Clinic in Caris with a Cat

Lisa, Kemmel, Sandra and I headed out to Clinic Caris this morning.  Lisa saw the pap patients and did ultrasounds and I saw the others.

When I was in the lab room, I heard a loud, "Meow!"  I thought it was someone's ringtone.  A little later, I found out that we had a kitten in the storage room.

We finished clinic today with 12 medical patients.

One lady that came for her medicine today, suffers from epilepsy.  I noticed that last time she was at clinic, she was pregnant.  I asked about the baby and she told me that it had died at birth.  How sad for her!  We talked for quite a awhile and she she told me that she often is in Chichi.  I invited her to the ladies Bible class in November, when we will be talking about good emotional health.  She sounded like she will be there, so we will see.

We have one diabetic patient who has been telling everyone that he has not taken his medicines for five months and how great he feels.  He says he is controlling his blood sugar with hard work and exercise.   Well, he came to clinic in the afternoon and he is not controlled.  His blood sugar was 384..........and at his last visit, it was 280. I hope he changes his mind and returns next month.

When it came time to head to Chichi, Ceci put her kitten in a cardboard box.  He finally poked his head out and as you can tell, he was not happy at all!

Warm San Jorge

Today, I headed to San Jorge with Manuel and Enrique.  We left Santa Cruz at 0800, quickly set up clinic and then were seeing patients.  San Jorge is much warmer than Chichi and Santa Cruz so we enjoyed the sunny day!

These photos are from behind where we have clinic.  The owner of the land wanted me to take a photo of his flowers.

I think that it is very pretty here.  I would not want to live here year around but from time to time, I enjoy the warmer climate.

I had mentioned yesterday that this clinic has a lot of diabetics and they proved me correct today.  We had 18 patients and 11 of those were diabetics.  We had some newly diagnosed ones so Pedro and I talked about doing another series of the classes in 2014.

Our travels today were safe and we are always thankful for that!

Tomorrow, we will be in Lemoa.

Carris Clinic

Today, I went to Lemoa for clinic.  We had a large diabetic population today. 

We have several female patients, whose husbands have traveled to the United States to find work.  Sometimes they return to Guatemala to be with their families, but many times not.  One lady today continued to ask me about The States and then I eventually found out why.

Her husband has been working in The States for several years.  By the end of the conversation, she was crying.  Guatemalans are usually very stoic with emotions but this lady is having a very difficult time.  Her husband left before their child was born and he has never seen the child.  When she talks to him about coming back, she said he gets very upset with her and they begin to argue.  She partially believes that he will return but is beginning to think not. It is just a sad situation for the family left back here.

I hope to get Diabetic Classes scheduled again.  We have a lot of new diabetics that really need more education.

We ended the day with 20 medical patients and 9 dental cleanings.

Tomorrow, I will head up to San Jorge with Enrique and Manuel..........another area that has a lot of diabetics.

Ladies class in Mactzul I

This afternoon, Ceci and I went to Mactzul I for a ladies class.  We arrived before anyone else so I was a little concerned that I had the date wrong.

Soon, people began to arrive and I felt better.

Today, the class was a topic of their choice.  They wanted to study good emotional health.  I enjoyed preparing for the class and as I have talked to Ceci about it, I thought she would also enjoy it.

There were 40-45 ladies in the class with several young people. There eventually was a lot of participation and people seemed to enjoy it.

We will do this same class next month in Chichi.

Clinic and corn field in Xepol

Gaspar and I set out this morning and picked up Ceci as we made our way to Xepol.

Everything was, notice I say "was" great until I needed to park the truck.

The heavy rains have washed part of the road away above the church building.  Unfortunately, this is where we park the truck.  We thought it would be easier to park the truck if we turned around first.  I was told there was a good place below to make this turn...........

Well, as we went down the hill we met quite a bit of mud but I was able to turn the truck around without any problem.  Then, as we started up the hill, the problem began.  The truck could not make the hill........there was no traction.  It was just as if we were on a frozen lake.

We decided to just back down and carry the equipment up.  The sunshine and wind would hopefully dry the road enough so we would get some traction.  As I started back down the hill, the truck decided it wanted to do something different and one tire ended up in a cornfield! We got out and talked about a plan of action.

Making a long story short, many people came to help us.  They carried rocks and straw.  Gaspar, slipped but I could not see him due to the way the truck was tipped, but he came back up with a bloody nose.  Ceci grapped some toilet paper from my backpack and went to his rescue.  My heart just sunk lower.

