A four-legged man

Sorry I don't have pictures of him, but I thought it was a good attention grabber. "The four-legged man" is actually Miguel, a 35-year old man that lives close to our Chiminisijuan clinic. Miguel wears shoes on his knees also as he crawls around on all fours. He was born crippled from birth, but doesn't seem to have let it get him down. He's really nice, has a pretty wife and baby, and a good horse that carries him around. Mostly it was just interesting to see someone like him in this culture and how he interacts with the people around him. From only meeting him once, it seems he is very much accepted by others...

The reason I'm writing today though isn't because of Miguel, but for our little hydrocephalus baby, Helen. I've written about her before, and we have continued to see her in clinic as part of our nutrition program and make house visits. 18-month old Helen's head is 53 cm in diameter, much larger that the average adults, and she has a severe hemangioma (not particularly dangerous but only adds to her disfigured appearance). Anyway, my goal is not to just tell another sad story, but to ask for prayer. Helen's mom has taken very good care of her, even to the point of waiting in a hospital in the City for a month--without an operation--until her family ran out of money. Now, there is a group of American neuro-surgeons coming to the City in October and we are trying to get Helen in for a surgery to drain the excess fluid off of her cerebrum. The hard thing is that Helen's dad left the family for another woman this week, her mom can't read, and they need help in the City to get around. Duane plans to fly Helen and her mom in to the City today or tomorrow for a pre-evaluation (I may end up accompanying them to the hospital). Our hope and prayer is that the doctors are able to do something for Helen and that all goes smoothly.

In other happenings....David and Joseph are still chugging al0ng in the US. They will get Martin on the road hopefully today and then either come home in the next few days or stay to get a load organized to bring down a truck and grain bins for storing the corn that's coming. This Friday we are meeting with the pastors and maybe mayors of Canilla and San Andres. Yesterday we had a meeting with Armando (our pastor friend from San Andres) and he is on board for helping with the corn project. He and I got a list of villages and a game plan organized for visiting and accessing the most needy families in those places in the ensuing weeks. It's exciting, but I'm reminded of how big of a project this could be and how important prayer is.

Lastly, I've learned that I don't like the "negocio" method of car swapping here. I'm looking at buying a Jeep from a guy down the road that is in good shape and has all the paperwork in order, but agreeing on a price is frustrating. I go up, he doesn't go down. He goes down, I don't to go up any more. We'll see what happens.

Disarmed

"He took it [that standard of righteousness that we failed to keep and stood opposed to us], and he nailed it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross." (Col. 3:14,15))

This has been part of the scripture I've formed my message around the last two days outside of our clinics. When you disarm someone you take their gun away. You take their gun and their ammo, and that is what God did to Satan when he died on the cross. Satan is an accuser, and when God nullified the law that stood against us, he took Satan's guns. God can say, "Yeah, maybe Craig screwed up there, but the price has been paid. He can come and be with me." What an opportunity that we as people have before us. The wages of sin is death, but the GIFT of God is eternal life in Jesus.

Today in San Andres in addition to 100 numbers, we saw several families suffering spiritually. One family in particular came in. They were a mother and father along with their daughter, Maria. Maria got married at 13, was abused by her husband who left her for (and sometimes brought home) other women. He ended up dying for some unknown reason, but not before paying a witchdoctor to put a curse on her. From age 15 to 25 Maria has not been able to talk, doesn't recognize her parents, and is prone to fits of lunacy. Whether you want to believe there are spiritual influences in there or not, the young girl has had a really emotionally/physically messed up life. Her parents are now in the church and have thrown away their Mayan idols, but were still pretty timid in praying for their daughter. Leslie encouraged them to fast on their daughters behalf and not to give up praying. We prayed today in clinic and promised a visit, but honestly the whole thing is so foreign to me I didn't know what else to do.

