Journal March 25-31 2009

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Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Today's entry is going to be a short one.

I was sick today so I spent the day at home getting caught up on answering e-mails. Don’t worry the kids ate well, perhaps better than when I do feel good. I sent Marcos (One of the boys who has not had his bicycle stolen) to the market for a roasted chicken. So we all had chicken and refried been sandwiches for supper. (Don’t knock it until you have tried it.)

I think that I will go back to being sick again for a while so I will say goodnight.

Yours in Christ: Dick


Thursday, March 26, 2009, 10:26 AM


This may seem like a strange time of the day for me to be writing in my journal but I am sitting in the shop waiting for some of the ladies that are here from the States to come back from the market. No they are not souvenir shopping! They are out shopping for food for the 12 families that they plan on visiting on Saturday. I do not mind shopping for food but since I am still coughing and sneezing a bit I am not sure weather anyone else would care to buy any of the food that the merchants in the markets have lying out in the open air once I had christened it.







The rest of their group headed out early this morning to start the construction on one of the 2 homes that they plan on building this week. We plan on driving up to Tecpan and joining them later today.





I just talked with some of the members of the group and Guess what. Some of them are journaling while they are here. It may be a few days before I get copies of their journals but I am going to sit tight and do no journaling in the hopes that they will get them to me. Bye for now.

Yours in Christ: Dick


Saturday, March 28, 2009

AWARENESS BREEDS PASSION:
CONFESSIONS OF A SPOILED WHITE AMERICAN

by Ronnie “Nacho” Cordrey

WARNING: my mind is a highway with many exit ramps … and I usually take every one (translation: this blog entry is completely random)

I live in Louisville, Kentucky, I am happily married (8.5 yrs.) with 2 beautiful, healthy girls (Kinsley—6 months & Ella—3.5 years old), and it’s official: I am a spoiled, white American. I knew this before coming to Guatemala, but it is official now. I have never been hungry for more than a few moments, I tend to look in my walk-in closet & complain that I have nothing new to wear, I get upset when the lady from Starbucks puts foam instead of whip cream on top of my drink, I complain when my TV recorder doesn’t tape a favorite show correctly, and I use “Christian cuss words” when it rains the same day I wash my wife’s black, Honda Pilot. How easy it is for me to lose healthy perspective, forgetting how blessed I am … how easy it is for me to forget that God has blessed my life (tangibly & intangibly) in order for my life to be a river (not a dam) … allowing His blessings to flow through me to bless others.

That’s one reason why I love my new friend Dick Rutgers! I was talking to Dick at breakfast 2 days ago, and he was telling me how when groups come in and go to orphanages and wear green gloves all the way up their arms & hold babies far from their faces, Dick says, “Hey, if you are that sick, please don’t hold our babies – I don’t want them to catch your disease!” I love it! I’m just glad Dick told me this before going to the orphanage tomorrow, where I might have lost perspective and put on my NASA space suit before holding these same babies.

Then, 2 nights ago, after having a pizza party at Dick’s bachelor pad with all his kids, we were getting ready to leave when one of our team members speaks up, “Hey, did you all see the new baby?” … to which I walked over to the mom who was holding the baby who's head was covered with a blanket & pulled it back to find out in shocking form that this baby is not on formula – so I jumped back and found Dick laughing—laughing because he had just done the same, exact thing recently, himself … what can I say: I’m sharp as a bowling ball!

Today, we got to witness the dedication for the new house we participated with in building for Blanca, a lady who is widowed with 4 kids, and I have to be honest: her house is 12x18 and looks like something we would not even allow in our backyards for a shed … but to see how truly grateful she and her kids were – and how she kept thanking God for our generosity led me to tears. So here I am struggling to process all of these emotions in the midst of this life-changing experience: what is God wanting me to learn? and perhaps more important … what is God wanting me to do with what I am learning after I go back to Louisville and sip my Venti Carmel Macchiato extra hot with whip $5 drink (which is about what the average person here makes in an entire day)?

I believe James 1:27 is a good start: please contact me @ ronnie.cordrey@necchurch.org with your suggestions / comments.

Ronnie “Nacho” Cordrey

Saturday March 28, 2009

(Written by Dick)



I know, not much of Thursday and none of Friday’s house building, bed building, or home visitations have yet been mentioned but other members of the teem plan to write about them so I hope to have those journal entries in a few days and will try to post it then. Fact is the following will not be an account of our entire day but will only cover a 30 second phone call that I received this morning while driving some of our volunteers to Tecpan. I wrote the following paragraph on February 5, 2009





It is 1:30 AM and I am sitting in a motel room that is about a five hour drive from Antigua. I am unable to sleep because in a few hours I will be bringing Lisvi and her family the rest of the way to their home. Lisvi is a six year old girl that I have fallen in love with. Not because of any outward beauty. At fourteen pounds Lisvi looks more like a shriveled up old lady than a little girl. Lisvi who is unable to talk and scarcely has the strength to change expressions has stolen my hart because she is one of God's children. Her parents recognize that as well and could not love her more if she were the most beautiful princess in the world. I have struggled for several days now trying to convince them that it would be best for Lisvi if they admitted her into the malnutrition ward of Hermano Pedro. ……..Two days after convincing Lisvi's parents to let me take them to Antigua they decided that they could not bear to be separated from her and asked me to take her back home with them. I must admit I was a bit bitter at first but during our car ride towards home yesterday I watched both father and mother as they took turns holding their precious daughter. The love that they had for her was unquestionable. I began to realize that she needed them far more than she needed any silly hospital.. ………. Lisvi needs to be home with a Father that can hold her tightly.

Yours in Christ: Dick


(Back to)
Saturday March 28, 2009

Yesterday (March 27) I was about half way to Tecpan when my cell phone rang. Since the man on the other end knew no English I quickly handed the phone to Hanna. After just a few seconds Hanna asked me if I knew someone named Lisvi. Indeed I did. Lisvi is a six year old girl that I had brought into Hermano Pedro from north of Huehuetenango a little over a month ago. After changing their minds several times her father and mother had decided to come along with me to see a doctor and then make the decision on weather or not to leave their 14 pound 6 year old daughter stay in the malnutrition ward of the hospital for at least a few months. At that time they decided that even though the doctors told them that their daughter would likely die if they took her back home with them they simply could not bare to leave her so many miles from home with perfect strangers. I must admit I was very troubled by their decision at first but after reading a letter from Mary Margaret Scot, a dear friend of mine and then spending the next day and a half with this family I began to see that perhaps her parents were right. Sure she could have gotten better medical attention at Hermano Pedro but witnessing the love that her mother and father had for her during our 7 hour car ride back to where they lived, and then seeing her brothers and sisters flock around her like she had been gone for 3 years instead of 3 days made me think that perhaps they had made the right decision. I still wanted so badly to see her get the help that she needed but I have also watched far to many children give up and die simply because they were starving for love. Even though I found piece with their decision I could not help but think about this little girl on a daily bases. If only her parents would bring her into the hospital for a short time. I knew that she would miss her fathers loving arms but even a week or two on a feeding tube could perhaps give her the strength to make it on her own. That is why today when Hanna asked me if I knew Lisvi my hart jumped a bit. Had her father called to say that after a month of bringing them back to their home they had changed their minds and wanted me to come and pick them up? A few second later Hanna told me that Lisvi had died. Was I mad? I must have been or I would not have subconsciously startled the others that were riding in my car by slamming my hand against the steering wheel. Was I sad? I nearly had to pull to the side of the road because of the tears. Was I angry because of the decision that her parents had made? I am not sure. Like I said I have seen other kids that were not in as bad of shape as Lisvi, who did not make it even when given the medical help that they needed. Did I question what I was doing, some times going on the road for several days to bring a child or an adult into the hospital? Perhaps so, but only for a moment. Yes, Selsi came to mind. It had only been 4 days ago that after driving 6 hours to her home, that her parents told me that they had changed their minds about having her come to Hermano Pedro to see a specialist. They had found some one who claimed that he could heal their daughter if they handed him one hundred dollars for some snake oil. My thoughts quickly switched to Christopher though, he and his mother had come back with me that same day and he was now getting the help that he needed. And what about Lionel? He lives only about an hour away from Lisvi and even though he was in as bad of shape as Lisvi he is now doing well. Are we going to save them all? No but by God’s grace as long as we stay faithful, jut like the little boy that was seen throwing star fish back into the ocean, we can perhaps make a difference to this one. Lisvi is now in the loving arms of a Father that will never let go of her and I am already seeing that her death is not in vane. I just received an e-mail from a friend in the USA who shared with me what an impact Lisvi and her family have had on her life. Just the fact that Lisvi’s father called us to tell us that his little angel had died is proof that we have been recognized as someone who cares. That alone is a big step forward in a location that has been told for years that Americans only mean them harm. We already have a list of people in Lisvi’s village that want wheelchairs and the day that I brought Lisvi back to her home and held her for the last time her father and I talked about the possibility of bringing a doctor or even a teem of doctors into their village with in the next few months. Who knows perhaps Lisvi’s family will be responsible for seeing to it others do not have to needlessly see one of their children die. For Lisvi’s parents, this was the third one of their children that they have had to bury. Yes missionary work should supposedly be more about saving soles than saving lives, but I am finding out more and more that my lack of Spanish does not keep me from witnessing to these people. Besides that no one cares how much we know until they are able to see how much we care.

CLICK HERE for a link to my February journals where there are several articles about Lisvi and her family.

Goodnight,
Yours in Christ: Dick


Later Saturday night

Since my friend Pat Duff had been with me when I first met Lisvi and her family and had also accompanied us from Lisvi's home to Hermano Pedro she had gotten every bit as attached to Lisvi as I had so she was the first person that I phoned when I received the news that Lisvi had died.

Here is what Pat wrote in her journal.