We eventually got the truck on level ground and carried our equipment up the hill.

We had a great clinic of 17 patients.  There were 4 patients that need surgery so I will work on getting those scheduled.

This is one little girl that is always in clinic and she helps by carrying our backpack for us.

By the time we finished clinic, the road was dry enough for the truck to make the climb.

No damage to the truck, just to my ego and to Gaspar's lip  :(   but both will heal :)   Just another day and another adventure!!

Tomorrow, we have a class in Mactzul I and I am really for it!!

Let's go DOWN to the River!!!

It was another very exciting day for many people!!  There were over 2000 adults and over 300 children that participated in the conference today in Mactzul VI.  It is always an encouragement to go and see people from several communities.

Let the Conference begin!

When the conference begin, the ladies have already been working for many, many hours.  There are several pots with boiling beef, vegetables, tamalitos and coffee. They are too heavy and hot to lift so they insert wooden poles through the handles.

As soon as Kemmel got his spot set up, he had an assistant! Kemmel sells Bibles, song books and educational materials at cost.  He does not make a profit doing so, but understands how important it is that people have these tools.

Then came the moment........it was time to go to the river.  This was a very special time for me again.  Irma, who was baptized, is one of our patients in Mactzul II.  When she first came to us, her hair was falling out, she was underweight and had a few other problems.  She then started reading the Bible and the elders of the church visited her and her family.

They told us it was a 15 minute walk to the river........I should have known better.........that translates into about 45 minutes and down, down, down!!  And when you go down, that means to return you must go up, up, up!

We finally made it and there were over 80 people who had made the hike!  People were lined up on both sides of the small stream. On the right side of the photo, is the sheet that they hang up so the person can change into dry clothes after the baptism.

I talked to Irma before we left and she told me that she was nervous.  What a sweet, young lady she is.  Her health has improved and she is much happier.  This is Irma in the front.  Behind her, is her dad in the solid white shirt.  Her parents are not Christians at this point but we pray that they will reconsider their relationship with God.

The elders praying before the baptism.

Irma being baptized..........just as Peter told the people in Acts 2, just as the Philippian Jailer, as Philip baptized the eunuch, just as Jesus did for our example and the list goes on...........

The angels rejoiced again today.

This young girl is now 5 years old.  When she was only a few days old, I was asked to visit her since she had "a ball" on her back.  Well, we drove out to her house and I visited her and her mom. This is her mom on the left and they live in Paxot II.  I called Kemmel and told him about the situation.  If I remember correctly, Lisa was working on her Guatemalan license at this time.  Kemmel went to Guatemala City with this family and visited with them in the hospital there.  She had surgery, followed by  physical therapy.  She is now running and playing, as all of the other children!

It has been a full 2 days but they have been wonderful!

Let's Go to the River

Wow, what an afternoon it was!  I knew that there were going to be several baptisms today and I knew what a special day this will be for many.

Kemmel called me and told me that one of the people that is being baptized is Esteban, and he is my ABC Child.  I was hoping to make it back to Chichi to ride with Kemmel and Lisa out to Xepocol.

When we arrived in Xepocol, we walked down to the river and crossed over.........with the help of many rocks!

We sang several songs and then Gaspar talked to the 11 people that were to be baptized.

As always, the people who will be doing the baptizing, begin in prayer.  Gaspars' uncle is on the left and his dad is on the right.

This is Esteban.  I think this was a special moment for his dad........his dad is on the left and his uncle is on the right.

The following photo is Cristina.  She is a the sister to Maria, who works as a dental assistant with us.

When I talk to patients about what they need to do to be saved, I tell them that it does not matter what I think, nor does it matter what other people say.........What matters is, what the Bible commands.  So, in reading,  

Romans 6:4

Therefore we are buried with Him by baptism into death:

that as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we should walk in newness of life.

When Cristiana and the other 10, were raised........they had completed the commandments for salvation.  They now have a new life.  Their names are now written in the Book of Life.

When we finished, we went for an evening worship in Xepocol.........the angels were continuing to rejoice!

For more photos and more of the story, please see Kemmel and Lisa's blog at:
www.kemmelandlisa.blogspot.com

Tomorrow, the conference in Mactzul VI begins......it will be another exciting day!!!

Another Devo Writing for Daybrak

Psalm 23:6

When David penned the words in Psalms 23:6, he did not voice doubt.  It was not a question.  He was not insecure......he knew and  was confident and he would dwell in the house of the Lord forever.  