In other happenings...David and Joe are still in the States, but it looks like they'll be able to come back soon. Joe passed his private pilot written test, and they have both been helping out Ryan a lot. Also, I have a few new numbers for the corn project:

1. $68 a month will meet a family of 8's basic corn needs for a year, eating 2lbs of corn a day.
2. Buying the corn in country from a confessing Christian business owner on the coast looks like our cheapest option, at about $8 per 100lb bag. The corn actually comes from the US, but our friend can get it shipped cheaper than we are able to.
3. We are inviting pastors from Canilla and San Andres over this Friday to pray and talk about working together to combat the corn shortage.
4. I learned this week from another man that he "just doesn't feel like he's eaten without having a tortilla,''! So I know corn is something that will be meeting a physical and psychological needs in people!

Anyway, we are just kind of resting tonight. Leslie and Duane are listening to a church service in Kansas City, so I thought I'd write a post before I shower and read a little bit. Thanks for reading and for all the prayers.

Investing

One of my favorite radio hosts, Dave Ramsey, says that when you can annually live off of 8% of your retirement savings, you are safe to retire. That's a piece of financial investment advise, and has nothing to do with the investing God has been dealing me about, but there it is anyway.

I think God cares more about investing in people. This week I went to visit a young man in his home. His name is Lucas and he's suffering from some kind of chronic disease that doctors can't identify. He's 32 years old, was normal up until 3 years ago, and now struggles to swallow. His weight is dropping, he has lost his ability to talk, and is limited to his bed. It has fallen upon Lucas' father Santiago to daily feed, clothe, and move him. Lucas was never married, and his mom (Santiago's wife) passed away several years ago. The two men and at least two daughters that I met live together in their home. It was Santiago who came to our clinic last weekend asking us to visit his son. Leslie has already visited and referred the family to the hospital in the past, so my time with them was mostly just to encourage and pray. Lucas and Santiago are both Christians, and I encouraged them to read the Bible, listen to the christian radio stations, and for Lucas to spend his time praying. As we prayed at the end Lucas closed his eyes and silently moved his lips in prayer. Though he never said a word I knew he was a young man trapped in a body that ached to move. A light part in the visit was when I went to leave. It had started to rain (sounding pretty heavy on their tin roof) so before I started the walk back to my motorcycle I bundled up in my green Gortex rain suit. Apparently I looked like a "turtle" to Lucas, the backpack under my jacket making me complete with a shell. It was good to see him smile and laugh as best he could.

There are a couple other people I visit every week or so, but it's honestly usually hard to go and see them--many of them with chronic illnesses that medically there is no cure for. Sometimes I hesitate to go, or just don't know what to say when I'm there. Today though Aaron and I were reading for our weekly devotional from James chapter 1. There James says that religion that pleases God is to care for widows and orphans in distress. God kind of stopped me with that verse and I think He was telling me that investing in the lives of even just a few people who have need is what pleases him. We see hundreds of people every week in clinic, some we have more relationship than others. But I think in my life, and maybe in all of our lives, we need to pray and seek out those few people in distress (the widows and the orphans) whom we can invest in. I never leave Nancy's (the little girl with cerebral paulsy) house without being glad I did. If I go with scripture, prayer, and a smile I'm finding it's enough to lift a few people's spirits and give them hope. If you're a Christian reading this, you have the ultimate source of hope to offer those around you. Just as I'm trying to do, I encourage you to look for those 1, 2, or 3 people that you can invest in.(This is an older picture from when our Manos de Amor "Hands of Love" friends came from a church in the City to support us in a day of medical clinic. Their investment into their own people has been exemplatory for their fellow Guatemalan's)

Our corn/feeding project is still underway, and so I don't have any concrete plans to pass on yet. First and foremost I and we as a ministry are praying that God would meet the needs of people this year--both physically with food and also spiritually. If the Lord can use us to do that then we are available. Just for fun...

We've found that:
1. One hundred pounds of corn will last a family of eight about 6 weeks.
2. 20,000 pounds of corn will feed 273 families for a year.
3. We still don't now the cheapest way to get corn here.
4. It would be best to work with the churches in collecting other foods for distribution.
5. By working with the churches needly families could be identified easier in outlying villages and distribution made more efficient.
6. We need to keep praying!

