People that Sweat

Thanks to everyone who prayed for this last trip to Unilla. It was a lot better for me than the first one. Our projector worked, so over 300 people got to watch the Jesus Film in their language, and I slept on a sleeping bag this time. It's amazing what a little padding will to for a night's sleep...
I still don't understand how people there can sweat all day. You sweat when you work, eat, and sleep. But I guess you get used to it.
The people were really nice, but it was honestly kind of weird at first. Duane made two flights, got everyone in, and everything was set up, but it was like people were afraid of us. I played with some of the kids to try to show them I didn't bite. By playing I mean I kind of made a fool of myself. We turned a log into a teeter-totter and did handstands. Finally people started to come...and come...and come. I really don't have a good number for how many people we saw total. Leslie, Katie, Heather, Malachi and I probably saw well over 200 people yesterday. Duane was also doing eye exams and giving out glasses. Malachi and I were the only ones to stay the night to show the movie. Leslie came back with Duane this morning and we probably saw another 200 from the surrounding villages. It's so easy to get tired (especially with all that sweat), but when people have walked an hour (some more) to get to you, it's hard not to help them...Some memorable moments are starting my first IV on a sick woman (thanks to Malachi's guidance), and competing with Malachi to see who could wake up the most in the middle of the night. (Neither of us wanted to win). The first words out of his mouth this morning were, "I think I'll bring some more roosters next time we come." They were all around our building didn't know that sunrise needed to include the sun. On a little deeper note, I would like to ask anyone who prays to offer a small (or big) prayer to God for a middle-aged man named Reuben.
Reuben came through early this afternoon after having gone to a hospital in the City about two weeks ago. He brought in his CT scan results from a tumor that is growing the frontal lobe of his head. In the last month he's started to lose his ability to talk, and his left eye has started to drift. They told him in Guatemala City (two days travel from his home), that there was nothing that they could do, and sent him home to die. He got tears in his eyes as he told Duane the story. The way his said it in Spanish was that "they told me they couldn't save me." So Duane and I spent well over 5 min praying over him right in the middle of clinic. Crowds started to gather to watch, but it didn't matter. Reuben is a Christian, and he knows God has a purpose for his life. There is a place where medicine ends, and life just doesn't have a lot of purpose if we don't have a Creator who loves us. I was reminded today how thankful I am to have Jesus in my life. I pray you too hold onto Him. He is an anchor for our souls!
(Duane doing some eye exams)

Hot, hot and hot

It's pretty stinkin' hot here today, and tomorrow is supposed to be worse. I just wanted to let anyone who reads this and prays know that we are planning on going to Unilla tomorrow. It will be our second trip to the village, and is about a 20 min plance ride in the 182. The village has no roads going to it, no power, and little access to health care. We will probably be spending the night and showing the Jesus film after clinic. Last time mostly men came to clinic (maybe about 200), because we think the women and kids were scared of us. So if you think or feel led to pray, please pray that their hearts be open to Christ, and also for discernment for us to know if it's a place the Lord wants us to continue to visit. (If so, I think time and relationship with the people will make the women less scared of us :)

A few pictures from the last trip:

The Chopper

(Power went out, so this is from Mon. the 25th)
We would all like to have a flying "chopper" here, but our grass chopper will have to work for now. It's been a project for David and Juanito for the last month while we waited on parts, but today we chopped two truck loads of "sacate" grass for the first time. The plan is to use it to make silage and all round better use of the sacate we feed to the horses and cows. After cutting and carrying the 15 foot tall stalks off grass to the truck, I've learned its a good way to get good and itchy for the resto of the day.
In the afternoon Leslie, Katie, Malachi (our doctor from the States and good friend), and I drove to San Andres for our weekly prayer meeting. Our focus was from Isaiah 40 where God says to prepare the way for the Lord. This weekend is the big gathering of churches in San Andres, so we're really asking God to move. We want His agenda not man's. And I hope it's not just a party (although a party without the normal "cush" liquor is a good thing). Anyway, Joel came to pray again with us along with 5 other friends, so two churches were represented. It's always a little (actually a lot) harder to pray and lead worship in Spanish, but the Holy Spirit was faithful to guide us. Leslie just happened to pray for our hearts to be opened to what God wanted to do in the weekend's activity, and that set me up perfectly to sing "Open the Eyes of My Heart," a well-known worship song here. From there songs and prayers flowed a lot easier...
Yesterday in San Andres was pretty normal at clinic. About 80 people came through, but I didn't get any fresh pictures. My worst moment (that I'm aware of) was when I asked a pregnant lady if the guy with her was her dad. Ends up he was her husband, and of course he happened to be right there when I asked. It's hard to come back from that, so I put on my stethoscope and took her blood pressure....

