Answered Prayers

Hola everyone! What an amazing time in Guatemala! I want to tell you about multiple cases of prayers that were answered.

When I first arrived it was the day before Independence Day. They have a tradition of letting the school kids run down the roads and highways with torches while people on the side of the roads throw water at them. This is a very dangerous practice. The school in our furthest village named Yalu picked the brightest students to ride in the back of a pickup to the highway as part of the celebration. The pickup was packed and the kids were standing up holding onto metal railing. As the teacher turned a corner the metal frame fell off the truck, taking the kids with it. Multiple kids were injured, 2 seriously. One boy and one girl were in a coma. The poor teacher was so upset she fainted.

That evening Anita and Gregory, (founders of the clinic) had a dinner party. After eating, Anita, Karen, (another missionary who works at the clinic ), and I decided to pray for these children. Anita told us of a 12 year old son of missionaries who was also in a coma. He suffers from asthma, had a severe attack, and was transported two hours to a hospital that could handle the situation. He had received no oxygen for 4 minutes prior to getting help. When he arrived at the hospital he was placed on a ventilator but then he developed pneumonia. Things were looking bleak. The three of us prayed long and hard for all of these children.

The next day we learned that the girl in the accident had woken up with no residual problems. The second day we learned that the boy from the accident woke up but would still need some further treatment. Later we learned that the MK with asthma woke up and said "hi mom!". He is now fine. Praise God!

The last day I was there one of the indigenous women who works in the clinic was distraught. Her brother and boss were leaving the village at 3am to sell their truck load of tomatoes in another town. They were kidnapped. The only thing we knew was that someone had seen it happen and that her brother was tied up. At that point they had been missing for 6 hours. The entire clinic team prayed that morning for their safe return (which was unlikely).
Later that day the brother and his boss returned tired, no tomatoes, no money, no truck but safe and alive! Praise God!



Update on the church/community center. We have one more payment to make on the land before we can start building! We are so excited and have many plans to use the building for God's glory.

Along with the blessings come trials. Guatemala is having the driest rainy season in 30 years. Many people are starving because they rely on the fruit of the land for survival. This drought has hurt the area where the clinic is located but we are much better off than other areas.

As many of you know the road from the highway is being paved. This has made life so much easier for the villagers. However, this has also made it much easier for robbers to get in and out of the villages. Armed robberies, in broad daylight, are happening. The robbers are able to escape by motorcycle which would have been impossible before. It's frightening because we see them robbing the tiendas (little stores) when we are arriving to the clinic. I'm pretty sure those rifles are loaded! What's really sad is that these store owners are poor and now they have even less and can do nothing to stop it from happening over and over.

The other day I found myself saying something I never thought I would say, "thank you for letting me borrow your machete." You can imagine the monster weed growing in my back yard that was the cause of me borrowing it!


Update on Ranger(aka Sweetie). Look at the previous posting for the before picture of her. She received all her chemotherapy, her operation, shots, and now is in perfect health. She is happy and very sweet. Will make a great family dog. If any of you are looking to add a very sweet dog to your family she is available for adoption. E-mail me for details on getting her to the US.Oh, her friend needs a home too.














One last funny thing that happened. Anita, Gregory, Karen and I went out to eat. At the cafe the menu had been expanded and they had interpreted it into English. Well, bless their hearts, the interpretation is funny, if not appetizing. On the menu were such things as:
Hamburger with cheaps
Turkey jam sandwich
Chocolate mouse cake

We had great fun, good coffee, and the chocolate mouse was delicious!

All God's blessings,
Terri

Hola everyone! I have just returned from my latest trip to Guatemala and boy are things happening there!

My first night there we had an earthquake of 7.1. It lasted for a long time but everything was fine for us. I heard that a few people died in El Salvador where the epicenter was located.

I had no water the first few days in the condo where I stay. Nothing like roughing it right off the bat. I bummed hot showers off of my friends and they were very generous.

The government has instituted a new law that all motorcycle riders must legally wear issued numbers on the back of their helmets and jackets. The jackets and helmets must be black and there can be no more than one rider at a time on the motorcycle. Why, you ask? To prevent drive-by assassinations! No kidding! Whew, I feel much safer now, LOL.

The paved road from the highway is about 1/2 done. This is such a blessing as it gives us more time at the clinic and more energy to give to the villagers.

