Great 4 Days…God is Good!
Saturday May 14,2016
Saturday the team traveled to Guatemala and met up with Jackie, Cesia, Rudy and the rest of the volunteers. Travel went smoothly praise God! Although it was a very long day, a 5 hour flight and 5 hour ride up to San Cristobal, and a 2 hour time difference in the mix. We rested well and looked forward to a full day’s work the next day.
Sunday May 15, 2016
After a hearty breakfast and a sweet devotional time our team set out for the day. All the clinic and surgical supplies were moved from the warehouse to the hospital. God has blessed this ministry with safe housing for our supplies this year right In the village of San Cristobal. No more hiring a truck to bring everything up from Guatemala City which is 5 hours away! Our friend Rudy right here in San Cristobal looks after our equipment during the year. It definitely is less wear and tear on the medical equipment and on ourselves! The supplies were moved into the rooms the hospital in San Cristobal has generously donated to us for our clinic.
While some of us were sorting out the clinic supplies Tom, Gary and Debbie, our water treatment team, gathered their supplies as well. They set off for the school where we were installing a new water treatment system. Cesia, Lora, Brooke, and Sydney were learning how to teach the kids the importance of good hygiene to prevent illness and disease.
One of the biggest highlights of the day was when we all met up later at the school. At least 100 kids showed up and we played games and taught them about spreading germs and we taught them songs in Spanish about how great our Jesus is! It was a hot one that day but everyone had a blast!
It was truly a blessing to see how God not only brought our team together but works out all the details! Tomorrow is day one of clinic! We are looking forward to it!
Monday May 16, 2016
Clinic day One! We started with an early breakfast at 6:30 am, a wonderful devotional to start us off right and off the day raced! Our friend Rudy was so great at scheduling patients all day for us to see, and many walked in having heard about our clinic from advertising or word of mouth.
We saw at least 23-25 children all ages, from 21 days old to age 19! These little month old infants were too tiny for surgery but they were treated for malnourishment and one little one was even admitted to the hospital that day. The parents were patient and waited with their little ones, often coming from hours away. After the children were examined, vitals taken assessments done and scheduled for a procedure for next week they were prayed for and given clothing, shoes, a bible, and sometimes, baby formula, micro-nutrients, or other supplies.
It was a crazy busy day, getting into a rhythm and organizing ourselves. The translators and local volunteers were great with all the parents, it helped us a lot! It was another hot day and all of us felt like we had put in a good days effort when we went back to hotel for the evening.
At the same time the clinic was hopping our water team was hopping too! They continued to work on the water project at the local school and also started building a stage for the Paneste school. The community likes to have dedications for all sorts of events such as these. Thursday, the school where we are installing the water purification system is having an inauguration for the entire village school and their families. The children will perform all the songs we have taught them and there will be puppet show to illustrate the health and hygiene teaching program.
Tuesday May 17, 2016
Clinic Day 2
Another busy day with seeing patients! God is so good to bring back some of our previous patients which we received with much love and joy. You can see the trust and happiness in the parent faces of our repeat kids. It is such a privilege to be serving here. In most cases we are able to follow them for years and can see them develop and grow and are able to do all the necessary repeat procedures on them that enable them to live happy lives.
The second day we were in a groove and things went so smoothly! The water team and construction crew continued on the stage building. Debbie being a seamstress by trade sewed up some panels for the stage when we do the puppet show at the dedication of the water project this week. The team also visited another school about an hour away in another village to check on a previously installed water system.
All in all it was a good day! The surgery schedule is almost full. We will be doing about 30 -35 surgeries. And a few others in between! Not to mention all the patients the dentists will see when they are here next week.
We have our last clinic day tomorrow and feel blessed that the Lord is bringing just the right patients he wants us to work on next week.