Tonight I'm heading to bed early to be ready for Chiminisijuan clinic in the morning. Early to bed early to rise, right? Whether you're reading this morning or evening, I hope you too get a good nights sleep!

And just to post a few pictures.....


This is Abi, posing for a photo that's part of finalizing her adoption.

Marble and Clinic

Some good marble guys came over on Thursday night from the City to install new countertops in our busy kitchen. They said it took them 8 hours to get here (it usually takes us 4-5, but that's not with a load of marble). So everyone in the house has been pitching in to get them installed as quickly as possible. They're nice guys, but hopefully they'll be out of here in the morning...

Yesterday we had some really strong rain and hail. Duane said it normally hails once a year, but I had never seen it so strong. Joel called me today and said that it was so bad in San Andres that it knocked holes in the church roof. Kind of reminds me of what my family says it's been like in Southern Illinois. Today it rained hard again, and we watched some of our treetops hit the power lines and short them out. On my way into town (to get a generator going for the marble guys), everyone was outside in the streets watching the river flow through town. It was pretty neat, and I made sure to wave real big since the gringo's big trees knocked their power out.

Clinic was good today. Honestly it's usually pretty exhausting. I get up, and the first thing I do is share a message with the people waiting in line. Some of them have been there since 4am. Today Salvador and Tomas both helped me by translating into Quiche for those who didn't speak Spanish. Tomas also had a good word he tacked onto the end of mine. Then I sang a song, prayed, and we began clinic. There are all kinds of people who come through our clinics: old, young, pregnant, middle-aged, pregnant, and pregnant. Today there were a lot of pregnant ones. As much as I've tried NOT to do any ultrasounds, I finally asked Leslie to teach me how about a month ago, just because I was starting to hold up clinic waiting on Leslie or Katie all the time. Actually it's really neat, and the ladies are super nice. They don't seem to mind that a young whippersnapper is running a probe over their belly. Just don't tell Joseph and David. Overall though clinic was good. We had some laughs, saw some sick people, and prayed for a lot of them. It's really good to be able to just stop or end a consulta by saying, "hey let's pray about this," and just put them into God's hands. Some of the chronic patients we only see once a month, but we know that the God who loves them is with them every day, and we pray He meets their needs. Tomorrow is a another busy day in San Andres at clinic and church. One promise we all have is that God is willing to be with us in the present, tomorrow. So I'm looking forward to seeing what He is going to do! Whenever you read this, I hope you can take a moment to enjoy Him too.

Big Grasshoppers

Yesterday (Wednesday) is normally our Sabbath day of rest since we have clinic in Canilla on Saturaday and in San Andres on Sundays. It's a relatively new practice, and difficult to observe sometimes, but we're trusting that God can do more through us in six days than we can do on our own in seven.
I say all of that to say that we moved our day of rest to today (Thursday), because Duane had to go to the City for some adoption work yesterday. For everyone who's been praying for Grace and Abi's adoptions, thank you so much. Grace is officially a Ficker in Guatemala, and we're almost there for Abi.
So David and I ended up working on finishing a swingset for the kids here at the house yesterday morning. We got laughed at for trying it out, but we were just thinking of the kids' safety....
Later in the afternoon I did some schoolwork and then made some house visits. The first was to my friend Juan Carlos's grandma, Julianna. Last Sunday he had told me how she raised him and wanted him to go to church when he was little. Now that he's a Christian and is starting his own family, she isn't interested! So I asked Aaron if I could take some his cow's milk to her as a gift, and she was very thankful. As is custom here, she was very nice and invited me in to sit down. She was very sweet and made me miss my own grandmas. My prayer and hope is that she sees the good fruit in her grandson's life from his personal relationship with God and wants to have the same.

