La Avanzada is sort of our adopted Guatemala sister church- the whole community that is- 110 families. What CALMS and Divine Shepherd are trying to do jointly is to raise "una iglesia organica" or an organic church in La Avanzada. This community would in turn be an example of a natural Christian community for the surrounding small towns. What we want to do is raise these young leaders, Rony and Lilian to lead services and share the Bible with all of their community. Many of the people there cannot read and it will be Rony and Lilian's responsibility to get the Word of God to them and to lead regular services.
When we arrived on Sunday we had a worship service. We sang, we read Bible verses, and Rony read a little devotional message. It was mainly women and children there, numbering about 30. After this some of us went to see a young boy who was said to have fallen from a tree and hurt his leg. So Dave, our physical therapist, and our nurses, Erin and Mariel, went to check it out. The boy definitely had a fractured leg below the knee. Ramiro and I immediately took him and his father to the hospital in Zacapa. The doctors fixed him up and now has a cast on his leg and is recovering. His name is Donaldo and it turns out that he had been lying on a mat in his house for 8 days after the incident, being carried around by his father if he needed to use the restroom. Eight days with a broken leg! Poor kid. I am sure his dad would have take him to hospital if he could have. For one, he doesn't have a car, and for two, he would never be able to pay the hospital for the surgery. It was a pretty sad situation. But all is well now thanks to CALMS and the volunteers there.
Monday through Thursday we held two clinics, one was a medical clinic and the other was a dental clicic. Greg, our dentist, Steve (improv dental assistant) and Donna (translator) worked with several patients and pulled out an incredible amount of rotten teeth in the four days. They also filled some cavities but were impeded on Wednesday (I believe) when the drill broke. They probably could have stayed for several weeks fixing teeth there in the village. The diet and the lack of tooth brushing in La Avanzada account for their large lack of dental health. With every patient our dentist crew tried to educate the patients on how to take care of their teeth.
Here is a picture of some patients waiting for the dentist(front center), Sean
talking with Lilian (breaking the language barrier, on left) and
Carly, Katie, Laura, and Lisa discussing important VBS
business (in back)
Dave (PT), Erin (nurse) and Mariel (nurse) along with several translators (myself, Nils, Karla, Marilyn, Charles, and Pastor Miguel) held a medical clinic and saw many patients, most of which were women and children. We saw three major sicknesses, skin problems (sarcopioses), respiratory problems (climate), and stomach/diarrhea problems (parasites). We did the best we could to provide some temporary relief for these illnesses but the bigger problem is the lack of sanitary living conditions. So this is one thing that we have been trying to instill in the people there, that these illnesses can be prevented by bathing regularly, washing your hand regularly, and keeping animals out and away from the home. These are just a few of the things that the people of La Avanzada could do to help the health situation.
Here is Dave (Physical therapist) giving a women some tips
on fixing her hip problem and Nils (translator)
We also put on a VBS in the afternoons for the kids. I was not able to see what transpired there at all because I was needed for translation at the medical clinic but I heard we had a great turnout and the kids were really excited about learning the Bible.
The other thing we did was build a house for Ismael. Ismael is confined to a wheel chair on account of an injury he sustained three years ago. The house we built him had a bathroom, two bedrooms, a nice space for a kitchen and living area and two doors with ramps leading outside. We dedicated the house yesterday and it was rather emotional for all involved, especially for Ismael and his wife. We read some Bible passages, blessed the home, and then celebrated his birthday for it was that same day. We had a really good turnout as well of community members there to support Ismael.
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| Here Ismael and his wife are moved to tears of joy and gratitude for the house |
Prayer Requests:
- Ismael and his family (Ismael is struggling with depression- being confined to the wheelchair has been tought
- Rosa- suffering from congestive heart failure
- The Divine Shepherd team- safe travel home
- Sufficient rest for Ramiro, Nils, Karla, and myself (these trips are high energy and action-packed for everyone involved)
- The people of La Avanzada to receive God's Word and to trust in Him
- Rony and Lilian- guidance and confidence to be leader
Thanks for reading and God Bless!
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| Me and Ismael |
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| This family lives a surrounding village called Oratorio and will be receiving a house from CALMS in July |
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| This is Ramiro Penate, the mastermind and the muscles for CALMS in Guatemala |
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| Here is the team enjoying lunch after a hard morning's work |
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| Miguel, Ramiro, and I visited some leaders from El Progresso, another small village that CALMS is working with to spread the Gospel among other things |
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| Here is Sean (DCE at Divine Shepherd) and Lilian |
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