Harding University Visit

We are in the swing of Spring Break around here enjoying visits from two university teams in a row.Our first team was from Harding University and Harding University Physician Assistant program. These guys worked hard helping us get more than half of our ABC program kids seeing for well child checkups. They joined our teams driving out to different communities each day and setting up mobile clinic like pros. They were thorough and cordial with the families and regular patients and spent time giving preventive care education.  A+!

Future PAs and their fearless leaders Gary Hill and Nicole Mount

"On the road again" with Dr. Brian Cress and Nicole Mount, P.A.

Prayer station with Seth (aka Captain America).

All female team healing the sick and aflicted in Clinica Caris.

Dental station with Dr. Aura

Seth and Peyton making friends

Graciela Megan and Heidi hanging out in Paxot II

Susan's Tattoo parlor

Brother Dave and Susan in Mactzul I

Nicole enjoying a visit with her previous host family

Visitors!

We have had all kinds of nice visitors around here lately!  First we had Peri Loftis, medical student extraordinaire working with us for one of her medical school rotations.  She will be a great pediatrician one day!

Peri, Teresa and I after a long day.

Then, we were blessed to have time with Kemmel's mom Roberta and brother, Ron here as well.  We got to play tourists in Guatemala City and Antigua, and later Kemmel showed them around Lake Atitlan and Xela for old times' sake.  They enjoyed getting to see places where they had lived before in the 70s and 80s.  Lots has changed! Ron has gone home after a quick trip and Roberta is hanging out with us until the end of this month. We are being pampered!

Kemmel, Roberta and Ron overlooking Guatemala City.

A fun home visit with Roberta's ABC child Jhony and his family.  We enjoyed meeting his new baby sister.

Jhony showing off his new sweatshirt--this week he got to use it when the cold front hit.

Now we have Mike and Julie Kelly with us.  They were missionaries here in Guatemala in the 90s and have come back several times to help us out with clinics.  Mike is a super brainiac doctor who speaks Spanish and Kiche, so he is a hit with the patients.  Julie is a genius at making friends and knowing everyone's name in town.  She puts me to shame when it comes to knowing all the local vendors in market.

Mike and Julie and Nick from last year.  We need a new pic of this super couple!

This weekwe will have our first spring break team of the year, from Harding University's Physician's Assistant program.  It is always a joy to spend time with these folks.  We will get started on our first round of well-child check ups for the ABC program kids. More pictures to follow.

Looking to the Future

This year we have had some changes to our staff that make us think more about the future for medical staff.  We lost one of our doctors at the end of the year, Dra. Sara Castellanos.  She was a great part of our team and we miss her a lot.

As we started looking for a replacement, we quickly realized that there are few local Christian doctors available to work in this ministry for more than about a year. While Health Talents currently scholarships 3 students in medical school, it will be four years before they are available to work for us.

Medical School Student - Ana Marta

Medical School Student - Josue - second from right.

Medical Student - Jose - leaning in on the left of the photo.

So, we are setting out in a new direction--nurse practitioner training.  We have hired a professional nurse (university trained) who is from one of the local churches and speaks Kiche and Spanish.

Meet Ana Patricia, RN

She worked at the local health department seeing family planning patients and malnourished kids.  So she had a good start.

We are designing a program of didactic study (book work) and clinical practice.  We are blessed to be living in the internet era, where lots of material can be found online and in Spanish.  But this still takes time to plan and energy to teach, so we would appreciate your prayers for wisdom and knowledge for all of us!  If this works out, we hope to begin training some of the scholarship nurses that will be graduating in the next couple of years to assist physicians in our growing clinics.

The Year is Flying By!

Apparently we are getting old, because it feels like Christmas will be here again before we know it! This month flew by us in record speed, but we caught a couple of moments to share with you.

Our Health Talent's calendar hanging in the consult room.  Our patients get a kick out of seeing local hot spots like the vegetable market here in Chichicastenango.

My view from inside the consult room in Mactzul I.  Usually it's pretty quiet on this side of the building, but that day I finished seeing a patient and opened the door to a community water meeting in full swing.  When I finished, the men were kind to help carry my boxes and exam table to the truck. 

It has been pretty chilly around here lately.  The "55 degrees" is in the house!

It is Back to School season, and we had the privilege of taking Cesybel and her parents Tomas and Maria to Xela to set up her room where she will be staying as she studies at nursing school on scholarship from Health Talents.

Loving January

And, we're back!  After a fantastic trip home with family, we are refreshed and ready for the new year.

It is good to be back, and we enjoy the season of resolutions and new starts.  There is nothing like the do-over mentality of this time of year to encourage and inspire change. And we are grateful to God for his renewing Spirit that make change possible.

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases,
his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
great is thy faithfulness.
“The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
“therefore I will hope in him.”
Lamentations 3:22-24

Down to the River

Last week we were invited to a baptism of three people in the Mactzul IV church.  This congregation is new and was established by some members of the church from Mactzul V.  They continue to impress us with their zeal to grow. They would have started with less than 20 people and probably have close to 40 now after 2 years. Some members of this church brought a patient in last February with some serious health issues.  They were concerned for him both physically and spiritually.  Over the following months we were able to get him referred for treatment and the church continued ministering to him and last week he deciding to commit his life to following Christ.  They also had two young folks come forward to identify themselves as followers of Jesus.  It was a great day to see these news brothers and sister start their lives anew!

What a beautiful place to be baptized!  About 1 hour and 15 minutes from Chichi back in the hills, but a small warm water spring.

 3 people for a baptism - Tomas, Josefina and Tomas.  Bigger Tomas looks 

like a whole different person than when he came to clinic.

 Members of the church from Mactzul IV

 Praying before the baptism which was officialed by members from the Mactzul VII church

 Raised into new life!

Bonus - This is a previous ABC student, who had to leave the program to help support the family.  He is now 18 years old, baptized and leading singing in the church.

All Saints' Day--Everyone's Invited!

Traditional giant kites from Sacatepequez, Guatemala to celebrate All Saints' Day (Photo Credit: Prensa Libre)

It's  a major holiday around here--Day of the Dead or All Saints' Day--and we are enjoying being at home catching up after month-long trip to the States.  We were more than blessed to be able to visit friends from our supporting congregations at Eastside Church of Christ in Colorado Springs and Meadowbrook Church of Christ in Jackson, MS.  Every time we go back to visit we are a little afraid that we will no longer fit in or not know anyone, but we are always made to feel like celebrities and family by these two churches.  We were loved on, fed like royalty and spent hours just talking and catching up. In our travels around the States we also got to rest and see family in Oklahoma, Arkansas and Texas and even friends from my (Lisa's) high school days. We have come back renewed and more driven to do the work here in Guatemala.

Being separated from friends and family like we are makes traveling to see everyone so exciting for us.  It reminds me a lot of this holiday that is celebrated here in Guatemala and in other Latin American countries where people have traditions of reuniting with family that have preceded them in death.  The celebrations involve preparing favorite foods to enjoy together, kite making to guide the spirit of the deceased back to the family home for a short visit and a belief held by many that the spirits and the living get to come back together, if just for a day. Although there are many pagan and questionable spiritual overtones to this holiday, it is easy to see that we all have a desire to be with loved ones both living and dead and it reminds us that God also wants us to be reunited with him and enjoy endless time of fellowship.  I wonder what kind of foods God will serve at the Feast of the Lamb?

Traditional foods enjoyed in the harvest season and during the All Saints' Day celebrations. (Photo credit: Prensa Libre)