Sheri! Sheri!

Well, after 12 years of full time living and working in Guatemala, our dear sister/friend Sheri is changing gears and taking on a different role in the Health Talents family. She will be helping to lead surgical groups to Clinica Ezell, working to recruit nurses and others for our medical/surgical teams and visiting churches in the States to share more about the work in Guatemala. She will be living States side but still visiting us frequently.
We can't even begin to tell about all of the ways Sheri has impacted the work here in the Quiche area. She has taken on roles of medical provider, teacher, evangelist, mentor and chaplain, always working with the goal of bringing others to Christ.
One of our favorite memories is us driving down the road coming back from clinic day in Mactzul, and as we drove by some kids, they yelled out "Sheri! Sheri!"  Ever since then, I've called her Sheri, Sheri.  Haha! She is well loved by us, our coworkers, all of the ladies groups she taught, our patients and everyone who met her.
We are so excited for the new work she will be doing and know Sheri will be a great advocate of the work in Guatemala. But we sure will miss you living down the street Sheri, Sheri!
Dios catewe chinik, friend!

Girl power!

Always teaching.

Enjoying the afternoon with families of our staff.

Nurse extraordinaire!

Sheri's always on the lookout for a lamb to adopt!

Healing the sick and afflicted and loving every minute of it!

One of Sheri's many adopted kids. 

Bread of Life

Practice hospitality. (Romans 12:13)

The theme of bread in this culture is significant and represents time together in family or community. We have coffee and bread time in the mid morning and afternoons, people share bread with others as a hospitality or thanksgiving gift; and Holy Week before Easter is spent sharing baskets of bread with neighbors and friends. On Saturday we were gifted two large breads from some patients visiting from Totonicopan about 2 hrs away. They were wrapped in a beautiful woven cloth and basket from the region. At meal times our "bread" is tortillas or tamalitos served throughout the day.

Bread basket from Totonicopan

Yesterday in church the lesson was about developing the habit of reading the word of God to nourish our souls and strengthen our understanding of God.  One of the verses he used was Jesus' teaching in Matthew 4:4 "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God'" Jesus had a way of helping people understand spiritual matters by incorporating everyday physical elements.

Brother Luis Suy reminded us that our need for physical food never goes away no matter how old we are, in fact, we always have an appetite for more food if we are healthy. Likewise our need for God's word on a regular/daily basis never goes away no matter how "old" we are in the faith. In fact, just like the physical body--the more active we are spiritually, or the weaker we are from illness, the more important it is to nourish ourselves with Gods' word. We were challenged to start reading daily or throughout the day the same as we would scheduled physical meals.

I am the bread of life... (John 6: 47) ...If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. (John 6:51) 

And just as we can use food to nourish our bodies, or use it to share time with others, lets look for ways to feed on God's word daily and share the guidance and wisdom we find with others.

One of our students, Meredith showing off her bread making skills at her host families' bakery.