On Tuesday we said goodbye to most of Team Ivanrest (Esther, an exchange student from South Korea is still with us until tomorrow because of issues with her visa). Tonight in a few minutes we go to pick up Team Maurice....small in size, but on the rise. Sorry, had to throw that in there. We are VERY excited for this team. For obvious reasons, but also for the meds they bring, the many needed supplies for the vehicles and base, and for the souls that will be touched because of our LORD Jesus Christ. Both the gringos and the locals will be moved by His Spirit. We pray that you pray this team through the battles we face this week. Saturday and Sunday will be our medical clinics (from 1pm until 11:30pm we pray for traveling mercies. On Monday through Wednesday we will be building houses (we simply pray that the good LORD will make them Houses of Hope). We will also keep you posted as the week goes on.
It was really nice to have 3 days to get things in order instead of 24 hours. At the beginning when Dan said they run on adrenaline, he was not joking! Thank the LORD for Guatemalan coffee...of which I am sure will be served in Heaven. Well, mi cambienette is calling me. I have Embra tonight and Dan is in Macho. Dios es Grand!
Dios Le Bendiga mi familia en Jesus Christo
Friday, June 25, 2010
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Village ~ Medical Clinic
Well, where do I begin? Justin & I had decided that I would go to this medical clinic because the people were supposedly more sick than the night before. So our departure time was to be at 10:30, the earliest I have seen a departure yet. So, what does that mean? The village is a distance away and the roads are not good. By the way, 3 of the bridges were washed away in the tropical storm Agatha, and have been fixed enough for us to drive over them one vehical at a time.
I rode with Estuardo, the Guatemalan that scouts out the villages. At on point Estuardo stops the van and asks Dan if he wants to proceed down this road with the 2 wheel drive van or if he wants us all to pile in the other 2 4x4 vans becasue the next part of the road is particullary ruff. Dan said, awe we can take all three. Estuardo said OKay and when we turned the corner to go down the two track path Estuardo sighs and says Okay. I take this response as okay here's our next adventure. After much bumping and attempting to miss the holes in the dirt road we arrive at the 'school' and set up shop.
At first glance these people are dressed really well and look clean. Then I remind myself that they are wearing their best clothes and have all just taken a bath. They are attempting to present us with their best. We begin to see patients in the clinic as others are playing with the kids in the court yard. The patients are spending lots of time with Dan and YoJana which means they have lots of illness. At one point YoJana asks me to examine a young man's throat. It was extremely swollen and red. I tell Dan so he can translate for me. Dan smirks and says are you going to do surgery and take them out. I said no but they should come out. So we prescribed him some antibiotics and on this family goes. Then Dan has another situation and he asks me if I want to do exploratory surgery on an older gentleman that has 12 or so soft tissue deposits under his skin. Again I say no way, Dan quit asking me to do surgery. I take a few more blood pressures and listen to a 7 month in utero babies heart beat. I never get sick of hearing a neonates heart beat.
Then Dan shows me a beautiful women who has a lesion on the left side of her face. And says do you want to do surgery. I said this time let me go get the Doctor. A team member, Julie, is a Physicians Assistant. She says you bet, if we have the right tools we can defiently help this women. Guess what, I had packed all of that equipment right before the team had come. So we got to do a minor proceedure in the middle of a small village on a beautiful women. We pray that it doesn't get infected and that she has positive results from our human hands. The clinic saw patientes all of the way through the Jesus film and through testemonies. There was a harvest of souls on this medical clinic night. One adorable young couple came to know Christ. This couple is dealing with some medical issues and we will be following up with them in a month to see if our treatment is successful.
Our pack up and departure went really smooth. nothing was left behind that we can see. We all said a prayer and sang one song under the starry sky. God had held back the rains to allow us dryer roads and a possibility of actually getting all 3 vans out of this village. We drove for about 15 minutes and our van could not make it up the mountain. So we had to rearrange the road, move rocks, scrap off the mud and rearrange some more rocks. We also had to put chains on the vans. (Glen ~ the chains worked amazing!) After many team members getting frustrated and people not wanting to follow through, we regrouped and explained what had to happen, spirits were lifted. I realized in the middle of the dark with 35 people around me that in stressful situations the Lord fills me with a calm spirit and lets me lead by example. With much to do around us we kept plugging away and 1 hour 30 minutes later the first two vans were up the mountain. So, the team began to climb to get to the top. Half way up Dan is walking down and says, we need 15 people to come down to put weight in the van. So, back down the mountain we go. Then that van climbs right out without incident. Mind you my body is not so in shape but this night I climbed and descended that mountain a few times and yet I was not out of breath. Thank you Lord for breathing air in my lungs.
We, the 2 wheel van, did need the assist of the 4x4 one more time, but that went relitivly easily. Shortly after we were back on paved roads and on our way home. Our arrival time was 2:30 am. Safe and a great story share.