Everybody loves corn

Right? At least in Guatemala I think everybody loves corn. If you haven't heard, the problem in much of Guatemala this year is that it barely rained during the main growing season and there is way less food than normal. Already we are seeing more people than ever asking us for food, and more babies every week are going onto our feeding program.

This three-month-old baby boy is from Chiminisijuan clinic yesterday.

Leslie wrote a good blog about what God has put on our hearts to do to help the hunger situation. Right now we're in the planning phases, but we are in contact with many people who are helping us organize getting a load of corn into Quiche for distribution among poor families who are in need of food. If you think to pray or feel led to be a part in this project in another way (such as donating money toward shipping or corn, or donating corn itself) I believe it is something that God is doing. After we get a few more numbers from some shipping companies and the Guatemalan ports, I can pass more details on to those who are interested.

In other happenings, Guatemala celebrated its independence from Spain yesterday. Lots of people came to Canilla from San Andres to listen to some bands in the park. Sebastian and Oralia (who run the orphanage in San Andres) came over to visit afterward with a truckload of kids. It was really good to visit with them, and I think I might start teaching a few of the boys guitar lessons. Sebastian is going to see who is really interested.

Today was a good day because I got my radiator fixed on my bike finally (thank you Malachi); although, I have a new-found respect for JB Weld. I also have a new movie, The Incredibles, to show in the park this Friday. This week I put up flyers because several poeple said they would have come to the past ones if they had known. If anyone has any good ideas of movies, I would love to hear them. DVD's that have a Spanish audio track work best, and I look for movies with quality (that I would watch), that are clean, and if possible have a positive message. Showing movies a few times a month is depleting our supply, and I'm not in the States to know what new ones are out.

Well, it's hot tonight, and I need to shower and get to bed. My dad says that cleanliness is next to Godliness.

Ahora Si!

Yes. I am back. Thanks very much especially to Jeff and Donette for checking on me! One week I didn't write, and I never got back on. But ahora si (now, yes) I'm back and won't let it happen again. God has been moving in many people's lives, and a lot in my heart.

"What is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.....Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands." (2 Cor. 4:18-5:1)

This scripture has really spoken to me a lot lately. God is building a house for me in heaven--how awesome! I don't know how I could say the truth of this verse any better using other words; it's just the applying of the message to life that is so hard. What we see with our eyes, what we work toward, what we worry about..so much these physical things are all so blatantly in front of us, but are not the most important. The past couple clinics I've been blindfolding kids and asking them to lead each other to a certain spot outside of clinic. The first time my two volunteers are blindfolded, the second time one's blindfold is taken off and the little boy or girl guides the other.

The blind can't lead the blind. Only Jesus can open our spiritual eyes. And only when our spiritual eyes are opened to we begin to live for those eternal things. There is so much need that we see every day, so few people who have hope. Hopefully if you had been following my blog in the past, you were able to read a little from Adonai's blog. There is a story there of Candelaria; her story is pretty appalling. More than anything though I remember kneeling under her plastic as she told us that she was afraid God had forgotten her. A neighbor had a dream that Candelaria died, and so Candelaria thought that was her future. So many lies had been spoken over her that she struggles to believe there's hope and a God who loves her...."What is seen is temporary. What is unseen is eternal."

My time here is moving more toward more preaching and prayer ministry, although clinics and the everyday word still fill in the gaps. David and Joseph are planning on going to the US tomorrow. Both will be renewing their licenses and Joe will be taking his written test for his private pilot's license. I'll miss them for the time their gone, but I won't get as much trouble for a while. Dr. Malachi and his sister Rachel will also be going home tomorrow. They were here for a week, and were huge help with ministry and clinic as always.

Tomorrow is San Andres clinic, so I appreciate any prayers for the people there, and again, please forgive me for slacking on the blog.