My friend Dick called last night to tell me that little Lisvi had died yesterday. My heart is so sad, and yet so peaceful at the same time. A while back, Dick had journaled that perhaps more than being in a hospital, she needed to be in the arms of the Father who loves her the most. That image keeps me from too much sorrow. Picturing her in the arms of our Father in heaven, no longer weak and starving, but whole and healthy. How I can't wait to meet her in heaven!

But I do grieve for her parents, who loved her so much and cared for her so well. I pray that they will know the comfort of the Father who loves them the most. I can't even imagine what Francisca must be feeling today. This is the third little one she has buried. I know there will be an empty place near their stove where Lisvi always sat to keep warm.

And I can't help but wonder why God brought her into my life at this time. It seems somewhat ironic that she would live six years and die shortly after we tried to get her help. I believe though that God timing is always perfect, and that our meeting was part of his plan for both of us. What I gave to Lisvi, I can't imagine. What she gave to me is immeasurable. Lisvi touched a part of my heart that I've kept hidden and protected from almost everyone. The part of my heart where I feel the most intense pain, but also the most immense joy. In a way, I think that through Lisvi God gave me back my whole heart.

Why did God let me fall so deeply in love with her, only to have it hurt so much? And I suddenly remember what I'd journaled on Feb. 6:

"As I prayed on the plane coming home yesterday, God showed me that Lisvi did not need to meet me. I needed to meet Lisvi. I needed to willingly let my heart be touched, and wounded, and trust that He will give me everything I need to heal. I needed to learn again to risk letting my heart be touched, knowing it might be broken, but trusting it will heal."

A month and a half later I realize even more how true those words are. Each time I look at her picture on my office wall, I feel a stab of pain at the same time I feel a surge of great joy. Gradually over the days since I've returned, the theme of my heart has changed. For so long it has been, "Lord, I want to serve you, but it hurts too much." I have held back in fear that if I gave my whole heart I would be hurt beyond what I could bear. During the days since my last time in Guatemala, it has evolved to, "Lord, I need your help, because serving you hurts so much." I believe my healing began as I held Lisvi for the first time. It continues each time I remember her.

In my flesh, I want to get angry. To believe that if they had just admitted Lisvi to the hospital, she would be okay. And then I laugh at my foolishness. How can I say I believe that God numbers our days, and then think any of us are powerful enough to change this? The Perezes did what they believed was the best thing for their little one. The sad truth is, it is better that she died in the arms of those who loved her, rather than alone in a sterile crib in hospital eight hours away from her family. We don't know yet what doors our encounter with this family will open for others who live in this remote area, but God does.

So I rest in that knowledge, and in the picture of her in the arms of the Father who loves her.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
And I thank Him for the progress Lionel has made at Hermano Pedro, doubling his weight in the last 5 months, though his absence from home continues to grieve his family greatly.

And I praise Him for Zachary (my grandson), who is strong and healthy, and wants for nothing. And I pray that the Lord will place a fire in the Zacharies of the world, to love and serve and fight for the Lionels and Lisvis.

Now we need to follow Daryl's advice to his daughter when she broke into tears the first time that she saw the kids at Hermano Pedro.

"Cry over them, then dry your tears and get to work!"

Pat Duff

Saturday, March 28, 2009, 10:05 PM

I had first planned on going out with some of the members of the teem that would be delivering more food and clothing to several poor families up in the Tecpan area today. I had relly enjoyed doing this yesterday but must admit that I was a bit relieved when I received a phone call from Chris telling me that Saul had offered to take my place today. Even though I had enjoyed myself yesterday I must admit I had gotten a bit tired from climbing onto the roof of my car at every home that we stopped at and bringing down the 4 giant suitcases that were packed with clothing so that the ladies that were with me could carefully go through them and pick out just the righ clothing for each member of every family that we visited. I must say though that the looks of apriacation that the families gave as hey received the food and clothing that this group of ladies had delivered was well worth the sore back that I have today. These ladies were not just handing out some tangible items to some people that they scarcely knew they were doing it with Christ like love. Not only were they bringing these families much needed food and clothing but they were also showing their love for them by holding their children, weeping with them, praying with them, and allowing these peoples suffering to touch their lives in a way that felt good but did not go with out hurt.

Why then did I not want to go along and do more of the same today? My kids. I have only been able to spend a few hours in the orphanage all of this week and other than the Pizza feed that we had at my house on Thursday night I have not been able to spend nearly as much time with the kids from my neighborhood as I would have liked to. That is why I am so grateful for the ever growing number of younger people who are stepping in and taking over. People like Saul and Hanna who are becoming more and more involved with not only the teams that come in but also the total ministry. I hate to admit it but those that are in their teens and early twenties seem to have more energy than some of us who are in our sixties. That is why I am grateful for my kids as well. I am seeing kids like Calin, Fernando, and yes even Abner more and more being able to take over and do things on their own. Each and every day I see them taking on more leadership qualities, and not only do they love helping out in any way that they can but they love their people. Even Marcos and Caesar who know less English than I do Spanish did a marvelous job of helping out at the orphanage today. Not only did they help Dave and myself repair some wheelchairs but they demonstrated such a Christ like love to the kids that they helped feed at lunch time that several people came up to our table and commented on it. Was I proud of them? Couldn’t be prouder even if they were my own flesh and blood. Can I take the credit for it? I wish that I could but only God could reach kids like this who themselves have been through more than anyone should have to suffer. God is doing a great work here in Guatemala and I feel so honored that He is allowing me to be here even if it is only to observe.

Like my friend Dave said just a few days ago. “Thank you Lord for this day.”

Goodnight,
Yours in Christ: Dick


Sunday, March 29, 2009

Calin, Fernando, Abner, Alex, Elder, Daniel, and several of the other kids have gone for a few days to San Martine to a house dedication that their grandfather is having. I was invited along but had other commitments. You would think that with having so many of my kids gone that perhaps I had the day to myself but I still had eight kids and the teem of 13 people from the States that have been here all week came along to church.

After church Dave and I took the eight kids from my neighborhood out to eat at Burger King for lunch. Dave is heading back to Canada tomorrow so he wanted to take the kids out to lunch. We had thought about having lunch the same place as Chris and the volunteers but Antigua was packed with people because of all the processions that take place before Easter and finding a restaurant that had room for two dozen people was impossible. Besides that when my kids discovered that the group from the United States wanted to eat traditional Guatemalan food they protested. What kid wants to eat healthy food when there is Burger King?

I had promised the group that was here that I would show them through the orphanage after lunch but I was not sure how I was going to do that and keep eight kids under control at the same time. Dave came to the rescue though. After lunch he hiked my boys up to the cross that overlooks the city and then took them out for ice cream while I spent time in the orphanage with the group.


I told the group that I would give them a quick tour but since they could only stay for a few hours we would make it a fast one so that they could spend the rest of their time holding and playing with the kids. To my surprise the tour did not go fast enough for Scott, one of the members of the group who about 15 minutes into our walk through blurted out, “When can we hold the kids?” I must admit I was taken by surprise at first because it usually takes a while before I can even get some one who has never been in an orphanage before to hold one of the kids. Especially a child like the little girl that this man was looking at, who looks like she will break in two if he held her wrong. I could see in his eyes and the eyes of the others that no more adjustment time was needed though so the tour ended there and with in two minutes each and every member of the group had a child that would have remained in their cage until tomorrow morning in their arms and were falling in love with these children. (I have been criticized in the past for calling the children’s cribs cages but just a few days ago a friend of mine wrote that they are beds when a child spends the night sleeping in them but they are cages when they have to be in them 18 to 20 hours a day. I have to agree.) My only regret was that this group could not have stayed longer. It was their regret as well because as the time neared that they had to leave several asked me if there was any way that they could stay longer. Thanks group for showing these kids that you cared!

I keep getting sent bits and pieces of the journals that members of this teem share with me, and even though I already had today's entry typed out before receiving the following I felt that this would be a good place to post it. It was written by Scott, the tough looking guy that wanted me to to end the tour of the orphanage so that he could hold Lesley.

Dick

I am haunted by a thought as we pass an open-front funeral parlor with several child caskets stacked up inside. Two days ago Dick received a call from the father of a little girl, named Lisvi, who died from malnutrition. She was a little girl that Dick had invested his heart in. He was devastated, as he had hoped beyond hope that her time at Hermano Pedro would have made her healthy enough to survive at home.







Yesterday God allowed me to connect in a supernatural way with a little girl at Hermano Pedro. When I laid her back in her crib at the end of the day, literally forced to unhand her by irritable nurses, I whispered in her ear. "Lesley, please grow up. Please meet me in Heaven so I can tell you how much this day has meant to me." So, my haunting thought is this. Dick loses at least a half dozen children every year. How would I react if I learned tomorrow that my Lesley's family was visiting the funeral parlor for a little child casket tomorrow?

Scott

Any dry eyes left in the house? Not mine. If a day ever comes that I can not cry for these children I will know that it is time to move on.

Dick

I had promised Dave that I would take him to San Lucas where he would meet up with a friend who would take him the rest of the way in to Guatemala City, where he was going to spend the night. After that I had intended on taking the boys home and then returning to Antigua to have supper with the group from the USA but finding that it took us over a half hour to get out of Antigua even though I had parked my car out side of town I quickly realized that there was no way that I would be able to get back into town in time to join the group for supper. I love Antigua but not during Easter time. I have never seen so many people in one place at one time as I have seen today. So instead of going back to Antigua before heading home we stopped off at Burger king for supper. I guess after having lunch there I could have made a better choice but McDonalds was further away and the kids were getting hungry, especially Elder who had gotten car sick and thrown up his entire lunch all over Miguel’s new jacket and the back seat of my car. Elder remained in good spirits though and got filld back up with a new hamburger.
Even though Elder is the youngest of the group he does quite well. I thought that the hike that David took the kids on would have tired him out but David said that he never complained once. He did take one tumble and skinned his knee. But that patched up easily. I am also going to try to get him a belt or at least some underwear because his pant are a few sizes to big for him and a few times today they feel down to his knees. I never did ask Dave if that is what caused elder to trip and fall. I do know for a fact though that it did cause a few startled tourists to run into each other while they were looking over at him.

