New Life

We are always so excited when our volunteer promoters tell us about how their churches are growing. No one person can claim responsibility for bringing someone to salvation. But how exciting to see results of the all of the labor we all put into the ministry together.

In I Corinthians 3:5-7, it says: What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe--as the Lord has assigned at each his task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neigher he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.

Last week, the church in Mactzul V baptized 5 new believers, two of which are direct contacts from the clinic where their father was ministered to. This man had been so resistant to hearing the word of God, but after his health improved, he agreed to hear the gospel message, and although he is reluctant still, his son and daughter-in-law believed and wanted to put on Christ. The church in Xepocol has added 18 new members this year, and plan on 8 more baptisms in the next 2 weeks! People are drawn to the church and thankful for the service they provide through the clinics and the compassionate offering of prayers and counsel (without pay!--unlike some local pastors who ask for money, clothing or even land titles for their prayer services). It's so exciting to see God's work!

Baptismal service in Mactzul V

Happy Thanksgiving

Just want to wish everyone a very happy Thanksgiving Day tomorrow. We feel thankful for so many things, but especially for our loving family and friends who pray for us and support us. May God bless your time tomorrow.

New ABC Communuity

Yesterday we headed out at 0600 hours to a town called Xejox and Chuchuca to have clinic and register families for a new ABC program in that church. It is a town about 2 1/2 hours from here during the dry season and 3 1/2 during the rainy season. Although they have transport year round, the trip to the nearest market for them is about 45 minutes in the dry season and 1 1/2 when the roads are muddy. But we made it and had a good day with the brothers and sisters there. It was cold as blazes (good West Texas term!), and the ladies there wear woven wool tops--2 of them. But we saw lots of people without sweaters and kids without shoes. The majority of the adults have less that a 3rd grade education. But....this area has very faithful believers and the churches are growing. We felt priviledged to be able to be there with them and bring this program to their families. We pray that God will bless them through the assistance and allow more in that area to be formally educated.

After clinic, Josefina and I went to visit a brother from the church, Pedro, who had suffered a neurological illness last year (possibly Guillain Barre) and had been completely paralysed and was near respirtory failure when Josefina had referred him to the hospital. The family was referred from there to the capital for further care and they decided to take him home rather that risk him dying in a place so far away. Well, 8 months later, he can walk with assistance and feed himself although he has significant weakness in several muscle groups. He was in excellent spirits and so thankful for the visit. We prayed with the family and left some medications and excercise plans for him until we can see him again. The walk down to his house was about 10 minutes--the walk up was well.... longer!

Our trusty guide, Lucus: "It's only about 5 minutes down the hill, sister."

Youth Seminar

Sunday was the 1st day of a 2-day youth seminar in Paxot II. Almost 800 young folks attended and got to enjoy preaching from Martin Turquiz and watch the artistic gifts of Mike Lewis, the Jesus Painter.

This one started with the artist drawing/wrinting "all of my sins" and began coverin "my sins" as the image of Christ appeared in the painting.

This drawing depicts the resurrected Christ.

What a great couple of days, focused on us being the image of Christ to those around us and the words of Christ to those who don't know him yet. Thanks, to Mike and Martin and all of you who helped support this event for our youth! Many came to us thanking us for the support and participation from Health Talents.

"Brush Your Teeth....Round and Round"

Our very own Dr. Marcos Lux taught our health promoter class today. We learned about cavity prevention and periodontal disease. Did you know that within 20 minutes of eating, the bacteria in your mouth (stretococus mutans and it's assistant lactobacillus) are producing cavity-causing acids?! Everyone seemed to enjoy the class and we all learned or re-learned about the importance of preventive care. And after lunch we all (some before 20 minutes were up) brushed! Thanks, Marcos! Of course it wouldn't be a proper class without a test. Here are some shots of folks sweating the exam and then picking out prizes (those with the top grades got to pick first).

Win ("Ween"), Flying Snakes and Lions on the Loose

This is one of those blogs where we tell you about the funny or weird things that go on around here!

Win (ween) def. A person that shape-shifts into the form of an animal in order to deceive, or to do harm or to escape capture.

So, Juan Quino and I (Lisa) are driving back from clinic after having dropped off Gaspar, and he begins to tell me about such phenomena. I laughed a little and asked him if it were true, or if someone was telling him stories after a night at the cantina. He looked at me with all seriousness and said, "Sister, it's true! Lots of people (good people) have seen them in my town!" So we decided if it is really true it is a power that is given by the devil, and as Christians we shouldn't be afraid. He seemed in agreement but not fully fearless yet!