After much reflection, I realize that the souls that were brought to Christ were well worth our time and energy, even if it meant our late arrival home and sweat to get our vans up the mountain. The Great Physician can heal physical aliments and spiritual even in the already saved. The village members and I turned our eyes on Jesus!
Vicki
I rode with Estuardo, the Guatemalan that scouts out the villages. At on point Estuardo stops the van and asks Dan if he wants to proceed down this road with the 2 wheel drive van or if he wants us all to pile in the other 2 4x4 vans becasue the next part of the road is particullary ruff. Dan said, awe we can take all three. Estuardo said OKay and when we turned the corner to go down the two track path Estuardo sighs and says Okay. I take this response as okay here's our next adventure. After much bumping and attempting to miss the holes in the dirt road we arrive at the 'school' and set up shop.
At first glance these people are dressed really well and look clean. Then I remind myself that they are wearing their best clothes and have all just taken a bath. They are attempting to present us with their best. We begin to see patients in the clinic as others are playing with the kids in the court yard. The patients are spending lots of time with Dan and YoJana which means they have lots of illness. At one point YoJana asks me to examine a young man's throat. It was extremely swollen and red. I tell Dan so he can translate for me. Dan smirks and says are you going to do surgery and take them out. I said no but they should come out. So we prescribed him some antibiotics and on this family goes. Then Dan has another situation and he asks me if I want to do exploratory surgery on an older gentleman that has 12 or so soft tissue deposits under his skin. Again I say no way, Dan quit asking me to do surgery. I take a few more blood pressures and listen to a 7 month in utero babies heart beat. I never get sick of hearing a neonates heart beat.
Then Dan shows me a beautiful women who has a lesion on the left side of her face. And says do you want to do surgery. I said this time let me go get the Doctor. A team member, Julie, is a Physicians Assistant. She says you bet, if we have the right tools we can defiently help this women. Guess what, I had packed all of that equipment right before the team had come. So we got to do a minor proceedure in the middle of a small village on a beautiful women. We pray that it doesn't get infected and that she has positive results from our human hands. The clinic saw patientes all of the way through the Jesus film and through testemonies. There was a harvest of souls on this medical clinic night. One adorable young couple came to know Christ. This couple is dealing with some medical issues and we will be following up with them in a month to see if our treatment is successful.
Our pack up and departure went really smooth. nothing was left behind that we can see. We all said a prayer and sang one song under the starry sky. God had held back the rains to allow us dryer roads and a possibility of actually getting all 3 vans out of this village. We drove for about 15 minutes and our van could not make it up the mountain. So we had to rearrange the road, move rocks, scrap off the mud and rearrange some more rocks. We also had to put chains on the vans. (Glen ~ the chains worked amazing!) After many team members getting frustrated and people not wanting to follow through, we regrouped and explained what had to happen, spirits were lifted. I realized in the middle of the dark with 35 people around me that in stressful situations the Lord fills me with a calm spirit and lets me lead by example. With much to do around us we kept plugging away and 1 hour 30 minutes later the first two vans were up the mountain. So, the team began to climb to get to the top. Half way up Dan is walking down and says, we need 15 people to come down to put weight in the van. So, back down the mountain we go. Then that van climbs right out without incident. Mind you my body is not so in shape but this night I climbed and descended that mountain a few times and yet I was not out of breath. Thank you Lord for breathing air in my lungs.
We, the 2 wheel van, did need the assist of the 4x4 one more time, but that went relitivly easily. Shortly after we were back on paved roads and on our way home. Our arrival time was 2:30 am. Safe and a great story share.
After much reflection, I realize that the souls that were brought to Christ were well worth our time and energy, even if it meant our late arrival home and sweat to get our vans up the mountain. The Great Physician can heal physical aliments and spiritual even in the already saved. The village members and I turned our eyes on Jesus!
Vicki
Monday, June 21, 2010
Safe at the Base...
Just an update that the team arrived safely at the base at 2am. They said that the prayers WERE needed and VERY felt. More of the story later. All I know is that it could have been in the top 10 for worst roads list. Thanks for your prayers.
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Happy Father's Day
A great big shout out to all Fathers on this day. Well I, Justin, decided to let Vicki go on this medical clinic tonight because it is a coastal village (which means very sick) and Team Ivanrest has some people that can easily drive. I went last night to the village and was amazed at how 25 people in this tiny village, gave their lives to Christ for the first time. The drive their was BEAUTIFUL...but the drive back was nerve racking at first. VERY narrow roads, rain, and fog. The LORD provided and we were able to get home around 11:30pm.
Okay, back to tonight. As write this, it is 8pm....the team had a 4 hour drive, and if it rains, they probably will not make it back to the base tonight. Dan was already stating via phone call to Heidi, that it was an interesting road. More than likely the chains would have to come on the 4X4 van even!