So ends another not so dull day here in Guatemala.

Goodnight,
Yours in Christ: Dick


Monday, March 30, 2009
At 7:30 this morning I met with still another group of American volunteers. This was a group comprised of mostly high school students. I had breakfast with them at there motel here in Chimaltenango and spoke to them for a while before we headed out to the orphanage. I wanted them to have a bit of an idea of what was going on today because stepping into an orphanage that is full of special needs kids can be a bit frightening if you have never done something like that before. I have seen some groups of teens come into the orphanage and never allow them selves to get involved with the kids. Some of the members of this group seemed quite uncomfortable at first but it took no time at all before nearly all of them were holding or playing with one of the kids. We even took 9 of the kids to Camperos for lunch. Since there were 18 of them and only 9 orphanage kids they saw to it that the kids got lots of attention.

At 2 PM the group left for a guided tour of old buildings followed up by a shopping trip for trinkets. Why I am not sure if this was a test to see if the could endure suffering or what, but even if they made some bad decisions after leaving the orphanage the kids and I were sure glad that they had spent most of their day at Hermano Pedro.I stuck around Hermano Pedro Until I finally got a phone call saying that the group had gotten the foolishness out of their system, and then I went and picked them up. I must admit I was a bit nervous when I pulled up in front of the souvenir markets. I was worried that some one I knew might see me parked there and jump to the conclusion that I actually buy that junk. I would likely then be the laughing stock of all of my Guatemalan friends. Fortunately we loaded up my car fast enough to make a clean getaway. A few of my passengers offered to show me some of the bargains that they felt they had swindled the merchants out of but since my throat is still a bit sore I said "No thank you." I did not want to irritate my throat by doing a lot of uncontrollable laughing.


After dropping the group off at their motel I headed for home. I gave some serious thought to stopping off somewhere and having a relaxing supper but I know that the kids would be waiting for me. I love days like this when I feel that I am to tired to face a dozen kids because that is when God seems to take over and give me the love and patients that I am feeling like I am running out of. 13 kids for supper and I would not have traded it for the world. I must admit when Marcos reached across the table for his third helping of spaghetti and tipped over his second glass of coke, I did have to ask God for an extra helping or two of patients but other than that things went well.



It is now nearly 11 PM. 10 of the kids have gone home. 3 of them are calling this their home and I know beyond a doubt that this is my home. Yes it is only a rented 3 room house with the only running water located out side of the back door. And if I wanted a view of the mountains I would have to paint a picture of them on the 14 foot high cement walls that surround my house, but never the less it is home, and I would not trade it for a mansion. (However if anyone here in Chimeltenago knows of a quiet little place that I could rent for one or two nights a month just to get away from the kids and be by myself, please let me know. (After all I’m only human.)

Yours in Christ: Dick

Journal March 18-24

(Click on any picture to enlarge)

The group from Jericho Ridge Church is still with us and since they are journaling their entire stay I will continue to post their journals for the next few days. I am sure that most of you welcome reading some one else’s account of what is happening here as much as I welcome the break from sitting at my computer for several hours each night. I’m Sorry I could not find anyone that was willing to translate these next few entries from Canadian into English so you are going to have to struggle you way through it.

Dick

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

– Food & Clothing distribution // 2nd House building





We did 5 additional distributions today. The first family had 5 kids. They were a very shy family. They were cooking in the house and the smoke pretty much fills up the place. The baby was sick so we prayed for the baby and for God’s grace and presence in their lives.











At the second house, the lady opens up her house as a church for the local community. There are about 19 people who meet there regularly. She had three kids and the eldest was out working in the field. She served us Coke in the traditional round plastic bucket. The walls were painted bright blue and there was artwork on the walls. There were cobwebs on wooden rafters filled with spider eggs. The kids were very proud to show us their schoolwork and we were so proud of them. The primary school goes up to grade 6 but many many kids are not able to attend. It is illegal for schools to kick kids out if the don’t have supplies or black shoes but that doesn’t stop them from disallowing them from attending.



At the third home, the eldest son Ephraim, hauled the heavy 60-pound bag of groceries. The 3 boys were all wearing gumboots and when we said we were going to pray for them, they all hit their knees. The father had been in an accident and it was great to see him show a level of leadership and pride in his home and family – something you don’t always see in Guatemala. Chris told a fabulous story about hauling a refrigerator up a hillside on his back and they serious mom even cracked a smile.


Meanwhile, back at the building site, we started out differently by having to haul materials out of the center of the ?...? (Brad must not have known the Canadian word for this so he left it blank. Had I been doing the writing I would have at least inserted the word EH.)

Many people complained during our time here about the lack of industriousness amongst locals. But our team – Saul, Jorje and Carlos – man, those guys can work! If they hadn’t assisted us, we’d still be there mixing concrete.

When Chris had gone up the week prior to tell this lady about the home and he told her that she was going to receive a concrete floor she cried. She has two kids – for some reason her and her husband were separate and she wasn’t too sad about it. It must have been a tough situation for her. Chris told her ‘when we build you this house, people won’t be able to look inside your house anymore through the cracks’. She laughed.

The houses themselves are 16x15 and they look fantastic and are highly functional. This one had a bit of a back yard so we allowed for a second exit at the rear. It’s a great situation. We had a great team leader in Howie. He’s a builder and a professional but has an incredible way of giving a team ownership of the project. He was a patient leader but would say what needed to be said to keep things on project. There was a pride on doing a good job of the project and so we dedicated it and then piled into the van for the 30-minute ride home to Coban.


Thursday, March 19, 2009

– Second Wheelchair distribution at Tactic

We pulled up to what we are now feeling like and affectionately referring to as ‘our neighborhood’ – just off the main road in Tactic just underneath the cemetery. We had about 30 chairs to distribute and there were many stories that came out of this experience. Here are just a few…



• One older lady had been carried in by her family. When they picked her up she was covered in fleas. Some of our team fitted her for a chair and afterwards she was so pleased that she said ‘I don’t want to leave’. At the prayer station we noticed that she was falling out of her chair so we went back and got Saul and he put a seatbelt on her chair. This was the same lady who had Alzheimer’s and didn’t know her name or her age. This story really touched me because my grandmother passed away from Alzheimer’s in December.


• One of our team members collects wheelchairs in the Vancouver area and he commented on how much he appreciates coming down and seeing the end result of the collection projects. From collection out of rest homes and from private individuals and clinics right through shipping to in-country distribution – it’s an amazing motivation and fulfilling experience to see the smiling faces of the people.

• We had a blind lady who didn’t want to let go of anybody and so she became number 1 on a list. She was precious, as were all the older ladies. One team member commented on how they all reminded her of her own great grandmother and how she wanted to take them all home.

• Ralph told one lady that we came all the way from Canada for this hug and so she made a point to come around to every station and gave hugs out again and again. Too fun!

• There was a man named Pedro who was injured in a fire and only had one leg. We were able to provide him with a wheelchair and crutches and when he came to the prayer station, the pastor’s wife asked him if he was sad. He said ‘no, I have the joy of the Lord in my life!’



















• and there were the children.



We also went over to the house we built on Tuesday for Odelia and her 6 daughters for a food and clothing distribution. The girls were so excited. They were going to school that afternoon and we provided them with new backpacks, several outfits apiece, and some silly putty. We rolled the silly putty into balls and since the floor was cement and they hadn’t moved in yet, the silly putty was flying around that house! They gave us about 6 hugs on the way out the door and we felt like we had a special connection with them. Odelia’s story is a tragic one. Her husband died suddenly 13 months ago.

I just got off from the phone with Stephen Snell. Many of you know Stephen from stories that I have told about him. Others have had the privilege of meeting him. Stephen father Ray has been fighting Cancer for several years now. This morning Ray passed away. I considered flying home for the funeral but since it is spring break in the States it looks like getting a ticket will be impossible.

Dick

FRIDAY, March 20, 2009

– Visiting Hermano Pedro Orphanage, Antigua
This morning, we went with Dick to the orphanage. What a blast! For some of our team they were a bit nervous and apprehensive but it became a very emotional and powerful experience. For some of our team, they have grown kids and haven’t fed kids in a while but the love and compassion that came out today was incredible to behold. A good amount of our team cannot speak the language, but here, all of that melts away as the only language you need to speak is love.
Dick gave us a tour of Hermano Pedro, where he spends about ½ of his time. He took us through the teens, the school they have sponsored in one of he rooms and then onto the pediatric ward. Here we met kids from all different backgrounds with one common theme – their infectious smiles. They have a saying here that these kids are little thieves because one encounter with them and they steal your heart.








Some of our team had been here last year. They were so excited to connect with kids they had seen. One was named Jo Jo and he is an amazing kid. Immediately today, when he saw them, he lit up like a Christmas tree! That’s how much affection means to these kids. Many of them spend much of their time either in their chairs or in their cribs.




We took the kids out to lunch at Camperos (while some went to visit another wheelchair production facility here in town for Hope Haven).
Lunch was so much fun! These kids love spending time out and about in the square and in the play area. I had a little guy named Bobby. He was a French fry monster. If you think that Dick thought Bobby was messy with his eating until today, I finally found a man who loves condiments as much as I do! We mixed ketchup and ranch sauce and mustard and we were all set to go. We got so dirty – it was a blast! Eventually, we decided that fries were just a receptacle and we should go straight to the source. It’s probably against Camperos policies, but we began dumping ketchup straight from the bottle right into his mouth! Cutting out the middleman, that’s what it’s all about for Bobby!