Flying snakes
So, in our amateur research of the win thing, we asked Dr. Josefina and her family if they had heard of Win. Her dad said yes and there were several people who believed in it. He even has a family member (one of the in-laws, of course)who is known to change in to a wolf! So then we began to talk about other weird stuff and, lo and behold there are flying snakes here (raxacan). They can jump from one tree to another and are an omen of something bad about to happen. One of Josfina's patients came in after seeing one while tending sheep in a field. She began having seizures after that. I did check the internet on flying snakes and found a species chrysopelea mentioned only in Southeast Asia. But you never know. Darwin may not have made it here to describe the Guatemalan version.

Lions on the Loose
So today in the truck, talking to the guys about flying snakes (of course), Gaspar tells me that there are 3 lions on the loose out near their town of Xepocol. Thinking he was referring to mountain lions, I jokingly asked if he meant mountain lions or African lions! He said, "No, sister, the kind with the mane around their head that you see at the zoo!" Supposedly a guy here bought 3 lions for his ecological park and they got loose while the caretaker entered to feed them! The towns around are scared and the word on the street is they are going to hire professional hunter to track them down. Now, we are always skeptical of stuff we hear around here, but it makes me a little less likely to want to go on a nature walk!

Mobile Clinic Mania

Our last week was spent with good friends/brothers and sisters in Christ from Memorial Road Church of Christ and several other congregations, working mobile medical and dental clinics in the area. The communities included Xepocol and Chutzerob, Paxot II and La Estancia, and Mactzul V and Chuchipaca. We calculated that we had appoximately 828 patient encounters (of course the absentee votes are still out!). It was a great three days of very hard work and great fellowship. Our American and Guatemalan staff worked so well together in a way only God can unify people.

The second day I went out with Drs. Ralph Neal and David Weed to do a home visit for a woman who was too sick to come to clinic. When we saw her, we knew she was sick, laying quietly in bed and sweating. She had had abdominal pain for two days and the night before she got worse. She had an acute abdomen--possibly appendix or severe gallbladder disease. Thankfully the family was agreeable to getting her to the hospital and she was operated on but had to go to the ICU after. Today, Juan, who lives in that town let us know that she is getting better and should be moved to a regular bed soon. Be in prayer for her and especially her family as they have a 5 month old baby that won't be able to nurse for several days/week. There was a donation from a good friend of ours who wasn't able to come this year and we are using it to help them with the expenses they will have for travel and medicines and formula for the baby.

We are thankful to God for his allowing us the opportunity to work and worship with all of these great brothers and sisters. And we thank them for giving of their time and gifts to serve with us!

Midwife Seminars

On Wednesday, we had two obstetric nurses Janice Grey and Anita Garland from the Georgia visit to present a seminar for the midwives in the area. They gave one in the Clinica Ezell area and one up here for the midwives registered through the health department. We are always a little nervous at first, waiting to see what the turnout will be, but we were really excited when 44 midwives showed up. Of course they were very serious and hard get to open up at first, but as the day went on, they came out of their shells and we saw a lot of interaction during the class. One very interesting thing they did is tell how they got into midwifery. My assumption was apprenticing with older midwives, but all of them told us they had been sickly children or young women, and their families and/or Mayan priests had told them that it was a sign that they would have the gift of midwifery. One woman said she was reluctant and scared because of her lack of knowledge, but trusted that her gifting would be sufficient. Another said she considered it for a while before jumping in. She became a christian in the meantime and asked God to help her decide. She felt torn because she already had a child and felt she couldn't be a good midwife if she had more children. So she prayed about it, and asked God to not let her have any more children if He wanted her to work. She said without any birth control measures, she never had any other children and began to work as a midwife.

We are so thankful to these caring christian sisters (in the faith and genetically) for sharing their time and expertise with us and these local midwives. And also to our Dr. Josefina and the nurse from the health department, Maxi for translating for us. The doctor and staff from the health department as well as the midwives were thankful for the training and invited us to work with them again in the future. What a way to honor God's name, serving our community!

All Saints Day

Here in Guatemala, November 1 is All Saints Day which involves lots of activities involving the nourishing and honoring of ancestors. Mayan religion families prepare special foods like corn on the cob, guisqil (a savory pear/squash-like veggie), and squashes, and sweet corn tortillas, all laid out in a central place in the home with pine needles around it and in a little trail leading from the front gate to the house. Then, the next day, everyone heads to the cemetary to paint grave sites and leave more food/liquor/goodies for the ancestors. Some see this as a harmless tradition, but underlying it are strong beliefs that one must please his ancestors to have peace in their lives, or success in their endeavors. Granted many people just go out to enjoy the day and remember relatives, but in our neck of the woods there are idolatrous ties and many families needlessly spending hard-earned money to appease powerless souls.

But, we got to enjoy a tradition that has been carried out in the Churches of Christ for the last 16 years. Every November 1 the youth of the churches (age 10-30's)and their families get together for a two day worship service and workshops in Quetzaltenango (Xela). We got to see christians from all over the country, enjoying family time and worshiping. It was a late night......and COLD, everyone sleeping on the floor in school rooms... but definitely worth it to share the fellowship of All of these Saints!