Day 3: August 18, 2014

Today was our first day of the clinic.  

1 Peter 4: 10-11

“Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithfulstewards of God’s grace in its various forms. 11 If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God.† If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.”

It was quite hectic setting up, getting the chairs arranged, and all the stations setup.

Julie and Greg are measuring for the testing station.  We started with the test against the wall, but soon decided the sun was too bright... And hot.

Gail helped unpacked the thousands of glasses.

Once the clinic began, we were got settled in our stations and realized we forgot a lot of what we learned in training!  But soon caught on.  Our team leader, Debby proudly looks over the stations.

Galen fit one of the first pair of glasses.  The woman was so joyful.

Gail did the dispensing station and made sure the glasses worked well.

Kelly is fitting, bending, and making sure the glasses fit and are clean.

So many children came with their mothers.  They were so sweet.

It was wonderful to hear so many giggles and see the smiles.

This very petite woman was about 85 years old and was called a pillar in the village. She was so talkative and sweet.  The Lord has blessed her with health.  She lives alone and cooks for herself.

Kelly and our wonderful translator, Christi, are testing.

She loved here new glasses!

Finally it was lunch time.  We took the bus back to the pastor's house for a very nice lunch.

Jim and Greg are enjoying the view.

From the pastor's house you could view the church school.

After lunch we walked by the schol and met a few students.

This is their wonderful computer lab.  What a blessing this schol is for these families.

I peeked into a classroom.  Everyone smiled and cheered.

After lunch, it was back to work. Denny is dispensing the glasses.

Glen had a knack for fitting the glasses.  Here he got a high-five from a grateful boy.

Many children came for VBS.  They loved Margaret playing her recorder!

Nury had to chase the turkeys away from the clinic.

Susan led the children in VBS.

What a wonderful day and what a blessed day we had.  The strength and cohesivness of our group is incredible.

We were happy to get back to our hotel with air conditioning... And water.

Day 2: August 17, 2014

Today was a very beautiful day and a special one for all of us.  During a prayer walk in the Los Limones village we were all reminded of the Beatitudes.

We attended church at the Resurrection Lutheran church in Gualan.  

Several of the youth helped lead the service.  Even though it was in Spanish we could follow along with the liturgy.

We were privileged to witness the welcome of a new member.  It was beautiful how each person came and greeted her with a hug.

We were asked to sing. It's a good thing that we practiced on the bus ride to the church. Amazing Grace -Our Chains are Gone.   It was a beautiful thing to watch the happiness of of the members. And we sounded pretty good.

After church the members enjoyed a snack of tostadas and juice. 

We then started the ride to Los Limones.  This is the road.  We really didn't know what to expect.  We inspected our site and then walked around part of the village with a prayer walk.

This is the mission building.  It's in progress.  Those are turkey's behind Glen.

This is one of the nicest houses.  Most were made of wood, some concrete and and any other supplies that could be found. Most had electricity.  We were all surprised by the cell phones.

This young girl we prayed for has breast cancer.  We prayed for God's healing hand for her.  She has a beautiful smile and a kind heart.  And a cute pet monkey.

These are two of our interpreters, Scarlett and Maricela.  So kind and helpful.

This is a local store and cell hotspot. It was a surprising site to all of us. 

This village grows corn.  They eat corn often for all three meals.... And nothing else. This woman is on here way to get here corn ground into corn flour.

A mother and daughter shelling black beans.  This woman is 43 and is pregnant. We prayed for her health and safety.

This sweet young girl of 16 years old has her baby, Walter, in the hammock. We prayed for God to watch over them and give this young mother strength.

Day 2 Amy:

I think the thing that touched me the most today was during our prayer walk.  We walked through the neighborhood we were going to serve and met and prayed with the families.  The people were so gracious.  Though their homes were nothing more than cinder block walls, tin roofs and dirt floors, they welcomed us with such warm smiles.  They showed us the water filters that previous teams had installed which they were obviously very proud of.  In one homes there was a 16 year old girl with a two month old baby named Walter hanging in a hammock.  How precious and quiet this family was even though her mother was pregnant with her 12th child.  Our team leader asked the mother what she would like to pray for.  She asked us to pray for her family especially for her unborn child.  It was such an honor to stand with this family and pray with and for them.  The Holy Spirit united us as our translator Nury translated our words as we spoke!  To God be the Glory!