I also had a neat experience… There was a businessman sitting across from us and he kept looking at us. I wasn’t sure what he was thinking but as he finished up his meal he came over and asked if he could say something to me. I wasn’t sure what he would say but he insisted that he wanted to share in English. He shared that he was a local hotel manager and he told me that he was so impressed with our group and how we showered love on the kids. He expressed in his broken English that emotion was welling up in his heart and he began to cry. It was a very emotional experience for me to see his heart softened and touched in that way.




Dick often asks teams about the highlights of their trip and they say “The orphanage.” He then asks them “What has been the hardest part of your trip?” and they say “The orphanage”. It’s a mix of emotions and it stays with you forever.







One of the amazing learning experiences was, what elements of this will translate into our lives and experiences back home? There are people with disabilities everywhere and they are marginalized in many ways. This kind of experience gives us the courage and motivation to step out in love and meet the needs of the people around us.

One other huge take-home experience was the reminder that every person is made in the image of God. That these people are image bearers and that everyone is of value and dignity and worth. From getting right down in the dirt with people in their homes to pray, to massaging old ladies feet or gals with CP… There is sometimes a sense that you are coming from your position of affluence and comfort to minister to the least of these. But what ends up happening is that you learn so much about courage and compassion and the love of Christ from these people. What beautiful people with so much to teach us.

Brad

This week has been spent with another one of those teems that we hate to see leave. They came here with a common goal - To love and to serve - and that goal was met. It did not seem to matter that most of them could not speak Spanish, because they all spoke a language that rang out much clearer than that, it was the language of love, not just any love but the love of Christ. Thanks gang for allowing not only the Guatemalan people but all of us here in Guatemala to be able to see Jesus in each and every one of you!

Yours in Christ: Dick

Saturday, March 21, 2001

Wow, I am not sure if I can do this but today I am going to have to write my own journal. I was going to try to get the Jericho Ridge Group to do it again but those that I asked said that they didn’t think that they could find the time since I would be picking them up at their motel at 4:15 AM to take them to the airport.

I got back home at around 6 AM and had full intentions of going back to bed for a few hours but some how got doing other things and before I knew it it was 8 AM and time to leave for Huehuetenango. I had promised the mother of Silsi (See February 2 journal) that I would pick her and her daughter up and bring them to Hermano Pedro to see the doctor on Monday and since they are over five hours away I decided to leave a few days early so that I could see some other people that lived in the same area. Today David, my friend from Canada who has been doing a lot of traveling with me, and two of my boys, Calin and Fernando came along with me. Since the boys are only going to miss one day of school I gave them the OK.

About 4 hours into our trip we turned of the main road and drove up to San Francisco. This small town is well named because much like San Francisco California everything is located on a hillside and all of the streets are very steep. Even though I have finally memorized the roads that lead to the trail that we walk to get to Erica’s house today we had a rough time getting there. Several of the streets in town were dug up and the only one that seemed to head the right direction was marked with a one-way sign. Going the wrong way down one-way streets is generally not a problem here in Guatemala, and even though this one had a lot of blind corners on it and was also located on the side of a cliff would have made it a bit more of a challenge we would have been willing to try it had it not been for a rather stern looking policeman that was holding a very intimidating looking rifle in his hands. After at least a half hour of driving around we finally reached the place where I usually park my car. I noticed that some work had been done on the trail and since there were no one way signs on it and no cops around I put my car into four-wheel drive and continued on. About a half-mile further we got to a spot in trail that proved to be too much of a challenge for even a Land Cruiser. It wasn’t very steep or even all that muddy but there was simply no way that my Land Cruiser was going to fit on the narrow foot bridge that crossed a small river. At least we had made it to with in a quarter mile or so of Erica’s house. Usually I am not all that lazy and I actually like walking but today we had lots of medicine to carry in. Everyone helped out though and in no time at all we were at her house. Erica’s mom told us that they had run out of medicine about a week ago and judging by the way her skin looked I was glad that we had gotten to her when we did. Erica and her family were in good spirits though, and when it was time to go it was hard to say good-bye. Before leaving I gave Erica’s mom a bag that contained some Urea. I told her that it is a more powerful medicine than the Ammonium Lactate that they are presently using but said that I wanted them to try it on one of her legs to see if it gives better results. It seems that the Ammonium lactate is working well on the rest of Erica’s body but her legs and feet continue to have leather like scales on them that seem to grow back instantly even when they do fall off. I told mother to stop using the Urea if she saw any side effects and to contact us immediately. Some times it is a bit scary playing doctor, but in Erica’s case and many others there are few alternatives. I am very grateful though for doctors that have been willing to go with me to places like Erica’s and continue to correspond with me giving me advice on how to treat some of these things that we run into. If there are any doctors reading this that would like to spend some time on the road with me please let me know.

After leaving Erica’s house we hiked up to where Christopher lives. I think that he and his family had seen my car parked down the trail while I was at Erica’s because he and his entire family were waiting for us in front of their home. Christopher’s mother told us that he is now having seizures on a daily bases and is also suffering from frequent nosebleeds. She had been taking him to a doctor in Xela but when she ran out of money the doctor refused to see him anymore. One of the reasons for this visit was to talk with her about having her and Christopher come back to Antigua with us on Monday so that he could see a specialist at Hermano Pedro. She told us that they would go so we are planning on going to their home after picking up Silsi and her mother on Monday.


There is a foosball table here in the motel and the boys have challenged me to a game, so I guess I better get my priorities straight and go out and play for a while.

Goodnight,
Yours in Christ: Dick


Sunday, March 22, 2009

Once again I have been given a night off. David has offered to do today’s journal. I am not sure if everyone is offering to do this for me simply because they want to be nice or if it is because they are tired of reading what I have been writing. Either way I am grateful when ever I can get a night off.

Here then is,


“Sunday According to Dave.”

Well, I am back on the road again with Dick, Roland (Dick´s Swedish friend who translates and keeps good records), Fernando and Calin ( 2 of Dick’s boys from Chimal ). We are in Huehuetenango, visiting some families and bringing 2 (hopefully), children back with us to Antigua on Mon. to see a neurologist on Tuesday.



We are staying at a very nice hotel in Huehue, where we enjoyed a 40Q brekky (I'm not sure if this is a Canadian word or a Dave word. Dick) this a.m.

We then went to the new Maxi store here ( the local Wal-Mart ), where Dick bought some groceries for 2 families we are to visit today. Before leaving the store, we think we asked the security guard where the A.T.M. was , but with our Espanola, we could have asked ,¨Where is the money?¨ God must have been translating for us, because we did find the A.T.M., and no shots were fired!

Our first stop was at Maria Garcia’s house in a village north of here. She is a wonderful lady who helps Dick distribute school sponsorship monies and groceries to local families here.




She also looks after her 4 yr. old grandson, Luis, whose mother deserted him about 2 years ago and then his 28 year old father passed away last yr. By the sound of things a good doctor could have done something for him. Unfortunately he went to three bad ones first and each one told him that he had something different. By the time the family got enough money together to see a fourth doctor it was to late to do anything for him.






Most of Maria’s daughters and other grandchildren also live with her - what a beautiful family. Dick is going to see what can be done to get sponsors for a few of Maria’s grandchildren because Maria spends countless hours helping others in her community while she and her family go with out even the basic necessities.



After about a 2 hr. meeting with Maria, we headed to Gabriela´s to repair her daughter’s wheelchair. Ever since her husband deserted her Gabriel has been having a rough time providing for her three children. One of them is in a wheelchair and Gabriel herself suffers from frequent Seizures.






We had a lunch at a small tienda on the Pan-Am highway, where some men loading a dump truck with sand offered me a shovel. I politely declined. (What Dave has failed to mention is that when we paid the bill for the food the lady that served us told us that even thought this was not a place that normaly served food we were welcome to eat here any time that we were in the neighborhood. We are all still wondering what kind of a place this was if it wasn’t a tienda.)





After lunch we headed to Lionel’s family house, with Maria in tow - she speaks Spanish and Mam, the local Mayan dialect. We dropped off the groceries, and discussed with Lionel’s mom and dad when would be a good time to return Lionel to his family. He has more than doubled his weight since arriving at Hermano Pedro last Aug., but misses his mom and dad.




.....................
The doctor had told Dick on Friday past, that Lionel could go home, only if he received proper food, otherwise he would probably lose all that he has gained. After talking with mom and dad, they thought it was best to keep him in Hermano Pedro, and bring him home only for the Christmas break. They really do not have the money or resources right now to properly care for him.







After visiting with Lionel’s family, we visited the ¨medicine lady¨, whose daughter’s son Edgar, needs a special chair. We found out today that she was headed to the States, and was attacked and raped in Mexico. She returned to Guatemala, had her son, and even though he is severely handicapped she loves him very much. We gave this family some groceries, and Dick measured Edgar for a chair.










Our last stop was at Rolando’s house, a 21 yr. old young man who runs a tienda, and very much wants to learn, so Dick, Maria, and Roland have arranged for a teacher to come to his house and teach him. Rolando brought us 4 Pepsi’s, and opened them all for us - this time with a bottle opener, last time it was with his teeth!







I should mention that Dick had 4 yr. old Luis on his lap steering most of the day, and taught (?) him to honk at all the ladies!
(Only because I though it was more polite than the whistling and wolf calls that Dave was telling my boys to do.)

JUST ANOTHER CRUDDY DAY ON THE ROAD WITH DICK!

BUT IT SURE BEATS WATCHING A PROCESSION IN ANTIGUA.
(Hay Dave, what about trinket shopping?) :<{)

Thank you Lord, for this day.

