at the time when I first met him that I knew his mother.  About three years ago we (FBC) helped pay for one of her son's funeral.  This was one of three of Fredy's older brothers who died in the last four years due to alcohol related incidents.

When Fredy's dad was killed, he and a brother and sister were taken out of the home and placed in Casa Aleluya where he lived until  a little over a year ago.  He came to my house looking for a job and I hired him as my gardener on a trial basis.  I didn't even know I needed a gardener, but if it weren't for Fredy, I wouldn't have a garden. 

Over the course of the next few weeks, Fredy and I talked, although I did most of the talking. He would hardly talk at all and very seldom smiled.   His answers to my questions were a short "yes" and "no", so I tried to think of questions that required longer answers.  A couple of things that I learned were that he is a Christian and that he did not finish school in Casa Aleluya, but that's another story.

He wanted to go back to school, so I am sending him to America Latino, a Christian school here in Chimal.  He goes on Saturdays to a special school for older students who, for whatever reason, did not finish their education.

He is a hard worker and is very talented.  He has made my garden a work of art.  Last week he said "come see".  He had carved out grass in the lawn spelling my name and was getting ready to plant flowers in it.  

Fredy has captured my heart, and God willing I will do all I can to keep him from following the path the rest of his family has taken.  His remaining brothers try to get him to go drinking with them and he refuses.

So, why am I telling you all this?  I would like to ask, if you think of it when you pray, please pray for Fredy.  He still does not have an easy life and it would be so easy for him to become discouraged.  Thanks for listening.  Now aren't you glad I don't have grandchildren?

Luisa

God's purpose....our reality

How do you reconcile God's purposes with our reality?  Only by the grace of God...His unmerited favor to us, and last week I witnessed His grace in action.  I went to the states last week for a selfish reason.  I needed to see some of my very best friends who had experienced a tragedy.  I needed to see how they were.  I needed that.  I couldn't stay in Guatemala not knowing, not seeing for myself.

In a lot of ways their lives will never be the same.  That's reality.  In a lot of ways their lives will go on as before.  That's also reality, but it is also grace.  When we suffer loss and tragedy and are unable to face the reality that life can return to some semblance of normalcy, we stifle God's grace and do not accept it.  This family has been covered with the prayers of God's people and God has answered.  Do they still have moments and days of sorrow and grief?  Sure they do, but in ways that probably they don't even realize, God's grace brings them relief.  

I'm back in Guatemala now and can rest in the fact that God's grace is at work, not that I ever doubted it, but I am grateful that He let me see His grace in action.  

We can try to guess and speculate as to God's purpose for what happened, but the truth is, we don't know and probably will not know in this life.  Only God knows the purpose, and that is also reality.

A Time to tear down...a time to build

One of the hardest things for me to do here in Guatemala is to discern who to help, when to help, and how to help. I have decided that the Guatemalan branch of the Feed the Sheep Shop was not such a good idea after all. My list of families had grown to 25 and there were people coming for food who I knew were capable of buying their own, but I found it very difficult to turn them away. Compared to J. Paul Getty, I am as poor as Job's turkey. But compared to most of the people here, I am rich.

In my attempt to save the world, I rushed off to Russia a little over 10 years ago to convert the whole country. People had been trying to do that for centuries, but I was convinced they were just waiting on me. I'm not really sure when the revelation hit me that "each one reach one" is a much better concept, but somewhere along the way, it did.

Right now, most of my efforts, aside from cleaning the mission house, are concentrated on the needs of particular individuals, such as Berto and his family. They have had to move twice in the last few months due to the fact that he cannot work and they could not pay for the property where their house was, nor pay the rent for the one they moved to. They are living in a very small house now with no water and no electricity. There are eight people in the family and the Q300 rent and money for food is just not there. Please pray that an affordable lot will become available that interested persons can purchase and on which a team could perhaps build them a house.

Luisa

Los Gozosos

Taking three hours to make a one hour trip is not my idea of a fun afternoon. Last week, Maureen Casey, director of Los Gozosos, a children's home in Chimaltenango, and I went to the city to buy some supplies for the children. Traffic in the city was at a standstill because of a demonstration by the teachers. They were blocking the main road and no one was going anywhere. Whether or not they accomplished their purpose remains to be seen. At one point, Maureen wanted to give up and turn around and go back. However, turning around was not an option as we were blocked in. All's well that ends well and we finally made it to Price Smart, made our purchases and returned home...a one hour trip this time.

Los Gozosos (The Joys) has about a dozen children and all of them are physically and/or mentally handicapped. These children attend the same church that I do and I marvel at their behavior. They are so well behaved, they love to clap their hands with the music and one little girl was doing the twist to "God is Good" last Sunday. They are always dressed to the nines and well groomed. One boy in particular, Daniel, has caught my attention. He is always smiling and Maureen said before Christmas when there were no gifts under the tree that he knew that God was going to fill their tree with gifts, and He did. Maureen has my utmost admiration for the job she is doing. Last year, a team wanted to go there to take pizza for the kids, so we did. One little girl scared the wits out of me eating so fast that she started choking. A worker came over and helped her and she went right back to stuffing in the pizza. I vowed not ever to do that again.

The season for teams is about to start. A team from Canada arrived yesterday. I really think the reason they are here is to get out of the cold and snow. Whatever their reason, it should be fun having a group from Canada here, ay.