Outside the corn mill. These girls were selling their corn flour.

Some of the children heard that the Pastor was here. They came running and an impromptu service occurred.

The children touched our hearts.

At the end of the day we had dinner, devotions, and filled our water bottles.  Cindy is helping our water brigade, Sandy and Greg.

It was a blessed day....

Day 1: August 16, 2014

Our internet is very spotty, but here we go!

Today was our travel day. We were so blessed at every leg of our trip.  The day in all aspects was wonderful.  

We met at the airport bright and early. Our flight left on time.   One stop in Miami and we were on our way to Guatemala City.

Our very, very early morning flight. 

Amy is our Tech Leader at Shepherd of the Lakes.  What a perfect store for her in Miami!  Yes, she is always on the go,

God's creation is perfect.  

The sights into Guatemala City were incredible.  There are numerous volcanic mountain ranges in the area.  The city is at 5000 elevation.

We are waiting for Debby and Denny to get through customs.   They took care of some paperwork. More stories to come...

All our luggage and all of us safely aboard our bus. Ready for the 3+ hour trip to our location.

After stopping for lunch, we headed towards Zaccappa where we are staying.  

We drove through the city and learned about some of the history.  Our wonderful guide and host for the week, Nury,  provided us colorful stories about buildings, culture, and the wonderful people of Guatemala.

Saturdays are Tomale days, and if someone hangsa red bag on their porch that means they made enough to sell.

At some of the city streets there were children performing. This lovely girl had such a great smile.  We gave her a tip.

 

The roads were winding but relatively good... A few rock slides here and there, and lots of motorcycles driving like crazy! We had beautiful views of the countryside. We went from an altitude of 5000 ft up and down and ended at 100 ft altitude.

After unpacking, dinner and devotions were headed to our rooms.  Kelly and Margie are turning in for the night. 

August 14, 2014

Greetings from Team 1432!  We are getting ready for our trip to Guatemala with MOST Ministries. 

We are very blessed to serve in the eyeglass clinic. I wanted to get you familiar with what we are doing and where we are going.   

God has blessed thousands of people around the world through this ministry. Eyeglasses are simply not available or affordable to people in many countries, and yet the need for improved eyesight through a simple pair of glasses is there. 

We were trained to use a very simple method of testing the eyes for appropriate prescription and then selecting and fitting the right glasses. 

We can serve from 100-300 people each day of clinic. All patients are registered and these registrations provide names and addresses for the local church for follow-up evangelism. 

Each patient receives a pair of glasses (or two if both distance and reading glasses are needed) as well as sunglasses and information on how to protect their eyes. 

While patients are waiting or being tested and fitted for eyeglasses, they are given personal witness of a team member or a local church member and sometimes given tracts or other evangelistic materials.

Here is a map of where we are going.  Los Limones is a very small village about 3-4 hours from Guatemala City. (Point A below).  We fly into Guatemala City and take a bus ride to Los Limones.

Our host pastor, Pastor Jasinto, is from Resurrection Lutheran church in Gualan. This church  was planted with the help of a short term mission team because of the care they had for the community’s health and spiritual needs. 

A few years ago the Lutheran church  wanted to start a mission site in Los Limones, a neighboring community, and requested a short term mission team to help them.  Pastor Jasinto now serves both communities.  The pastor shared:   “The first contact the congregation from Gualan had with Los Limones was exactly because [of] a MOST Medical team, and from that moment the mission at this location was open."

 The clinic we will serve each day  is at that site in Los Limones. 

We are blessed to go on this mission trip and share the gospel and help with this mission.  Pray for our safe travels and fruitful trip.