Dave

Monday, March 23, 2009

Written by Dick

Today was one of those bittersweet ones. My original reason for heading up to Huehuetenago on Saturday was to bring Silsi, the girl that we had taken there to see the doctor a few weeks ago, back in to Hermano Pedro to see a neurologist. A local doctor who had already taken every cent that Silsi’s family ever had, has now somehow convinced the family that a $100 injection will cure their daughter so they decided to go that route. He also told her family that he needs every cent of the money before he works his magic. Unfortunately I have a strong feeling that the only magic that they will se is a vanishing act of the money that they have borrowed from friends and relatives. How some of these so-called doctors can live with them selves is beyond me. Our hands are tied but we told the family that we will still be there for them if things do not go well and they decide that they want their daughter to see a specialist.

The good side of this trip is that we were able to make lots of contacts and get a lot done in terms of children and families that we are finding sponsors for. Most of these people are kids that we are putting in or helping stay in school but some are being helped out with life giving medicine and a few are simply going to receive groceries. I know that it is better to teach a person how to fish than it is to simply give them a fish to eat but I think that it bares repeating that it is difficult to fish if you have not eaten in several days. Perhaps once they are strong enough to walk to the river we will teach them how to fish.

Another positive note is that Christopher and his family came back to Hermano Pedro with us. I guess Doctor Cureall did not get to them. Tomorrow Christopher plans on seeing the neurologist that Silsi’s family were suppose to have an appointment with.

It was quite late by the time I got Christopher and his family a place to stay and even later by the time that I got home because I had promised them that I would take them to Camperos for supper. (I am seriously looking into seeing if I can buy stock in Camperos in hopes that I can get a bit of a discount every time that I eat there.



When I pulled into my alley this evening I was greeted by at least a dozen kids. By the time the corn flakes box hit the table there were at least another four or five. It seems that they think that visiting with them is more important than my writing in this journal so I am going to close for now.

Goodnight,
Yours in Christ: Dick


Tuesday, March 24, 2009, 8:11 PM

Wow, I am finally caught up enough that I am writing my journal on the actual day that I am writing about. It seems that even though others have done several of my journal entries for me I have still been at least one to two dasy behind for the past few weeks. Today I had enough down time while sitting at Hermano Pedro for Christopher to see various doctors that I actually got caught up. Normally I would have gone into the orphanage part of Hermano Pedro and spent time with the kids between Christopher’s doctor appointments but I picked up a bad cold while I was up in Huehuetenango and did not want to share it with the orphanage kids. I am not pointing any fingers, but Roland had a bad cold when we met with him on Saturday night and soon after that David, who roomed with him developed one as well. None of the kids seemed to catch it but Roland and Dave managed to share it with me as well. I guess that I can’t complain though because I did manage to get a lot of e-mails answered today and also got caught up on this journal.

Helen, the little girl from Comolapa also came into Hermano Pedro today. Both her and Christopher have to go into the city to have further tests done on May 3 so Roland and I are planning on taking them there. A day in the city is not my favorite thing to do but I didn’t want them to try to get there by buss, especially considering that both of the kids are in wheelchairs. One good thing though they originally had us going to a place in Zone 1 but have now changed it to zone 9. Zone 1 is not exactly the place where 2 gringos care to wonder around asking for directions.When I got home tonight I was feeling rotten but there was no way that after once again being on the road for a few days that I could tell the kids that they could not come in. I wasn’t quite sure what I was going to do for supper because I did not feel well enough to stop off for groceries. Fortunately Alex’s mom came to my door selling some traditional street food. I have learned from experience that it is not wise to buy street food from just anyone, especially when there are so many of you and only one bathroom, but I have eaten at Alex’s house and his mother is a great cook. Besides that her floors are much cleaner than my dishes. Alex’s mom was delighted with the money, (about 36 cents per kid) and I was delighted with not having to cook. I know the kids would have gladly cooked but since I had not stocked back up on groceries we would have had to settle for pancakes again. Don’t get me wrong, I like pancakes but getting the missflipped ones removed from the ceiling still proves to be a chore.

Calin’s half brother Daniel was relieved of his bike yesterday. Two men with knives not so politely asked him for it. Daniel felt that a $30 bike was not worth his life so he gave it to him.

I let the kids stay until about 8 PM and then told them that I needed some quiet time. I am not sure if they are listing better or if I looked sick enough that they had pity on me but they all left with out a lot of threatening.

Well all of my sneezing is starting to fog up my computer screen so I guess that I will call it a night.

Goodnight,
Yours in Christ: Dick

Journal March 13-17

. . . . . . . . . . (click on any picture to enlarge)

Friday, March 13, 2009

This morning four of the Therapy students from the USA, Saul, Hanna, David, and myself all went to the orphanage and spent time with the kids. Out of all the things that we are involved with here in Guatemala I still think that going to Hermano Pedro and spending time with the kids is one of my favorite things to do. I see how much difference it can make in the lives of these kids to simply have some one there who has the time to show them that they are loved. Even though it is one of my favorite places to go it can also be one of the hardest places to be. It is never easy to see kids like Karen, (the little girl that Mike and Karen Rhea brought in the day before yesterday) come in half starved. Seeing children like two year old Jose who is still weighing only 8 pounds is not easy either. They thought that he was lactose intolerant but even though he has not been on any dairy products for several days now he still cannot hold down any food (Today my shirt bore evidence of that). Just last week a stranger that was touring the orphanage asked me how the parents of these children can be so cruel that they allow their children to get this bad before they find help for them. I tried to explain that there are so few places for these parents to take their children that they simply can not get any help even if their child is starving. She simply did not seem to understand though, and told me that if someone really cared they could get these kids the help that they needed. I held my tongue but wanted to ask her what she was doing to help. It is so easy to sit back and judge these people saying, “If only they did not have so many Children.” or “Why can’t they get a better education or find a better paying job?” I wish that I could answer these questions, but then again I really don’t want to be the president of Guatemala. I do have one question that I would like answered though. How can those of us who have the time or finances to reach out and make a difference turn a blind eye and let these children die? I probably just lost half of my readers by asking that but it has to be said. I know that many of you are reaching out to people in need, and praise God for that, but if you are reading these journals and doing nothing to help some one less fortunate than you, weather it be a next door neighbor or some one in a distant country perhaps it is time that you reevaluate your life, especially if you consider yourself a Christian. There now I lost even more readers. Sorry about that but I am getting tired of saying to hurting people, “Sorry we are simply spread to thin to help you.” Saying “I will pray for you.” or “God Bless you goodbye.” does not seem to make much of an impression on them. I don’t think that it means much to Jesus either. If one of us sees some one in need and says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? If you are uncomfortable with those words perhaps you better tare the book of James out of your Bible because that is exactly where they came from. (James 2:16)


Today we were able to take eight of the kids and teens out to lunch. This was partially a celebration for Fidel. We have been trying to get him admitted into a school out side of the orphanage for quite some time now. Back in January we thought that he had the green light but then someone from the orphanage decided that it was not a good idea. Both Fidel and our teacher were quite discouraged but neither of them gave up. Today it became official. Tomorrow Fidel will be starting Computer classes at a school that is located a few blocks from the orphanage.





After lunch I worked on a few wheelchairs and then headed for home. When I got to my car I discovered that my drivers side mirror had been stolen. I don’t know what it is about my car mirrors lately but they have really been taking a beating. Just yesterday two men on a motorcycle ran into the one on the passengers side of my car and nearly tore it off and the past several mornings two birds have fallen in love with there reflections and spend an hour or two admiring themselves in them. I don’t mind them looking at themselves in my car mirror but I do wish that they were potty trained.



This evening I replaced plants in my yard that recent soccer games have claimed while the kids did versus odd jobs for me. They all like having a little spending money on the week ends so Friday night is a good time to get tem to do some work.

It was Spaghetti night tonight and we had a big crew. Three of the kids are staying the night but the others have already headed for home. I am trying to get them to head for home a bit earlier lately because I do not like them out on the streets late at night. Just the night before last there was another shooting about two blocks from here. I had intended on taking the kids swimming at the hot springs tomorrow but we are changing our plans on that as well. Last Sunday Calin’s Grandmother and a group form her church were there for a baptism and a several men with guns threatened and robbed the entire group. A person should not be down here if he or she lives in fear all of the time but I do try to be careful especially if the kids is involved. I don’t think that god wants us to be foolish. Praying for safety and then crossing the freeway with my eyes closed is not something that I feel God wants us to do. If he did I doubt that he would have given any of us common sense.

Well it is getting late so I am going to call it a day.

Goodnight,
Yours in Christ: Dick


Saturday, March 14, 2009, 2:27 PM

This is perhaps a strange time for me to be writing but right now I am right in between soccer games, lunch, weddings, going out and finding a new mirror for my car, and picking up a group form the airport. I guess this is what you could call one of those laid back Saturdays. Actually it has been a rather relaxing one. Since there is no school on Saturday none of the kids set there alarms for 5:45 AM and once we did get up the kids made breakfast. Actually it wasn’t quite all that easy we sort of had a Dutch verses Guatemalan stand off but us Dutchmen are known for our stubbornness and I prevailed. I sort of had the deck stacked in my favor though. I hold the key to the house and I pay the rent. I also hold the car keys so I can always drive off somewhere and find a quiet place to eat. The kids on the other hand do not have those options. Once the kids decided to make the breakfast they all did a great job. After breakfast we voted on what we wanted to do for a fun activity today. Since it is not as warm of a day as usual we deiced to rent a soccer field for an hour. I think that I must be getting a little better at soccer because today I was not the last one picked. Then again it could have something to do with the fact that Fernando was one of the teem captains and he is so kind hearted that he would even forfeit a game if he thought that I my feelings would be hurt if I were once again chosen last. Six year old Elder did well with it though because even though he knew that he was a far better player than me he did not complain about being chosen last. Since we are planning on taking the Canadian teem that is coming in tonight to Cobon tomorrow I will not be able to take my kids to church tomorrow so after the game I took them all to Burger King for lunch.

