October 2017
October started with Clinica helping with the sterilization and translating in recovery for the OB/Gyn and General patients. It was unusually cool as it was the beginning of the end of rainy season here in Guatemala. On the Wednesday of clinica we had a great arrival of Don Starks, Kim Laffoon, and Kim Wyatt from our home church, Fellowship Bible Church in Searcy Arkansas. They were going to be with us for 10 days working along side us and wanted to experience everything we experienced on a monthly basis. We were so glad to have them with us.
Santa María de Jesús
The feeding of the children starts at each table with a prayer of thanksgiving. We have spoken to several children and this will be the only hot meal they receive for the day.
House Builds
This month we were able to build several houses with the support of teams from the States. One church in particular donated money for a house build but would not be able to send a team for the actual construction. Rita and I, with the help of Don, Kim W., and Kim L. built the house with a group of shoe shine boys from Central Parque here in Antigua. There is a ministry here that helps these young men whenever they can and we had the pleasure of having them help us build a house. They were very excited, helped in any way they could, and certainly enjoyed the pizza at the end of the build.
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| This was going to be her house and she wanted to help anyway she could |
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| Helping drill,,,,somewhat,,, but helping none of the less |
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| A big smile for the completion of her house |
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| Working with the shoeshine boys on the roof |
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| Don presenting the house blessing |
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| House completed with the help of Don, Kim W., Kim L., the police and especially the shoe shine boys. |
Family Visits  |
| We were being watched carefully on our house visit...Such beautiful children |
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| Otto and Samuel from the municipality who go with us every day to help us find the families in need. They are Guatemalan and speak no English. We are getting better every month with our communication |
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| Rita with Johanna and little Christina smiling with the new house she and her husband Angel now live in. |
Women's Bible Study in San Lucas
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| Kim L. and Kim W. bring a craft for the women. They made and decorated picture frames. At the conclusion of the study we took a picture of each woman with her children and then presented them the frame and picture. For many women, this is the first picture they have of their family. |
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| Rita presenting a bible lesson to the women. |
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| At the end of the week, Don, Kim W., Kim L., and Rita attended a chocolate factory workshop where they were able to make their own special chocolate |
The Garden
We are partners with Omar and Katie on a garden for the women of San Lucas. The garden is on the side of a hill and has no water. With the support of a generous family, we were able to obtain two large holding tanks that we fill from a truck and with gravity are able to water the entire garden.
The Dump at Esquintla
One of the blessings we get here in Guatemala is to help with a dump ministry. This ministry moves families that are actually living and scavenging on the dump to a small house close by. This is one family in particular that is in need. They are very malnourished. They had 5 children, the oldest died of malnutrition. The mother, Ruth, and the little girl Tania (in pink) are in the hospital as of this date due to malnutrition and Oliver (the little boy in blue) is in a special unit for malnutrition. He is 7 years old and last week weighed 16 pounds.
With the help of friends of friends, we were able to get 3 boxes of Mana donated from the founder Mark Moore in North Carolina. He was recently in Searcy and some friends spoke to him about Oliver and a week later he sent us boxes of Mana to Searcy. We now have one box coming down to Guatemala. This box will feed one child for six weeks and get him on the road to recovery. As soon as the box arrives we will be administering it to this child.
Prayers for those in Guatemala
1. The women's bible study. The study is going very well with Rita and Katie leading the women however this past week we had 19 women and 49 children. We are in the need of a leader whose heart is for children. We feel this is a wasted opportunity with 49 children at the center for a hour and no bible instruction. We have reached out to a couple of women regarding the need and they are prayerfully considering it. Please be in prayer that a leader with a heart for children is led to this ministry.
2. Oliver and his family. The father was given fruits and vegetables for his family to eat, however, he gave them to his mother instead. The wife and daughter where admitted to the hospital the next day and Oliver was taken to a special care center. We are not sure why some of the very poor do what they do and why he would give the food to his mother when his family is starving and has already had one child die of starvation. The government has stepped in and told the father's mother that she will be held responsible for the well being of the family since she is the one taking the food. We will continue to work with Oliver and Tania to bring them back to health but in the meantime, please pray for the family and their plight. Pray that the father starts making decisions that are best for his family and that the family can return to relatively good health.
3. Finally, for our transportation. We struggle with even putting this request in the blog after what we have asked for with Oliver but, our car is on its last wheel. We have had a generous anonymous donor give money towards the purchase of a new vehicle that will take us over the roads and ruts we need to drive on. With savings and donations, we are about half way to our goal of $20,000. We have had several missionary friends who have used vehicles and they are always in repair and looking for parts. We feel we are at the point we need a new vehicle with a warranty and parts that can be readily found here in Guatemala.
We thank all of you for your continued spiritual and financial support of the ministry here in Guatemala. We could not be doing the Lord's work here for the widows, the poor, and the children without your support.
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