Another great day!!

We had a great clinic in Lemoa today. If you get a chance, please read Lisa's blog at www.kemmelandlisa.blogspot.com She has great comments and talks about different patients.

Today, we had 35 medical patients, 5 patients for physical therapy and 7 patients for dental cleaning.

Lisa and Elaine saw patients for consult. Juan learned more from Jennifer, a physical therapist Jennifer works with ASELSI, a clinic that is in Chichi but has been working a few days with us.

Here, Jennifer and Juan work with one of our regular patients.

The dental cleanings kept Gaspar busy. I worked in the pharmacy and played with pills and money. I do not mind the pills but the money makes me nervous. As many have heard me say, "I do not like a lot of responsibility." But the count was correct at the end of the day...........whew..................

A young girl returned today that was burned as a very young child. Dr. Dwayne has agreed to see her in February, during the plastic surgery. I hope that that something can be done to help her. We will get her lab work completed so she will be ready for surgery, if accepted.

Pat Hile and his group are in Chichi from San Antonio. It is always good to see them. We enjoyed dinner and then Voces Acapella sang for us. As people know, I am a groupie! They sang three songs.....one in Spanish, one in K'iche' and one in English. They are a very talented family.

Catchin' Up

Not a lot of photos to share for the last few days. We have been busy but not "photo busy."

Sometimes, photos are not very appropriate or welcomed! For example, today was our ladies pap day at Clinica Caris. Not many women would welcome the words, "Relax, it will be cold, smile!"

But anyway, we had 4 ladies spend part of their morning with Elanie and the rest of us. After we finished the clinic, we cleaned. I mean clean! The clinic was washed head to toe.......

Yesterday, we started another round of diabetic classes at Caris. We only had 5 patients but all were diabetics I am very thankful that the patients seem interested and always participate in the class. Everyone asked questions and commented on the questions of others. Tomas translated today for me while Manuel spent time with Kemmel.

We are looking at different options to building on the the clinic in Lemoa. We have really outgrown it.........and that is good! Clinics, dental, education, services to ladies, ABC Program......it is good!

I Peter 4:10,11
Each should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully, administering God's grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, he should do it with strength speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and power for ever and ever. Amen.

Church growth in India

Sometimes we only think of what is taking place around us in our small circle. It is easy to do because we are so busy with our daily activities......jobs, family, school and many other things. We have many responsibilities and do not want to fall short.

It has been over a year since I have been talking to the minister from the Kamepalli Church of Christ in India. I talk with him on AOL and it has been a wonderful correspondence. He and his family struggle in India but continue to share their faith in different areas and the congregation is growing.

This is the first photo that he sent me of the congregation.

His father and grandfather were also ministers. He has sent me many photos of his grandfather and father before they died, preaching at different gospel meetings.

Sometimes we talk about what his sermon will be on and he asks my opinion. He is very interesting to talk to and knows the Bible well. I can tell he is very strong in the faith.

This is the congregation sharing lunch together.

As you can tell by the notes on the photo, this is their communion time. Again, it is very interesting how different cultures do different things. This thatched roof is new. They recently built this because not everyone could fit into the room that they were meeting in.

Because of the growth, they have started building a new place to meet. They have had to postpone the construction a few times due to finances and the weather. They have had heavy rains than have ruined some of their building material. It has been difficult for them but they continue......they have not given up.

One day the children gathered to work. They moved stones and kept count of sand piles as they were moved.

The children will remember this time together and how they served.

The class of Sunday School Children.

How great it is to hear of church growth. It is not easy. As more people accept the gospel and are baptized there is comfort and strength. We need to rejoice as the angels do when the body of Christ grows.

Luke 15:10
There is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.

We need to share the gospel and the joy that it brings to others. Many people on earth do not have much hope. How sad this is.

Please pray for this congregation in India. That they may continue in faith.......never ceasing.

Clinic in Lemoa and staff meeting

Today, we had a busy clinic in Lemoa with 27 patients and Gaspar had 2 dental cleanings.

The majority of patients that I saw today were diabetics and they were controlling their blood sugars.

After the clinic, we had a staff meeting. We talked about possibly building an addition on to Caris. This is a great idea since we really need more room. Sometimes, Gaspar and Tomas have to do their dental cleanings outside. It is not too bad unless it is raining and then it is very difficult. Storage is also a problem so we will see what happens.