Well all but a few of the kids have now left for a wedding. This is not some one that I know sow I will not be going. Calin is the only other one not going. I am not sure just why he was not invited but it could be because they know that they would have to order twice as much food if he were to go. I think that I will take advantage of the lack of kids at my house and go and see if I can find a place that sell electric mirrors. Not the kind that defrost automatically there is not much need for that around here. What I want is ones that give a shock to any bandits, birds, or motorcycle drivers that come in contact with them.

Yours in Christ: Dick



Sunday, March 15, 2009

This week we are out on the road with a teem from Canada. Several of the members of the teem have offered to share bits and pieces from their journals so I am going to let you see this week from their perspective. I have attempted to correct some of the spelling mistakes but unfortunately I do not have a program on my computer that translates Canadian to English so I will have to print this in Canadian hoping that there is nothing in it that should have been edited out. A few hints though. Whenever one of them uses the word (WILD) especially when referring to my driving the word (WILD) translated into English means (GOOD). When they use the word (WILD) when referring to Chris’s driving no further translation is necessary. Also bare in mind that the word (EH) translated into English generally means (HUH) but it can also mean just about anything else that you want it to.


Sunday

Hi guys... We’re having a team meeting and debriefing tonight and there happens to be a computer here and so I thought I’d pass along some stories from today. Brad


By Rachel Cottrell, Brad Summer and Chris

On the 6 hour drive up to Coban, there were 14 of us in the van plus luggage and the hills are steep. On the way up a major hill, we had to pull over because the van had overheated. We all got out and poured out water bottles in the radiator - everything was boiling over and every time we tried to pour water in, everything boiled over - it was that hot. After we were finally able to get so water in, we were going to throw the bottles out but we thought, hey, we might need these. We prayed that we could get somewhere that had water so we could deal with the situation. Chris hooked us up to his truck and pulled us up to the top of the hill - `we found out that in Guatemala, every vehicle is a tow vehicle. When we got up the hill about 500 meters, god answered our prayers. There was a little restaurant with an ancient service station - the only one around for miles - and there was an oasis over to our right with an old pool with water that we used to fill our bottles and the radiator again. We jokingly called the pool the pool of Bethesda - the healing pool.

Many hills later, we had to stop again at another ancient service station as we overheated again and again and spewed the water out about every 20 minutes. It was getting serious and Chris didn’t think we were going to make it to Coban. Saul and Chris were dumping water on the engine and the group gathered in the group to pray. The amazing thing is. That god did something. This thing was pitching its water out regularly and we drove for 90 minutes after that prayer meeting, we drove another 90 minutes today and thought we’d have to refill the reservoir and the radiator again. It never lost another drop of water. You can’t explain this except for the grace and intervention of a God who hears and answers prayers.

It’s amazing how we hate it when things go wrong but it is a good lesson for us to embrace this and to acknowledge that God allows things to develop in us through these experiences. It’s good to put ourselves in situations where we need his intervention and his help and it’s been a great learning experience for us already in the past two days.

Monday, March 16, 2009
- Distribution of 70 wheelchairs in Coban.

We gathered early for breakfast and then headed into town to a local social club for a distribution. The people and their families gathered early and began to pack out the auditorium style area. There were lots of kids and so it was great to have Dick, Chris, Saul, Hannah, Ben and Carols along to assist and coach us. We got a primer in fitting techniques and then after Chris introduced the team and why we were there, we get to work.

1- Our first fitting of the morning was a young man who was 19 years old and was healthy as could be until December. He was a part of a gang and was beaten with a baseball bat on his head. Such a tragic story but Sue and Brad were able to pray with him. Dick Rutgers was quite touched by his story and held him and wept over him. We prayed that God would mark his life in a new and fresh way as of this day.


2 - There was a dad and a son being fitted together. He has spinal bifida and he was a bus driver - they were both in



4 - For some patients, we had to do a dual translation... English into Spanish then Spanish in to Ceque - a local dialect. God provided a great set of translators - many from the community who came out and who assisted with the distribution today.




5 - One of the highlights of the day was pulling up a seat and conversing with people. Taking time to get to know their story, learning bits of Spanish and sharing in their joy. The kids especially were beautiful and there were lots of kisses and hugs.

6 - For those who were new at this, at the start, there were moments of fear and anxiety as some of the kids were deformed and twisted, but this was quickly overcome and as soon as the team got involved and worked hard, any apprehension left. Some of our guests were nervous as well but we explained lots and everyone had a sense of humor.
7 - There was a lady named Sandra who was fitted up by brad and sue. She was 23 years old and had c.p. She was very twisted and in the end, we were able to fit her up with a new chair and saw her go out the door fitted up and so full of joy - she also loved having her photo taken.

8 - The smiles were so deep and genuine and made our day.

9 - There was one lady who was carried in on a lazy boy recliner. She has the kinds of friends that we want. She loved her chair and was full of joy - she thought she would only be in it for 15 minutes but now it’s not just the lazy boy, they are going to have to take me places. She has become a source of joy and encouragement for everyone around her. Her mission is to help people stop complaining and see the joy of God in their lives.

10 - There were many requests for walkers and crutches.

11 - We had one station of all kids: Ben, Rachel, Ben and nick. They did 6 specialty chairs for kids and did an excellent job.

12 - It seemed that whenever we needed a chair, god provided one. Whatever parts we needed were there. Tools. The team from bethel helped and god was so gracious. All the people left with perfect chairs.


13 - We had a team from the local physio clinic assisting and they were fabulous. They are students are the local university and they were organized by a wonderful family.

14 - there were 4 or 5 people who came to us from the local hospital. One had her foot amputated just this last weekend and the social worker from the hospital came. One lady was abandoned by her family in the hospital, and she was so glad that someone cared about her. The medical system here is under resourced and is not able to properly assist people. Bedsores are a major source of death.



Around 3 o’clock we wrapped things up with a meal and heard that many people had prayed to receive Christ with local pastors. It was tiring but god provided strength and the team did an excellent job. Then we headed out to a local caves for some r and r.


Tuesday, March 17, 2009


Written by Brad Summer

Today, our group split into three for several projects. Here are the stories from the day and some reflection on our experiences to date.


1 - food and clothing distribution - Arnie, Debbie, Nick, Rachel, Chris, Hannah and brad.We started the day on the road to the town of tactic with some adventure. We got pulled over at a military checkpoint. They wanted to see the vehicle registration - and they asked with their m-16s out so naturally we obeyed. They kept us for about 2 minutes which felt longer as the rest of the team waited up in the van and truck ahead... Bit nerve racking but felt safe and secure in God’s hands.




One of the highlights was watching Chris minister to the families. There’s a song that goes ´love in any language´ and we certainly saw it in any and every language today. We often had opportunity to pray with people and ministered with 5 families as we dropped off 40 pound bags of food and clothing for kids and families. We had opportunity to see spiritual renewal occurring right before our eyes - people rededicating their lives to God, prayers for healing and wonderful connections and friendships.





Our first home, we visited with a family. The man had hearing problems so his wife had to work. They lived just off the highway. A family in the church had offered them free rent on their property. They had two kids and one kid was so enamored with the toothbrushes. We were all very struck with how gracious and hospitable people were - inviting us right into their homes and allowing us to pray with them and talk with them as we blessed them with food.

Our second home, we visited the local primary school at recess for a game of soccer. Then we spent time with a wonderful lady, her two boys and two girls - including a one year old. We drank tea with them and Debbie had about 25 kids surrounding the van looking for candy. Again, you don’t have to know Spanish

Our third home, there was an older lady who expressed that she had walked away from God. Her husband was an alcoholic and left her and this had made her bitter and indifferent towards God.



The fourth home was a local missionary couple. We prayed over the sons that they would grow up to follow the lord and be men of thunder.


At the 5th house, we visited with two sisters - one with 6 kids and one with 2 kids. They ranged in age from 2-11 and they both expressed that they were angry with god. Chris took wonderful freedom and liberty and prayed for them - one man prayed to receive Christ and we prayed for his healing - I think he had diabetes. This family really had nothing... A small wooden crib on the dirt floor. No beds. No furniture. It was striking to see. The missionary family accompanied us on this trip and prayed with passion and compassion for the two women. There were tears, there were hugs and there was and incredible sense of God’s hand at work.



What an incredible opportunity to share the love and power of god with people.


2 - Additional specialty wheelchair distributions - Dick, Sue and Bina.






There were a few people who were not able to be at the distribution yesterday. The fist was Elmer, he is 17 and has cancer and is bed ridden so was not able to come to the distribution yesterday. Just standing up to put the chair under him caused him to collapse and he had to be put back into bed. What a sweet family and a great experience to fit him in the perfect chair and pray with the family.








One of our translators from yesterday, Juan, came with us on the road towards playa grandee up towards Mexico. There we met hector and his family. He was 12 or 13 and was very bright. He spoke quiche - a local dialect. We parked in the school grounds - the kids had fun with that, kicking the truck tires and making the alarm go off . We walked up to his house and were struck by his position. He sits there on the ridge everyday and watches everyone at school every day. He tried one day at school and it didn’t work out. They don’t accept him. There is a lady who does come in a teach him and he was so proud to show us his books and school work.



One thing that we saw that is newer in Guatemala, was a father who was affectionate. He came all the way to Coban yesterday to arrange this - took the day off from work in the fields just hoping that we might show up. It took a while to fit the chair and while all this was going on, the mom and grandmother were making a wonderful fresh meal for us. We went into this dark room and they brought big bowls of food for us and we shared a meal with hector and his family. We don’t know what he has and are really praying that we could ensure that he sees a doctor in town. If that doesn’t progress, we’ll work on getting them into Hermano Pedro to see a specialist about the pain he is experiencing.



One funny story - after all that emotional stuff, we discovered that the chickens in finka Trinidad were suicidal. It looked like they had been waiting all day to jump out in front of a truck. Too crazy.