The dwelling place or the house of the Lord is eternal.  Christ tells us that he is building this place at this moment.  As you are reading this devotional, Christ is preparing this place.  He tells us this in John 14:1-4, so that we will not be worried.  So, we will not have any doubts.  We can be just as sure as David was.  

This place of God is not here on this earth.  It will not be destroyed, as time as this earth is being destroyed.  It will not have flaws, as this earth contains.

We also need to remember that not everyone, who believes in God, will be allowed to enter His dwelling.  As sad and as tragic as it is, we are warned about this in Matthew 7:21-23.  Our commitment to God must be a daily renewal.  Only acknowledging that Christ is Lord does not secure our eternal life.  We need a committed relationship with him. We need to be His child.  We can’t write the rules as we walk through life. Only by following His word, can we be sure of our eternal life with him.

Let us study and daily, recommit our life so that our home in His dwelling place will be secure. If we are faithful to the end, we have the promise of dwelling in the house of the Lord forever as David had.

New dog to protect us!

for those of you who have visited my house, knew Nakko.  He was a big, gentle dog but he died a few months ago.  So, Tomasita and Jaime have been talking about getting another dog to protect us. 

So the other day, they introduced me to..........Nikki.  Yes, we went from Nakko to Nikki.  Here, he is playing near my door.  He is an American Boxer and is cute.  His most interesting characteristic is, he has beautiful green eyes!

Tomasita training Nikki to walk on a leash, early in the morning.  We will see how long she continues this!

When it is my turn, I will train him not to run out in the street and get hit........yeah, right!

Clinic in Chutzurob

Our travels to Chutzurob were good today.When  we arrived, something did not quite look right.  Usually there are several patients sitting outside waiting but today there was no one.

We parked the truck and the brother came out to meet us.  They told us that we would have a light clinic because Sunday night, someone in the community was murdered.  Yes, crime does happen in these small communities but there are not a lot of murders.  Most of the community are at the home of the family offering their support and love.

This was two of the patients that came to see us today.

The baby has been sick for a few days but hopefully, the mother will see some improvement in a few days.

One young girl with a severe sun allergy is improving.  It is always good to see someone do better!
Tomorrow, clinic in Chiqua!

Clinic in Chuchipaca

Manuel and I went to Chuchipaca for clinic today.  We had a nice sunny day for travel and it was nice.  We had a good clinic with some interesting patients.

For a few weeks, we have not had one of our regular patients here. Her name is Sebastiana and I miss seeing her.  She is a very nice lady, with epilepsy and a very sad home-life.  She has been physically and emotionally abused by her husband and also has a poor relationship with her mother.  Anyway, she has moved to Guatemala City to be with some other family members.  I have been told that she is doing much better and I am thankful for her.

This is the road that has been recently completed behind where I live. It fell in about the time the main highway also collapsed.  This first photo was taken just a couple of days after it was washed away. This truck was backing down as far as it could so it could fill the water bottles and take them back to the clinic, ASELSI.

This is the road after they finished putting in foundations and widening it.  I know the employees of ASELSI and the patients are very appreciate and thankful that this was completed.  The employees o ASELSI worked very hard on it.

We are almost at the end of the rainy season and that is fine with most of us.  They still say that the main highway will close for a week to pave it but we are not sure when this will happen. I think it would be great if they waited until Christmas, when our clinics are closed!  Maybe I need to call the President of Guatemala and have a chat with him :)

Clinic in Maczul III

We all met in Chichi and went to Mactzul III for clinic.  Sandra and Maria had 3-4 dental patients as we waited for our medical patients to arrive.

Cesar recently purchased a new phone, so he took all of our pictures and we were allowed to select our own ringtone.  Now, when his phone sounds like a sheep, he knows it is me! Here, he puts in Manuel's name, photo and phone number.

When we finished, we drove down the road to had lunch. This was our view!  Absolutely beautiful!

Today, I found out that Irma, in Mactzul II is going to be baptized.  She is a young lady, who was very sick.  Her hair was falling out and she had several issues.  We saw her for the first time in July when we had a large group here and Abby sat in on the consult.  Irma asked for a Bible and I got her one.  The members of the church continued to visit her and her family.  It is an exciting story and I am thrilled over her decision that she wants Christ in her life.

Another day..........another adventure!

Ceci, Manuel and left for Chuguexa today.  When we saw all of the ladies, walking down the road, we knew something was going on.........it was a community meeting.  Oh well.......

We finished with eight patients...........there are several patients there that I was hoping to see.  Two ladies may be close to having their babies and one patient should have had eye surgery and I want to know how he is doing.

