Clinic in Chucam

Josefina and her group had clinic today in Chucam. It was their second clinic there so they were expecting many patients..........but today the children were celebrating Mother's Day in the school. They had a special program planned with a talent show for the mothers. There were over 300 people packed into a room that had pine needles tossed all over the floor.

The answer to yesterdays trivia question about Guatemalan Fruit Loops with marshmellows: there are six flavors and they are produced as a smile face. I did not notice that last night as I was eating them.

Now that we have discussed Guatemalan Fruit Loops, let's discuss another flavorful dish........which consists of malinas. When I was with Josefina last week in Panajxit, they were discussing eating these insects. I do not want to offend anyone but I will pass on this opportunity.

I recently updated the right side of the blog. I have added a link to the Brewer Road Iglesia de Cristo in Winston Salem, NC. They are continuing to grow and recently had several baptisms. There is also a link for Glenn and Neva. They are studying Spanish in Antigua and I know they would appreciate your thoughts and prayers. Please check these out when you have time. I have added new prayer requests and updated the thanksgivings. We always need to be thankful..........

Psalms 118:28-29

You are my God and I will give You thanks; you are my God and I will exalt You. Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever.

Getting ready for the week......

Yesterday afternoon I worshipped with The Church in Santa Cruz. The lesson was based on the scripture James 1:8.....a double minded man is unstable in all of his ways. Other versions use the term inconsistent or uncertain instead of double minded.......regardless of the term used, it is a negative connotation. It is not a positive Christian characteristic.

We need to decide which way we will live. A Godly life or one influenced by the world. It is impossible to live in both worlds. People want consistency in relationships. Children want to have an idea how their parents will react when they approach them. A relationship is much more comfortable when you know how the other person will respond. Our relationship with God is no different and our life should reflect that.

I want to share more photos of the Aurora Hotel in Antigua from when Fran and I stayed there.

OK trivia question: How many flavors are there in Guatemalan Fruit Loops? I found some in the grocery store and had some for dinner. I will tell you tomorrow how many flavors there are and they even have marshmellows too.

Happy Mother's Day!!

Just a quick HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY.............to everyone...................

but especially my MOM!!!

Days of Rest

Kemmel and Lisa were kind and let me have two days off........it allowed me time to get caught up on some things and get prepared for future events. Even though it is good to have a couple of days, it feels odd not going to clinic. I asked Lisa both days how clinic was and she said they were good.

I was able to finish some mountains of laundry, clean the house, prepare some photos we are using for diabetic teaching and prepare a suitcase for the June clinic. As many know, I will be in NC for a seminar on Community Health Evangelism. I am really excited about it but not sure why I needed to sign a health waiver and submit a copy of my health insurance......it may be more adventurous than I am thinking!

This afternoon, I walked up to Chichi and had lunch. There was a lot of traffic and some people that were not very happy. Two drivers were battling it out over who hit who.....between a mini-van driver and a parked construction truck. I know where I would place my vote. A huge tourist bus was trying to make its way through the streets and having a difficult time. The owner of one restaurant was very upset and came out into the street as the bus kept touching the roof tiles of his restaurant. The bus eventually rounded the corner after doing a 19-point turn.

I warn you.....do not have an apple pie craving in Chichi........it is not healthy. I visited 6 stores that I thought might have it and I was disappointed 6 times. Really, I was disappointed 7 times because I then realized I had also passed all of the ice cream stores. Maybe I will find some tomorrow in Santa Cruz......until then, this will have to suffice.

Tomorrow is Mother's Day! This is a warning for those of you who may have forgot.........run and buy a card, be prepared to call your mother or better yet........order her some roses :)

Tomorrow I will go to Santa Cruz for worship. My friend, Magda, said she will go with me if it is not raining..........hmmmmmm, I hope it stops raining.

Meet Gloria and her mom, Josefina

I went to Panajxit with Josefina and Tomas today. We eventually had one patient come to clinic. It is the time of year for everyone to be out preparing their fields and planting corn. We have had a few days of rain so they do not want to miss their opportunity.

While we were wating for patients, Kemmel called and told me that a mother was at the clinic with her baby and she has a cleft lip. He offfered to go and get a basket for the baby but it was in a locked room in my house.

When we finished our patient, I went to the house and got one of the baskets that Jane left us for babies we might make contact with. This mother had taken her baby to ASELSI, which is a clinic in Chichi. They are aware of our clinic and sent them to us for a consult. I discussed the items in the basket and answered the questions she had. She will return to the clinic in June for another consult.

Josefina and Gloria at 5 months.

Santos Elias and his dad came to the clinic today to see Lisa. Lisa was kind enough to send me a photo she took during his consult. It is good to see him smiling! Here he shows off his incision from the chest tube that he had. As Tomas and I drove away from the clinic this morning, he stood on the porch waving at us until we were out of site...........



Every day is full of unique opportunities that we need to be aware of and just take advantge of. We discussed this last night at dinner with Pat. We can share the love of God and the compassion of Christ, not matter where we are living. People are looking for comfort and hope.......in every country. That hope can only come from God, through having a relationship with Him and knowing what His word teaches.

As every night, I will end the day with thanksgiving that everyone is home safe. We have all been on the roads traveling through the day and now everyone is home and well. Thankful that Santos is home from the hospital, is breathing better and is gainning some weight. Thankful that we have met another baby and mother that we can help physically and possibly spiritually........and also thankful for what tomorrow might bring.

Clinic in Xepol

Pat, Al, Gaspar, Juan and I went to a new clinic today in Xepol. We left Chichi at 0730 since it is about an hour and a half away. Our first clinic there was in March with the Pepperdine students so today was our second clinic there. We had 12 patients today with 3 of them returning for the second time. We saw a variety of illnesses but many of the typical ones you see when you start a new clinic.

The children welcomed the camera more than they did in March. This is Pat with some of the children before we started clinic.

We began clinic as we always do. We welcomed everyone and explained what services we can offer. Gaspar talked about dental cleaning and the importance of that. We prayed as a group and then began the clinic. We found one lady with a hernia and we hope she will return so we can help her with surgery. One gentleman was having a difficult time after having what seemed like a small stroke.

After we finished, we carried everything back to the truck. These children wanted to help so they carried small boxes and our back packs for us.

We drove down the road to a small store. Al bought us Cokes as we made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches..............and then we were ready for the drive home.

Pat and Al invited us out to dinner and we enjoyed that time together. They will be headed back to The City in the morning. We pray that they have a safe travel home and that they enjoyed their time here with us. It is always exciting to have people visit and share the clinics.

Pat and Al meet Chutzurob

We had two truck loads today for Chutzurob. We had a great clinic with 21 medical patients and 3 patients for dental cleaning. We saw a wide variety of patients. We were told that there were 4 baptisms last week and we are excited for the growth of The Church and for those added souls.

This is Pat and Al in front of the house of prayer.


As we left clinic, we stopped to buy some cokes and had a picnic. Lisa was prepared and brought us lunch which we greatly appreciated.

As we progressed toward Chichi, there was some road construction and who knows what else was blocking traffic........sometimes it is an unsolved mystery as to what brings the traffic to a halt.

As you can see, the traffic has been stopped and it was a long line. Lisa and the guys are in a truck ahead of the red Toyota. You can barely see a guy in a red shirt up on the left bank after the hairpin turn......

We will have clinic tomorrow in Xepol. It will be our second clinic there. Our first clinic there was in March with the Pepperdine students.