October - November Acitvities in Photos

Beyond our normal clinic activities we are very blessed to be involved in many different activities with the local churches and families, including youth conferences, weddings, Thanksgiving services, area wide worship services, baptism services, anniversary celebrations and the list could go on.  Enjoy the photos...

Chichicastenango Youth Conference in October

Young men from Xepocol enjoying the youth conference

Each youth events now includes various acapella singing groups that have formed over the years, mostly in the last 2 years.  Recently, another youth conference held in Paxot III included around 10 different groups.  We were unable to attend but have heard great things.  Some of the young people below are in the ABC program and were in the ABC program and scholarship program.

Gaspar had the privilege of officiating 2 weddings of previous ABC yound people - one in La Palma and one in Las Cuevas - This is from Las Cuevas.

This is about as happy as people look for photos, but they really are happy.   :)

Area-wide  Worship Service in Mactzul VI.  Packed house!  They report this as a 3-bull conference which means they had to slaughter 3 bulls to feed everyone.

Graduation of Gaspar's youngest son - Josue.  He is off to the BICA Bible Institute this coming year.

Ladies from the community of San Jorge who once knew former missionaries Roger and MaryBeth, who Gaspar has been studying with and want to reconcile with the the church in San Jorge.  The church there continues to grow and mature.

7th Annivesary of the Children's Sunday School classes in Chuchipaca

 Parable of the Prodigal Son

 Parable of the Talents

Young people who have graduated from the Children's Bible Program

The two girls with their hands covering their mouths are twins.  Even some of their mannerisms are identical!

 Sunday School teachers honored

 Cesar from Chuchipaca who started the Sunday school vision

Gaspar and Manuel in Zacualpa for Baptisms of young people Gaspar has been teaching 

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  No picture here, but the church in Chichicastenango also had a baptism service for 5 people a couple of days before!

 Our coworker Tomas was also involved in baptism in Mactzul V - 2 ABC young people and another young man.  

Graduation and Thanksging service in Mactzul III for the Ricac family who had a son and daughter graduate from high school.

With waiters even!

Wedding of Josefina Lux and Randy Cole

Tiny bride's maid, niece of the bride--these weddings are long and sometimes you get hungry!

Dra. Aura Alvarez Osorio!  Our newly-minted dentist!  

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Diego getting his high school diploma with a dream to study to be an architect.

Giving Thanks

As November rolls to a close we start to feel a sense of excitement about getting back home and sharing time with family.  After being out of the country for a while you kind of forget about the building momentum of fall/winter holidays which has it's upside and down.  We don't have to put up with all of the commercialism that comes with this time of year and the worries about weather interrupting our travel plans.  But of course no one celebrates Thanksgiving here or even Christmas the way we do in the States, so we miss out on the holiday cheer and crisp weather and yummy treats. 

However, we do still think about the things we are thankful for, like our health and work and supportive family and church.  We are are grateful for our Spirit-filled life that brings us closer to God each day.  And we are blessed to hear about other people express their gratitude for gifts that God has brought to their lives.  

•    For instance a diabetic patient blind from cataracts in both eyes by 48 years of age, who had surgery last week after months of trying to get his blood sugar under control. He was so full of joy and thanksgiving on his followup appointment, thanking God, the surgeons who helped him and our staff for helping him get his sugars down. 
•   Parents of a scholarship students who watched their children graduate from high school or college or professional school, when they themselves had only finished 3-4th grade.  They were full of thanksgiving and praise for God's blessings on their familes.
•    Finally,  the lady Sheri saw today in cervical cancer screening clinic who has a precancerous lesion but was so thankful to have found it early, as her own mother died of some type of uterine cancer at a young age.  Rather than leaving clinic heavy-hearted with the diagnosis, she she left happy at the chance to avoid her mother's outcome.

So, Happy Thanksgiving everyone, and we wish you a wonderful and restful time with family and friends.  Don't eat too much turkey!

    

Time Away

We recently spent some time in the States visiting our supporting congregations Eastside Church of Christ in Colorado Springs, CO and Meadowbrook Church of Christ in Jackson, MS.  We were treated like royalty in both places, much more so than we deserve. We felt like we had not even been gone, jumping back into fellowship just like before. But on the other hand we could see and feel little differences in the atmospheres of the churches--for the good.  We felt a warmth and welcoming spirit that extended to all who were there, and a growing diversity of membership that must be a beautiful thing for God to see.

Our time away also included a brief but great visit with some of our family in the States and with Kemmel's dad and brother in Chile. Chile was a relaxing break from the road tripping we did in the States, and we enjoyed the change of culture and scenery and outstanding bread and empanadas!. It's funny how experiencing different cultures allows you to appreciate your own in a new light--the good, the bad and the ugly.  And it makes us think about how God must really get a kick out of watching how many different ways we humans figure out how to live life!

We made it back to Guatemala after just 5 weeks away and we could already see changes and newness from when we left.  Graduation season swooped in and all of a sudden we had 9 kids just from the ABC program graduating from high school.  That is a giant leap from when we first stared here and knew of one kid in high school from the area churches.  We also got word of several baptisms in the area and one in particular of a patient contact from our clinic--always joyful news.

Our team did a great job running things and we are grateful to Dr. Mike and Julie Kelly for filling in at clinic and house/cat sitting for us!  We really enjoyed talking to them after our return to get their view of how things had changed in Guatemala since their time here in the '80s and '90s.

Time away is blessing in may ways but we especially love the change of view that it gives you on reentry! So here we are, back in the swing of things and thankful for our work, our supportive families and church families.  Thank you, Lord!