PLUS, this village does not have electricity AND the gas generator got left at the village last night by mistake. Can definitely tell that there is a force not wanting this team to advance in the name of the LORD. So, pray that the rains hold off, that the team arrives home safely, BUT more importantly, that this village that has not a single Christian and is forgotten by the rest of the world, has its residents come to know Christ!
I had a good Father's Day with the kiddos. We laughed, and were busy at the base. Yes, I know it is Sunday, but I still feel like we are called here to help out whenever and however. So I painted the new shelf above the sinks, I put together a closet rack for Erin (the new staff member coming down in July), I organized the construction boxes, read, played games with the kids, weeded the retaining wall, and am typing a blog. This team leaves on Tuesday and then we find ourselves with three days to get ready for the next team, Team Iowa (Maurice!!!!). We are very excited. I am anxious for when we build the houses because the 5 of them are right next to (about a block away) from the last five we built. One of them is for an aunt of kids we just built for. 5 kids, the oldest is a 15 year old girl named Grisyelda and Elisa is a 12 year boy. I did not meet the younger 3 kids, as they were not at the dedication. But all 5 of these kids have been abandoned by their parents. The aunt is close by, but is barely involved in their lives due to her poverty. I look forward to reconnecting with these orphans. They both excepted Christ on Friday. After they prayed the team that built the house hugged them and gave BIG smiles. When I bear hugged Elisa, he just melted in my arms and started to sob. I wondered in that moment, when the last time this boy, who has had to grow up too fast last felt love of a father? I turned to Grisyelda and did the same, a big bear hug that lifted her off the ground. The sounds of her sobs are one that will never leave my mind. I told that she is never alone and that God has watched over them and loves them. Please look up James 1:27
Not only do we need to watch over the orphans and widows, but we need to live a life that is free from pollution of the world. The first part is easy to do. But when we really allow the first part to move us, the second part follows quickly.
Well, I am starting to ramble and I am anxious to hear what God has done in the village tonight. We will keep you posted as to when the group returns. Thank you for your continued prayers. These missionaries here at Paradise Bound give so much. We as a family are trying our best to help as much as possible. Yet, we realize the best help we or anyone can give, is to bathe them in prayer and lift them to Christ with each step that they take!
Justin
Okay, back to tonight. As write this, it is 8pm....the team had a 4 hour drive, and if it rains, they probably will not make it back to the base tonight. Dan was already stating via phone call to Heidi, that it was an interesting road. More than likely the chains would have to come on the 4X4 van even!
PLUS, this village does not have electricity AND the gas generator got left at the village last night by mistake. Can definitely tell that there is a force not wanting this team to advance in the name of the LORD. So, pray that the rains hold off, that the team arrives home safely, BUT more importantly, that this village that has not a single Christian and is forgotten by the rest of the world, has its residents come to know Christ!
I had a good Father's Day with the kiddos. We laughed, and were busy at the base. Yes, I know it is Sunday, but I still feel like we are called here to help out whenever and however. So I painted the new shelf above the sinks, I put together a closet rack for Erin (the new staff member coming down in July), I organized the construction boxes, read, played games with the kids, weeded the retaining wall, and am typing a blog. This team leaves on Tuesday and then we find ourselves with three days to get ready for the next team, Team Iowa (Maurice!!!!). We are very excited. I am anxious for when we build the houses because the 5 of them are right next to (about a block away) from the last five we built. One of them is for an aunt of kids we just built for. 5 kids, the oldest is a 15 year old girl named Grisyelda and Elisa is a 12 year boy. I did not meet the younger 3 kids, as they were not at the dedication. But all 5 of these kids have been abandoned by their parents. The aunt is close by, but is barely involved in their lives due to her poverty. I look forward to reconnecting with these orphans. They both excepted Christ on Friday. After they prayed the team that built the house hugged them and gave BIG smiles. When I bear hugged Elisa, he just melted in my arms and started to sob. I wondered in that moment, when the last time this boy, who has had to grow up too fast last felt love of a father? I turned to Grisyelda and did the same, a big bear hug that lifted her off the ground. The sounds of her sobs are one that will never leave my mind. I told that she is never alone and that God has watched over them and loves them. Please look up James 1:27
Not only do we need to watch over the orphans and widows, but we need to live a life that is free from pollution of the world. The first part is easy to do. But when we really allow the first part to move us, the second part follows quickly.
Well, I am starting to ramble and I am anxious to hear what God has done in the village tonight. We will keep you posted as to when the group returns. Thank you for your continued prayers. These missionaries here at Paradise Bound give so much. We as a family are trying our best to help as much as possible. Yet, we realize the best help we or anyone can give, is to bathe them in prayer and lift them to Christ with each step that they take!
Justin
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