March 17, 2009


Sue & Bina wrote

Today we had the privilege of accompanying Dick to deliver two wheelchairs to people who couldn’t make it to yesterday’s distribution. The first was to a young man named Elmer who has cancer and is bedridden. His mother met us at their gate and showed us to his room. Elmer seemed happy to see us and made us feel welcome but we could tell he was in pain. The chair Dick brought was the perfect fit and allowed for Elmer to be fully reclined which we learned was his preference.





After leaving Elmer’s house we headed into the hills to Finca Trinidad with Juan who knows the people we were going to see and speaks (Quetche?). Once we turned off the main road the fun began. After about 20 minutes of adventure driving Juan pointed to a school and indicated we were headed that way. All the kids came pouring out of the school when we pulled up in Dick’s Land Cruiser. Dick thought it would be best if we met Hector who we’d come to see before bringing the two chairs we had with us. Hector and his Dad greeted us and we quickly learned Hector was using a borrowed chair that was clearly not the best fit for him. Hector and his Dad spoke to Juan in Queche, then Juan would translate to Spanish then Bina would convey what she could over to Dick and Sue in English. We think his name was Hector.....
We had a view of the truck down below in the school yard where the kids were playing. Every now and then we could see one kick the tire to make the alarm go off. Even though Hector’s family lives right beside the school he doesn’t go. We asked why this was and were told he doesn’t want to. He does however study at home and was glad to share with us some of his work. His brother came home from the school while we were there and wanted to help Hector.

You could see the love that Hector’s father has for him. He had traveled to Coban yesterday to our distribution and stayed home from work today to meet us. He was such a gentle man.



Once Dick worked his magic and one of the chairs we brought became a fit for Hector we were graciously invited for lunch. Only then did we realize what Mom and Grandma had been so busy doing. It was quite an experience to share a meal in their home.




We each had moments that were overwhelming. One was when we found out Hector wasn’t going to school but each day sat in his chair overlooking the schoolyard. Later we sat down at the table for lunch and were handed big plates full of chicken, rice and tortillas which was clearly extremely generous of the family to share with us.


It seems the chickens who dwell along the back road to Finca Trinidad aren’t so smart. They seemed to wait at the side of the road and then dashed across as Dick’s truck approached. We all decided they were suicidal.




When we learned we were back in Coban approaching our hotel Sue quickly started asking Dick if there were anymore wheelchairs that needed to be delivered. We did not want today’s adventure to end.

Sue & Bina

3 - House building project - Curtis, Rhi, Edmund, Bryan, Little Ben, Big Ben, Ralph, Saul, Howie, Jorge.









"Today, we built a house!"


How often do you get to say that?











We had the expertise of Howe, a local missionary who works with constructing houses. He was a real pro and supervised well. The building supplies had been ordered well in advance and came up with the wheelchairs in the truck. They were offloaded at the site and the team got right to work. For the house we built today, the foundation was laid last week and so after arrival on site we began to put up the sheet metal and the frame right away. After a break for a full gourmet buffet lunch that was provided at the local rest home, we began to work with cement - mixing it all from scratch and pouring a concrete floor.









It was a lot of work but such incredible satisfaction to see a woman who had previously been living in a house that was falling down be given the keys for her new place. We had a dedication and it was so neat to see the joy and wonder on her face and the faces of her daughters.










One big thing that struck us that it doesn’t get any easier no matter how many mission trips you have been on... And this is a good thing. We want to stay open to the things that break the heart of God. To shed tears. To love people deeply and care about their spiritual, emotional and physical state. What a wonderful day.










Tomorrow, it is house number 2 and more food distribution, this time further afield.

Journal March 4-12, 2009

Friday March 6, 2009

I have once again fallen three days behind on my Journaling so rather that scratching my memory and trying to remember just what took place and when, I am going to rely on the date stamp of my camera and attempt to jog my memory by sharing some pictures that were taken the past few days.

Saturday, January 1, 1955 ? ?
(Whoops, I guess I shouldn’t have left the battery in my camera go dead.)

OK let’s try again.

Wednesday, March 4 - Friday March 6, 2009

(Click on any picture to enlarge)

Several people have asked me about Jose, the little boy who is shown in my February 18 & 19 Journal entries. Jose is almost two and a half years old. He is very alert which is quite uncommon for some one that is in his condition. When Jose was admitted into the malnutrition ward of Hermano Pedro about a month ago he was starving to death. He did not seem to have any other health issues but it was quickly discovered that he could not hold down any food that was given to him. That is why even after a month of being in the malnutrition ward Jose still only weighs 8 pounds. That’s right 2 and a half years old and the weight of a newborn baby. His legs and arms are no bigger around than my index finger, yet Jose is a fighter. I think that this is what has kept him alive this long. When ever he sees some one that he recognizes walk into the room Jose pulls himself to the bars of his crib and starts yelling for them to get him out of his crib. Much like Ervin ma ma is his favorite thing to say when ever he sees me. I figure that it is not my place to correct him, especially considering that I know less Spanish than he does. A few days ago when I went into the malnutrition ward and picked him up out of his crib I was quickly told that no one was allowed to hold him. I think that they are trying to break him from crying out for some one to hold him. I guess that even though I think that this child needs holding even more than food, I guess that I will have to abide by this new rule (at least while they are looking) but I am going to talk with a few people and see if we can get this ridiculous rule changed. Mean while I am glad that the caregivers take two hour coffee breaks during which time they pay no attention to weather or not he is in his crib.

(I just got word that they found out that Jose is lactose intolerant so we are praying that a new milk free diet will make a difference.)


My friend Dave is still in Antigua but may be returning to Canada with in a few weeks. He works there as a lineman and the crew that he works with will soon be going back to work. I hate to see him go because he is so great with the kids and it has also been great to have him along on road trips. I tried to convince him that he could likely find work for one of the electrical companies here in Guatemala but after showing him some pictures that I took he told me that he was not sure that the wiring codes are the same here as they are in Canada.


Yesterday, or one of those days he went along with me up to the school up in Santa MariadeJesus where we fitted Balanki into a new wheelchair. I had a walker with me that our shop in Chimaltenango had repaired for Luis but he was not at school. After getting Balanki fitted into her chair we headed over to where Luis lives. He and his family were glad to see us, and he was excited to see that his walker had been fixed. His excitement didn’t last long though because when I put him into his walker I discovered that he had outgrown it. Another GODINCIDENCE thing happened though. Just two days ago I got a phone call from Ralph Terpstura, he and a group are coming down in about a week. He told me that he had two walkers that he could bring along if I wanted them. Guess what, one of them is exactly what Luis needs.


After lunch we met up with a lady that I had met on Tuesday. She knew of a 26 year old man that had been shot in a robbery last month. Seems that a cell phone and a motor scooter were worth more to the robers than this man’s life. He managed to survive but will never walk again. We had a good visit and did a lot of talking about his fear to go out in public now that he cannot walk anymore. We also prayed together. I also told him about the camp that we have in November and told him that I was going to make sure that he got an inviteation. (Sorry Pastor Bill but you can share my room with me if you don’t like sleeping in a tent.)







Roland Elf sent me these pictures of Rolando, the young man that we got a touter for up in Huehuetenango.





He told me that Rolando loves his schooling and that the teacher that we hired is doing great with him.









This morning I planned to heading to Hermano Pedro but then I got a call from Mark Richard. He asked me if I could come over to the wheelchair factory and seat a little boy that some nuns had brought in from another orphanage. Miguel, the little boy was quite frightened of me at first but after a short time he stopped crying and by the time we got him fitted he was smiling.


After getting Miguel seated I stopped of at the coffee shop and restaurant that our church has here in Antigua and grabbed some lunch. Since they have wireless Internet I decided to get caught up on my journal before heading over to the orphanage. It looks like my journaling time and orphanage time are going to have to be cut short though because Calin just phoned me. A few days ago he told me about new girl that attends his school that is extremely poor. Since there are times that Calin’s family and lots of others that are in my neighborhood can not afford to put food on their tables this girl and her family must really be hurting in order for Calin to recognize her as poor. Anyway Calin just called and told me that when he got out of school he walked to where this girl lives. Calin says that this family needs help and that they need it now. I will try to write more later.

7:40 PM

I have about 20 minutes before I have to head to Guatemala City to pick up a group that is coming in from the States so I figured that I would do a bit more writing. I met Calin in Chimaltenango and we bought some groceries for the family that he met today. Calin had told them that we would likely come today so they were not surprised to see us. The entire family of six people live in a small one room dirt floor house. They did not appear to b e starving but were very grateful for the groceries that we gave them. Since I still had to go to the airport tonight we did not stay very long and visit so I really did not get to know to much about their situation, but just seeing their home and the homes of their neighbors I was once again reminded of how much poverty there is here in Guatemala.

Yours in Christ: Dick


Saturday, March 7, 2009
Today Saul, Hanna, Calin, and I picked up the seven ladies that came in from the States last night and headed out to two of the orphanages that we bring wheelchairs to here in Guatemala. This group consists of two physical therapists and five therapy students so what better place to take them than to some of the orphanages that are in need of wheelchairs that are in need of replacement or repair. Our morning was spent at Annini Orphanage. We try to get up to Annini at least a few times a year and this visit was long overdue. I have seen a lot of overall improvements at this orphanage since my first visit nearly nine years ago but kids grow and wheelchiars break so we found plenty to do. Actually about the only thing that we got accomplished this morning was looking at the kids and making a large list of what needed to be repared or replaced in the way of wheelchairs. We hope to return there on Thursday and do more work.


After lunch we visited another orphanage that is located in the hart of the city. I am always happy to get into this orphanage because over the years I have really gotten to know some of the kids. Several of them attend our camp in Chimaltenango every year. Much like Hermano Pedro several of these kids love it when we put a wrench in ther hands and let them help work on the wheelchairs. No it does not exactly speed up the wheelchair repairs but it sure brings a lot of smiles to the faces of kids that normally spend most of their day just sitting in their wheelchairs.