We also talked about different clinics and how we can improve them. There are communities that want clinics so we also talked about new ones that might be established. We will also be having more classes on diabetes and other issues. We are continuing to visit schools and talk about hygiene. It is very exciting. Everyone participated in the meeting and it is good to have Kemmel and Lisa working in this area with us.

Clinic en LaPalma

This morning we had to change trucks before we started out for clinic. This is one of the specialties that Kemmel has. He knows who needs to drive what truck each day, who has the truck and how they are packed. So, Juan and Maury brought me a truck but then Juan jumped in a truck with Lisa and Elaine. They headed to Xepocol for clinic as we headed to LaPalma.

During the changing, Juan told me that Nakko had left the house and was in the street. I did not see him leave. Grrrrr........Nakko has not left the house for quite awhile but I did not have time to go and get him today. I really do not care but he has been hit before and I would hate to be responsible for that. He is also strong enough to kill other dogs. What a dense dog!! I just had to hope for the best.

Tomas, Maury and I drove to LaPalma. I think that it is one of the prettiest drives that we have. It is beautiful.

When we arrive there are tons of people at the school, where we do clinic. Apparently, the government is giving out cooking oil, beans, rice and corn. It is amazing how much people can carry! Each family is getting 4 gallons of oil and 30-40 lbs of the other things. There are only two trucks but the rest is being carried on their backs. All of the family members help.......even the young children.

We had eight patients come to the clinic.

The first patient was, Noe. His grandmother brought him since his dad, Agostin, is helping distribute the food. Noe is the ABC Child of my parents. They had sent back some balloons and a photo for Noe for his birthday. Here, Noe is blowing up his first balloon with his grandmother nearby.

My parents have sponsored Noe for 3 years. If you are interested in sponsoring a child, knowing they are studying in school, receive medical and dental care and also receiving some clothing, let us know. Lisa and Kemmel recently blogged about children needing sponsors. The cost is $30 a month. Please see their blog at http://kemmelandlisa.blogspot.com/

When I get home, I open the gate and there sits Nakko on my porch like, all is well........little does he know, no bread for Nakko this afternoon.

Clinic in Patzite

Manuel drove by the house to get me this morning. Usually, I meet him at the road but standing in the rain did not excite me. Maybe I am getting weak!

So, he drove by the house and we went on to Patzite since Tomas would meet us there. Tomas had called Manuel to tell his that we needed to take the long way around since one of the roads had been washed away. While we drove, we listened to the noticias on the radio. There have been 15 deaths due to the earthquakes yesterday and still, people are missing.

When we arrived, we carried everything up to where we would have the clinic. Tomas and one man from the congregation helped us. It is not a long walk but it is steep.

We had a total of nine patients. We were told that with the rains, not many people would come.
After the last patient, the sun peeked out a little. I sat on the steps as we waited until lunch.

This bull was tied near the house where we ate. He was not happy and through the morning let us know about it!! How can one bull make so much noise?

This is the beautiful view from Patzite.

We were offered lunch and it was fantastic. There is special recipe here where they take a vegetable, dip it in egg and cook it. Today we had green beans cooked with egg, cold beets, tamalitos, chili and coffee. It was sooooo good!!

The rains started as we were packing up the truck.

Tomorrow, we have clinic in LaPalma............now, that may be an adventure!!

Lemoa Clinic

Today I worked in Lemoa with Elaine and the promoters. We had a good clinic with 28 patients.

Usually this is Ruben's clinic but he went home to Nicaragua to visit his family and friends. It was also time for him to renew his Visa We hope that he has a great time with safe travels and I am happy to help!

Elaine saw all of the diabetic patients and we announced the new set of Diabetic Classes. We had a great response to the last three classes that we want to do another run of them. They will be held in Lemoa again and it is central place for people to meet.

This is Elaine with some patients. She consulted the young girl next to her. The other little girl was severely burned when she was younger. She was set to have a consult last year with Dr. Dwyane but her dad fell off a roof and had to have surgery in Guatemala City. The mother said he is doing well and they will go to Clinica Ezell in February with us.

We have continued to have TONS of rains......most evenings and through the nights.

Many have asked about the earthquakes. Last I heard, there were three of them. Have heard of one death but some people are still missing.

It has been over a year since we had our storm, Agatha. I continue to think of that time often because it impacted this area so much. I remember living in Paxot II with a family and being scared through the night. They had already placed poles up to support a dirt wall but the hard rains continued!! They family was also scared and wanted to sleep in my room with me. I was so thankful to see light crack though the adobe in the morning and to know that we were ok.

I will go to Patzite tomorrow and see what we can see!!