Spiritual Care for the Community

Today we had the opportunity to attend an all day church service at Xepocol, a local congregation in the mountains surrounding ChiChi. There were approximately 600 people including those that came from surrounding churches. As you can see it was held under a tent like structure for shade.

Many people came from surrounding villages by bus, trucks, cars and walking. Acapella came to sing from the town of Quiche. They were very good and several of their members are related so they travel as a family plus Dad is a preacher.

Gaspar, the gentleman pictured above who is a leader in the church and is one of HTI health promoters, assisted in the meeting. It was a good time to talk with many of the people in the congregation and for them to start to know us better. On the way home, Kemmel gave a ride to people who needed transportation. I rode in the back of the pickup with several younger women and children, while a few more mature Guatemalans rode in the cab.

Every Job Counts

Daniel and his sister Mercedes, ABC/Scholarship students, spent the week with us in Montellano. At last count, Daniel and his sister had made 3048+ packages of multivitamins. These will be ready to give out to the many patients in the mobile clinics.

The Eye Clinic finished today with 21 surgical procedures completed and many patients seen on consult and provided with medical treatment. As we talked tonight, even though it was a small group this trip, it was also a blessing to work and praise the Lord each night together. This group enjoyed singing and we spent more time than usual in the evening learning new songs and singing old familiar tunes. As we all leave and travel our separate ways tomorrow, most expressed the hope of returning again to serve these people who have such tremendous faith and trust in God and in those he sends.

Eye Surgery at Clinica Ezell

We are enjoying a week of eye surgery in Montellano with five team members from the states and a very supportive Guatemalan staff. Dr. Meredith Ezell is our ophthalmologist and here she is removing a patch from Maria, a 47 year old woman that has bilateral cataracts and hasn't had sight in a year. Maria laughed and then she cried. It is always fun to be a part of these early morning events! She hopes to return in March to have surgery on her left eye.

We were preparing Pedro for surgery when his wife arrived. He was so excited to see her. I ask him how long they had been married and he said for 62 years. He was 19 and she was 15. They have 10 children and 15 grandchildren. She walked with him back to the outer doors of the OR and waited patiently in the post-op area for his return. It is now nearly 7pm and she is still at his side.

The past week was filled with new opportunities to allow God to work in our lives. What impacted me the most was on Thursday, I was working with Josephina, one of HTI's physicians, and only a few patients came to the clinic that day. God places us where we can work for him the most, as there was a 6 year old child that was bought to the clinic by her mother. For the past 2-3 days she had nausea, vomiting and some diarrhea. When we examined the child the abdomen was tight, there were no bowel sounds, and there were several positive physical signs for appendicitis. Josephina instructed the mother to take the child directly to the hospital and we prayed for them before they went their way.
The last patient, was a 50-55 year old women who was extremely thin and her husband stated she had been "ill several years but worse now" She weighed 80 lbs and was skin and bones. On examination her liver was very large and her abdomen was slightly tender at all points. There were no other significant physical signs. Josephina ask him if he would take her for an ultrasound and lab work to determine a possible diagnosis of cancer. He conveyed that we did not want to, that his wife was the shepherd for the family and they would leave it in the hands of God. We gave them some supportive medications and ask them to please come to Clinica Caris for follow up, and again it was time to pray to God for this very sick women and her family.
Neva spent the day Thursday with Dr. Lisa at her referral clinic at Caris. They saw a young man who is in similar shape and his labs and clinical presentation raise concerns about about the possibility of leukemia. He, too, was sent to the hospital for further testing and the hope of treatment. Then, a little guy, four years old and only 20 pounds, was brought to the clinic by his mom in obvious distress related to malnutrition. He was treated for parasites and his mother was given information on nutrition and hopefully he can be referred to a milk program that is available in Chichi. If we had any questions about why we are working in Guatemala, they were all answered in one day!
Saturday, we headed for the coast for a week of eye surgery. More from Montellano in the next few days.