When we finished, I went to Santo Tomas to visit Harriette, Cynthia and Lucy.   They had eaten and were talking through Chichi.  They wanted to buy a few things so we went to get what they wanted.

In the afternoon, we had a little free time so we drove out to the new Mayan sacrificial area.....just to have something to do. Then we drove out to where the highway caved in.

They will have one more day of interviews and then head to Antigua to see some more students.

Tomorrow, we will be in Lemoa with patients there.

Let the interviews begin!

This afternoon, Harriet, Cynthia and Lucy arrived to do the interviews for the scholarship students. Danny drove them from Montellano and I am thankful that they had safe travels.  They will be here until Friday morning.

It is always nice to have people visit.

This evening, Maury and Sandra had their interview.  Tomorrow, Ceci will have her interview.  I teased her and told her that I had prepared five, very difficult questions for her interview.  I wish I had a photo of her expression!

Highway Opened!!

OK, the main highway has reopened!!  Sometime last night it happened. So, now the buses can run on it as wild as they want and maybe leave the back-back roads alone!

Even the cows are now taking advantage of it!  They better get moooooooo-ving quicker or SPASH, the next bus will get them!

Clinic in Mactzul V

This morning I picked up Sandra, Ceci and Maria and we made out way to Mactzul V for clinic.  The roads are still very congested since everyone is still having to use them.  The say the highway will open soon but no one really knows when.

This is a trailer that went over the side of the road last week.  They still have not been able to pull it out.

When we got closer to Mactul V, Manuel called and said that one road was closed so we would have to take another back road.  So, we took the back-back road to Mactzul.

The road situation, is just not something that Guatemala can brag about :)

The church in Mactzul V has been building for a couple of years now. The brick was not on the front, last month when I was here.

This is Cesi, me, Sandra and Maria.  We had a wonderful day and look forward to our next clinic.

Tomorrow, I will be working at home on a class that Mactzul I asked for.  They want to study what is good emotional health.  I think it will a very interesting class.

Clinic in Lemoa

I left the house a little after 0700 to get to Lemoa in time to get ready for clinic.  I picked up Ceci at the church building and then drove to a bridge to pick up Maria.  The roads continue to get worse from the wear and tear from the large vehicles.  There are some areas where they did some maintenance last week and the road has started falling apart again.  What can ya do????

We had 17 medical patients and 5 patients for dental cleaning today.

Between patients, I got this photo of Ceci.  She had a group of children and parents and she was teaching them better brushing and flossing technique. 

For lunch, we had eggs and tortillas.  There was still some peanut butter from our last group that we had so I ate some peanut butter on my last tortillas......yum!!

After we were finished with all of the patients, we loaded the truck and proceeded back to Chichi.  It took us about about 1.5 hours but we made it safely!

Tomorrow, we will have clinic in Mactzul V.  I will leave Chichi at 0800 and pick up Sandra, Ceci and Maria.  Manuel will meet us in Mactzul.

Clinic in San Jorge

This morning I walked across the collapsed highway and took a minivan to Quiche.  Tomas, Enrique, Sandra, Maria and I went to San Jorge for clinic.

This is the progress on the new highway..........it is slowly being completed!

We had a wonderful clinic!!  It was so good to have many patients.  We had 17 medical patients, 9 dental patients and 2 dental cleaning. 

Of the 17 patients, 11 were diabetics!  We talked about having the diabetic classes in this community again, since many of them are new to the clinic.

I had one patient who had several problems.  She is a single lady with three daughters.  I could tell she was not a very content person and she finally admitted that she is angry a lot.  It is not very common that mothers talk about their children as she did. She does not participate in a church but she told me that she believes in God.  I talked to her about how God can change her life if she will allow Him to.  She shed a few tears and told me that she would think about it.

Her youngest daughter came back for a consult since she has had a stomach ache.  I asked the young girl what she thought about if someone mentioned God.  She said, "He is our father and He lives in heaven."  I asked her if she would want to visit the church on Sunday and she said, "Yes."  I am hoping that this mother does visit on Sunday and that she will allow God to change her life. 

After clinic, we stopped at a nearby home for lunch.  We had beans, rice, chili, tortillas and lemonade.  It was wonderful!

When I arrived in Chichi, it had just started to rain.  This rainbow peaked out as the sun started to shine.

It was a wonderful day.  We had safe travels, several patients and many things to be thankful for.

I look forward to clinic tomorrow in Lemoa.