Week's Update

The new year always brings a few changes to our schedule--in an effort to improve our services or boost clinic numbers. We have tried to respect the fact that each community has certain days for market (buying and selling), pre-market travel or preparation and days for worship services during the week. Thankfully not everyone has the same schedule! We also acknowledge that there may be other issues that affect clinic turnout like lack of advertising, other health services in the area, poor church reputation in the community, or even poor clinic reputation in the community. We have been assured that the local town counsels are on board and that the churches still want clinic ministries so we have tweeked some of our approaches. This year we changed some of the clinic days to see if we have better responses.
At Mactzul V, one of our longest-running clinics, we changed from Saturday to Friday. Well, the response was great. We went from 5-6 patients to 19 and that was with very little announcing (one promoter later confessed). There were 26 dental patients as well. We did get the news that a 97 year old man in the Mactzul area will be putting on Christ in baptism today! He was evangelized by one of our volunteer promoters Sebastian Yacon who went to see him on a sick visit. Sebastian is also one of the Guatemalan Board members for our organization.

Kemmel and Sheri, and Glenn and Neva joined up with Josefina's team to go out to the Zacualpa area to the town of Chuchuca' about 3 hours away. They left bright and early at 0630 and then remembered (after Sheri called) that they forgot to pick Sheri up! But once back on the road they made it fine. The roads are notoriously bad there and have actually been closed due to road improvements the last two months. They took an alternative route that, as Agustin our volunteer promoter put it, "If it even sprinkles, I don't go down this road!" Thankfully they made it and were welcomed by 45 patients--just from the local church. There is a lot of need in that area, with much more poverty, inaccessability to medical care and illiteracy/lack of access to education than we see in the Chichicastenango area. They are however blessed with faithful members and growing churches. Health Talents' goal is to get more involved in that area in the future, and we are now in the process of making contacts and gaining information about the local churches and needs. We definitely see God working in those churches and look forward to joining in if that is His will.