Later I went to check on Nancy, a little girl that with Cerebral Palsy. She is 23, but weighs about as much as an 8-year-old. Her father was killed in a car accident about 3 years ago during a church event, and now her mom takes care of her alone. I've noticed that several friends and family come to visit her, but I can't imagine how hard it much be to take care of Nancy by herself. Situations like Nancy's occur all over the world to the poor and the rich, but it is never easy to see and understand. She can't talk anymore, but she understands everything and smiles and laughs when we talk about the milk we bring "fattening her up" and going for a ride in Duane's airplane. When I think of her mom, I know she has a great purpose in the world in taking care of her daughter and that God desires to fill her heart with is love and joy. We prayed before I left just asking God's presence to dwell in the house with them.
Now Duane and Leslie are listening to a teaching on the porch, so I'm going to go join them. I hope that today is a blessed day for you, whenever you read this, no because circumstances are always ideal, but because the God of heaven loves you and has a purpose for you.

Prayer Can Change Things

One of the coolest things that we've seen in while down here was the pastors meeting in San Andres yesterday. Actually I didn't see it, but Joel and Rody (two pastors) told me that 50 pastors came from the town and surrounding villages for the purpose of seeking God's heart for San Andres. This is really an answer to our prayers for the town, and really confirms that we're right on to have started prayer meetings on Mondays in San Andres.
This weekend was pretty busy. Saturday's clinic was good. Heidi had to leave in the morning, but it was still good to see her for a while. Our friends Dr. Sherwood and his wife Areli came for half of the day as they do nearly every Saturday to help. I was able to squeez in about an hour of volleyball in the afternoon before church in Chijo. It was my first time preaching, but the church was very gracious and thanked me several times for coming. The people were so nice that I don't think they'd tell me if I'd done terrible!
Sunday, clinic in San Andres was busy as usual, and then church at Joel's was very rich as usual. For the last couple of months God has really been touching people there in a powerful way. It's a pleasure to worship with them. Juan Carlos, a friend from the church, surprised me by inviting me over to visit Sunday night. He and his wife Jaiel just had a new baby, so that was my exuse for going over, but it ended up just being a really nice time getting to know them.
Today the medical group of us (Leslie, Katie, Heather (a friend staying for a month), and me) went up to Chiminisijuan for clinic. It was like the flood gates opened up. There were lots of sick kids, so we gave out a lot of prayer and antibiotics. I think like 80 people came. Medical clinics are one of the branches of our ministry that you never want there to be too great of a need for!

Armando (the worship leader), Armando (the pastor),
and me from Sat. in Chijo.



My mischevious buddy Juanito (in the middle) from San Andres.



Heather and Katie giving a lady and her baby
a once-over in Chiminisijuan today.

Drugs and Church

Today I had the privilege of another flight lesson with Duane. He had some errands to run in Quiche, so we took the plane over there for the morning. While he was taking care of some adoption paperwork I went to visit our friend Victor who runs a drug rehab center. He was excited to tell me that each one of the 23 men staying at the center have a bed, roof, and food. When I got there a pastor friend of his was there having a Bible study with the guys. Then I sang some praise and worship songs with them. I hope none of them ever read this (not that many of them could read English), but I have to say that only God would think what we made was a joyful sound! I lied though and told them they were great singers, so they sang all the louder. It was a really good time.
Later Duane and Leslie headed to the City for some paperwork and a night without all of us at the house. David and Aaron were busy with tractor work most of the afternoon, and Joseph was finishing up a picture frame for Leslie. He's pretty good with wood, and said I needed to help Duane build some cabinets so I could learn....Tomorrow I think Heidi is going to come over. We really miss she and Matt.
Also, I went to a new church tonight about 10 min. out of town in Chijo. Last night God put the church on my heart, so I called the worship leader and asked if they had service tonight. The people were so friendly, and God was speaking to me throughout the service (a good sign for a church). Nothing was at all extravagant, but people were very real and really loved God. They invited me to preach this Saturday at a youth night, and I have a feeling that I'm going to be working more with them in the future. It's always exciting to see what God has planned. He's teaching me to spend my time and energy pressing into Him, and then he'll provide opportunities to serve Him.