We have an extremely poor family who lives near the clinic. This family is so poor they go into the fields and pick up corn that was not harvested by the farmers because it was considered un-fit. They make tortillas with the corn to feed the family but cannot afford salt. They also gather wood to sell, making about Q15 a day. This is less than two dollars. The father is in a wheelchair related to a bus accident. The daughter of the family became pregnant by a man who said he loved her and promised to marry her. When he found out she was pregnant he hit the road. Sadly, her baby died in utero at 8 months. She went to the hospital where she sat for days without receiving help. Gregory, one of the founders of the clinic (the business side) went to the hospital in his suit and tie demanding to see the patient. The doctors mis-took him for a doctor and she was in the OR in a matter of hours. (No, Gregory did not do the surgery. He probably almost passed out just saying the word :)

Another little girl, about 3 years old, fell into a pot of boiling corn. Her backside and legs were burned badly. We have been treating her 2x per week and she is healing nicely.

I was invited to a bridal shower for the daughter of a missionary family. They have many natural and adopted children. The mother of the bride is making the dresses for the wedding. She says she got a great deal on fabric in Zone 1 of Guatemala City. This area is the war zone of gang members. It is so dangerous that the police close it down at night so no-one can enter or leave. I don't know how she is brave enough to drive in there. Sure, it's a good deal on fabric...if you survive the trip! They had a problem driving home as the adopted kids were getting car sick. This is common because the people are not use to driving in a vehicle.

THE PROCLAIMERS ARE GREAT! We have already started using them in the clinic. Two Bible studies are using them in 2 different villages. There are a few words in Katchiquel that are pronounced differently than our villagers say them but they are able to understand. Everyone is very excited about these wonderful machines.

We have purchased land for our church/community center. It is located near the clinic, secondary school, and cooperative building. It is the perfect location and very serene. The man who sold it to us recently lost his son. This land was to be his, but the father says he cannot keep it, as his grief is too great and the land reminds him of his loss. Praise God for blessings coming from tragic situations.

We have started a program to make bed platforms for the poorest families in the villages. We are hoping that these will help prevent recurring infections such as diarrhea and respiratory. The beds are being given to the families with bamboo or corn stalk houses with dirt floors. The families will have to give back community service for the beds. Here is a picture of Anita (the founder) having a meeting with the potential families. Can you tell which one is Anita?

Click here for more information on the project:

http://hands-of-hope.com/s/2009/06/who-forces-children-to-sleep-on-dirt-floors/

Here is the latest dog I have rescued. She is literally skin and bones. Her owner would not let me take the dog to get her fixed in the past but she has developed a tumor. I finally paid the woman Q10 (about $1.25) for the dog and took her out of the village. "Sweetie" is now at AWARE, a humane society, getting her 4 weeks of chemotherapy and then surgery, as well as fattening up. If she has not been adopted by the time I return I will help her find a loving home.

This summer I will be spending my time helping my ill family member recover as well as raising financial support. I am happy to do God's work for free but, unfortunately, it takes money to go there and accomplish things. As many of you know I have been mainly self-supported up until now. Some of you have made financial donations and I thank you from the bottom of my heart! Please be in prayer that God will provide the donations I need for this important work.

All God's blessings,

Terri

May 20, 2009

Hola everyone, I am learning this blog thing so please be patient! Things have been crazy for me lately. Someone in my family has been very ill so I have been delayed in returning to Guatemala. I'm working on getting down there next week but am not 100% sure yet if that is going to happen.

Great things have been happening both here in the U.S. and in Guatemala. I am told that the clinic had a Mother's Day get together. 120 women attended and 20 accepted Christ! Men's programs are also being held.

Up here I have been working on several projects. One is with Faith Comes by Hearing. They have a gizmo called The Proclaimer. This is a speaker with a computer chip in it with the entire New Testament spoken by professional actors. It has music and sound effects and is really fun to listen to. Each speaker can reach several hundred people. I received 6 of them for free in the Katchiquel Central language that is spoken by the people in our villages. I also received MP3s in English, Spanish and Katchiquel Central. I'm very excited to get these down to Guatemala so that Bible studies can be started in each village.

Also, some NVI Spanish study Bibles have been donated to the church in Antigua and I will be bringing those down as well.

I have a CD player for one of our Spanish speaking workers who cannot afford one so she can listen to her New Testament CD.

I also have an old radar scanner for my right hand man, Darvy, so he can help me run all my errands without racking up those speeding tickets in the city! (Relax, they are legal down there, maybe. Well, at least I don't know that they are illegal). It's very hard not to get a speeding ticket there because the new transit police have cameras hidden on the side of the road. You can only find out if you have a ticket by looking on-line at a web site and if your license plate is on there they'll tell you how much you owe. Hmmm, wonder if they are accurate or not? So far I don't have any but then again I don't drive into Guatemala City very often.

Well, that's my update for now. Hope to update from Guatemala very soon.

All God's blessings,
Terri