Last week we enjoyed a great visit from a team from the Donnelson Church of Christ in Tennessee.  They were a great group to work with, and included a medical/dental team as well as a construction team.  On the healthcare side, we were able to see our regular patients as well as check off some well-child exams for our ABC kids.  It was good to see all the children gaining weight approriately and most everyone passing their classes. 
Kemmel worked with the construction team each day getting some bathrooms put in for the church in Mactzul III.  We don't usually involve ourselves in construction, as it is not our forte, but this church has raised a lot of money on their own to build their first church building, and we had a team wanting to help out.  So, lets just say the construction team worked hard, sweated a lot, and got home late most days.  They were pretty worn out each night!  It was a good week, and we really appreciate not only those who came down to work, but also the church back home who helped finance the project, and who have been involved with HealthTalents. 

Saturday, we headed out to clinic in Chuchipaca. We really didn't expect to see anyone as we had been there the week before with the group, but we decided to stay on cycle so no one would be confused.  After seeing 9 patients, we pack up our equipment and construction scaffolding we left the week before,  and got back early enough to make it to the capital before nightfall.  We enjoyed a weekend of togetherness, laziness and movies and good food.  Monday, we went to pay my medical license, which turned out to be quite easy.  So I am legal for another year--whew!

This week, back to regularly scheduled programming.

We just said goodbye to our visiting team from Arkansas, Alabama and North Carolina, and Texas.  It was very large team, and to be honest, we were a little worried about logistics.  But, after much prayer and pre-game planning (thanks, Kemmel and Rick!) we enjoyed a very productive and fun week.  I got to spend time with my friend from medical school, Dr. Lesca Hadley, who is now on our board of directors--she is such an encourager and fun to work with. There were also several young 'uns on the team, helping with construction/maintenance projects, and I we must admit that we were impressed with their mature behavior and great work ethic.  Our medical and dental clinics were very busy, but orderly, and we got home each night tired but satisfied.   The great thing we noticed this time was the increase in participation by the church members as we ministered in each town.  We had so many volunteers helping to translate, direct patient traffic, work on construction, and feed and serve us lunch.  We thank God for allowing us all to participate in such a rewarding work.

As seeing off this team, we hung around the hotel watching the World Cup Final while our new team from Donnelson Church of Christ in Tennessee arrived.  We were rooting for Holland over Spain (we are big underdog fans).  Although I must admit my ignorance to the fact that the Netherlands is a.k.a Holland, even though Holland really only refers to two of the many provinces in that country.  I had to do a little Googling to figure out who we were supporting! So, despite our team losing the final, I am now a little more geography-savvy.

Tomorrow we head out with our new team, to share some more of the great work that we have here.

July Mobile Medical and Dental Clinics

See Sheri's blog for updates on the team and the clinics.  http://sheriinguate.blogspot.com/

Happy belated Independence Day to everyone.  We were able to enjoy some holiday fellowship with fellow patriotic expatriates.  At lunch we had a cookout with Sheri and our MET intern Nate and narrowly escaped a good-food coma during afternoon worship services.  After church, during the cold rain, we enjoyed another cookout with some of the local missionaries in the area.  It was good to sit and share memories and American food and fireworks.  We thanked God for the liberties and opportunities given us through our U.S. citizenship, for the uniformed men and women that defend us every day,  and also the freedom He gave us through life in Christ.

Today we are catching up on laundry, yard and house work and last minute details before our medical/dental team arrive this week. We'll have some folks working clinics, including well-child checks on our ABC program kids; and also a work team that will be busy helping some of the local churches and doing some painting at Clinica Caris.  It's been a good, relaxing weekend and we are ready hit the trail running!

Mactzul V - Before and After

Today I went out to Mactzul V and Mactzul III to visit with some of the brothers, see how they are doing on their church projects, and to check the situation of the running water in the homes.  My first stop was Mactzul V.  This is a church that 5 years ago had around 60 baptized members and has grown to over 120 baptized members and has over 50 families active in the church.  The entire community has around 130 families, so the church has reached over 40% of the families in the area.  Pretty incredible.  We have big churches in the US, but how many churches can claim more than 30% of the local neighboorhood attending the church. 

They pointed out another church in the community that has pretty much closed its doors which we are not too sad about, as the it was a church more concerned about required tithing than the spiritual development of its members. 

So as the church has grown, so must the building!  Here is a before picture:

And another:

This the status of the building now.

Here is a side view to better see the size.  This building is 27 meters by 18 meters.  3 or 4 of the old building would fit inside.

Of course the most exciting part is not the building but the growth and maturity of the church.  The church has raised Q250,000 (Q4000 each family which would be around 1/3 of a families yearly income) from it's own members to take on this project and have been saving for 2-3 years.  Now they are running out of funds which is a whole other situation, but they continue to find ways to keep pressing on and providing for the future of the church.

Please say a prayer today for the church in Mactzul V that they can continue to effect change and spiritual growth in their community.

Favorite people

Yesterday in Xepocol, we were sitting around waiting for patients to arrive (we were the back burner event to the Government subsidy delivery and the big party down the hill).  Finally people started to roll in, including one of my favorite sisters in the church there.  Micaela is 90 years old and has children, grandchildren and great grandchildren who are christians in the same church.  Her blood pressure was up after running out of meds--making her a little dizzy, but her blood sugar was close to normal, which is great.  Her son asked me in a loud voice, "She's not supposed to drink cokes, right?"  So I affirmed that and congratulated her on watching her diet.  I am always a little reluctant to put a 90 year old active person on too much medicine, so I kept her on the blood pressure meds and gave her vitamins and acetaminophen for her varicose vein pain.  I told her if she keeps the diet under control, we won't have to use diabetic meds.  She patted me on the chest and thanked me and asked God to bless me.  When you meet her in heaven you'll like her too!

Micaela Salvador and her son Juan Chan Salvador

Happy Anniversary!

Today is our 19th wedding anniversary--it is really hard to imagine that we have been married that long.   I think I speak for both of us in saying that our marriage has been a blessing beyond anything we could ask, and that we are grateful to God for allowing us to work togther in this ministry.

From the words of The Preacher:
Two are better than one,
because they have a good return for their work:
If one falls down,
his friend can help him up.
But pity the man who falls
and has no one to help him up!
Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.
But how can one keep warm alone?
Though one may be overpowered,
two can defend themselves.
A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.
Ecclesiates 4:9-12