At about 5 Pm we packed things up and headed for home. I let the kids in for a while but had not gotten much sleep so at around 8:00 I told them that I was going to call it a day. By 8:30 I was fast asleep. That is why this journal entry is being written a day late.

Good morning,
Yours in Christ: Dick


Sunday, March 8, 2009

I had intended on heading out to Santiago with Saul, Hanna, and the group from the USA this morning but when eight kids showed up at my door asking me why I wasn't going to take them to church today, I quickly changed my mind. Calin and Daniel had also wanted to come along to church but they slept in just a little too late and didn't call me until I was a few miles out of town. They managed to catch up with us when lunchtime rolled around though so even if they missed out on spiritual food they got some of the physical stuff. During lunch Calin convinced me that it would be wise for the teem to have an extra mechanic and interpreter at our wheelchair distribution in Santiago tomorrow so I told him that he could come along as long as he stayed caught up with his school work. I am still not sure if I have a soft hart or a soft head but by the time we left Fernando had also joined us. The group that had left several hours earlier than us made some stops along the way so we actually arrived in Santiago only a few minutes after them.

Santiago is a sleepy little town that is located on Lake Atitlan here in Guatemala. As tranquil as things appear this town had a tragedy about three years ago that most of its residence will not soon forget. During Hurricane Stan there was a large landslide just outside of town that buried houses and killed 650 of the residence. Since the survivors had little place to go many of them now live in makeshift shelters that are located directly over their old home and the earth covered remains of their loved ones. Tonight we are staying at a Baptist campground that is only a few hundred feet from the edge of that mudslide. I think that I will sleep wiht one eye open.

Goodnight,
Yours in Christ: Dick


Monday, March 10, 2009

After breakfast we headed down to a community hall that is located in the center of town. Over thirty people showed up that were in need of wheelchairs. Since over half of them were teens and children that were in need of specialty wheelchairs we were all kept busy. Thankfully a couple that just happened to be wheelchair seating specialists just happened to be in town this week and they some how had found out about the distributi0n so they and some of their friends stopped by and helped us out the entire day. Just another one of those GODINCIDENCE things I guess.

This distribution was good for the therapy students as well. They quickly learned that even though we pride ourselves in doing professional seating not as many specialty parts are as readily available here in Guatemala and they got some first hand experience in improvising. They did a marvelous job though and all Thirty plus people received wheelchairs that were excellent for them.



During the distribution a man from Holland struck up a conversation with me. He and his wife had been doing some volunteer work in a town that was located across the Lake and they had brought in a lady that was in need of a wheelchair. During our conversation he told me about Manwell, a 13 year old boy who was born with birth defects that left him with hands and feet that were useless to him. He told me that they had not brought Manwell along with them because he already had a manual wheelchair. He said that he wished that Manwell had a little use of his hands though because he knew that a powered wheelchair would change his life. He went on to tell me that Manwell's mother takes him to school every day, but she is a small lady and pushing him there in his manual wheelchair is getting to hard for her. Even though Manwell has no hand or leg use he has learned how to scoot himself around on smooth surfaces and loves to play soccer with his friends. He also paints with his teeth and is becoming quite an artist. As soon as I was told that he could paint with his mouth I knew that he had to have good enough control of his head to operate a head controlled power wheelchair and I shared this with Anthony our new friend from Holland. After the wheelchairs distribution Anthony, David (who had met up wiht us at the lake), Calin, Fernando, and my self got into my car and drove to the town where Manwell lived.

Manwell reminded me a lot of Ludwig a young man that use to live at the orphanage that we had visited in Guatemala City only a few days ago. Both young men have similar conditions, but Ludwig has just enough use of his hands to operate a power wheelchair with them. Much like Ludwig Manwell knows a fair amount of English. Both of them paint wiht thiere teeth and neither of them consider themselves handicapped. After talking wiht this young man and watching him I must say that I agree. Manwell is not handicapped becasue of the inconvenience of having hands and leggs that do little more than hang there Manwell simply does things in a different way than you or I would. Would you believe my boys even played soccer with him. The way that he can scoot himself around on the floor and use he is head to hit the ball with is incredible. He has also found a way to swing his body so that his parolised arms can hit the soccer ball much further than I can kick one. Even though he can get around on smooth surfaces for short distances it is impossible for him to get to school without his mother having to push him all of the way there. Hopefully that is about to change though. I am praying that we can locate some head controllers so that I can put them on power wheelchairs and give them to Manwell and two other people that have been waiting for head controlled power wheelchairs for over a year now. Please pray that we can locate some soon.

The rest of the group is staying in Santiago for a few days. They are going to conduce a foot care clinic with some of the local residents but since they also mentioned the sh.. word we all decided that it was best if I did not stick around. Somehow shopping does not bring out the best of me. I plan on rejoining the group in a few days when we do more wheelchair work in some of the orphanages.

I dropped the boys off at their homes on our way through Chimaltenango and then brought Dave home. I figured that it would be late enough when I got back home that I would have the house to myself tonight. Wrong!!

Well everyone has found a place to sleep so I guess I will head off to bed.

Goodnight,
Yours in Christ: Dick


Tuesday, March 10, 2009

After giving the kids breakfast, sending them off to school and then getting caught up on some book work I headed off to Hermano Pedro. When I got there I was mobbed by kids that all wanted attention. I so much wanted to spend time with each of them but know that was not possible. Moises and Byron pleaded with me to take them out to lunch but I told them that today it was Lionel's turn to go with me. They held back the tears but I could see that they were close to the surface. I looked around to see if there were any volunteers that I colud invite along but there were none. Besides that even if I could take these two boys along what about the half dozen others that had already gathered round me in hopes that I had just a little of my time to give them. As far as that goes what about the other 240 residence of Hermano Pedro, some of whom never have anyone spend time with them? And what about . . . . . . . . ? I was starting to feel overwhelmed when I was suddenly reminded of a story that I often share with groups that I take through the orphanage.

I posted this last June, but today I needed it again.

The starfish

Once upon a time there was a philosopher who would walk along the beach every morning, thinking about how to help the world. One day as he was walking along the shore, he looked down the beach and saw a small figure moving back and forth. He began to walk faster to catch up. As he got closer, he saw that it was a little boy. He was reaching down to the shore, picking up something and very gently throwing it into the ocean. When he got closer he called out, “Good morning! What are you doing?”' The little boy looked up and replied with simple joy, “Throwing starfish into the ocean.” The man looked puzzled and said: “I guess I should have asked, why are you throwing starfish into the ocean?” “The sun is up and the tide is going out. And if I don't throw them in they'll die.” “But, don't you realize that there are miles and miles of beach and starfish all along it. You can't possibly make a difference!” said the man. The young boy listened politely. He then bent down, picked up another starfish and threw it into the sea past the breaking waves and said with a smile... “... but I made a difference to that one”.


As it turned out Lionel was the right pick because I found him lying in a stroller crying. I never did find out why he was not in his own wheelchair which he likes much better. It probably would not have made to much difference anyway because I later found out that he had been doing a lot of crying for the past few days. Last Wednesday had been the last time that I was in the Orphanage and that was the day that his father went back home as well. I was told that both of us leaving at once had been to much for him to handle. It took the next several hours before I saw the smile return to his face. I took him to the little cafe that is located in our church and he loved the one on one attention that he got. While I was there I had a good visit with Steve a missionary that moved to Antigua with his family a few months ago. Lionel would occasionally give me a scowl if I looked away from him to talk to Steve but as soon as I looked back down at him or talked to him his smile would return.

I could not help but think about how disappointed Moises and Byron had looked when after not seeing them for several days. I had hated to tell them that they could not come along with me today. Then I got a brain storm. What about supper. I knew that the kids are not usually allowed to be taken out of the orphanage after 4 PM but perhaps I could get special permission. It took a bit of persistence but after getting the OK I called Dave and he said that he would love to come along with us. Even though we went to the same old Camperos Moises and Byron loved it. I think that it was the idea of going out to supper instead of lunch that made it seem like a totally new experience to them.

When I got home I had to feed even more kids. Was that four meals or five meals that I had today? I think that I have lost count. Oh well, I think that I will have a snack and then head off to bed.

Goodnight,
Yours in Christ: Dick


Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Today I had a rather busy day at Hermano Pedro, took more kids to lunch. Had a meeting with the staff of Hermano Pedro to see why out teacher seems to be getting crowded out of her room, met wiht Mike and Karen Rhea, who brought Karen, the five year old girl that we have been trying to get into Malnutrition, down from Rio Dolci, more meetings with the staff of Hermano Pedro about Karen. A bit more time with the orphanage kids, Supper with Mike, Karen, and Dave, Fed kids when I got home, Wrote in journal, and then off to bed. Wow! How do you like that for a one sentence account of how my day was spent?

Goodnight,
Yours in Christ: Dick


Thursday, March 12, 2009

Today Saul, Hanna, the group of therapy students that are here from the States, and myself headed down to Annini Orphanage. On Saturday we had gone there to make an assessment of which wheelchairs needed to be adjusted or repaired and what ones had to be replaced. Today we were there to do those repairs, and replacements. There was a lot of work that needed to be done there but everyone pitched in and we got everything that we had wanted to do accomplished. With the use of some arm splints and a few modifications to her wheelchair we are hoping that the little girl that loves to remove her eyes from their sockets will no longer be able to do that. We did a lot of others repairs and modifications and even gave out 5 new wheelchairs. Out total day went really well. That is if you leave out a brief encounter that I had with two men on a motor cycle that decided to change lanes when they were along side of me. Fortunately they only caught my mirror and did not fall over when they hit me. Even though they were the ones that ran into me I felt that it was not a good idea to pull over and see if they had damaged my car so I gave them a friendly smile and continued on my way. Not exactly something that you would do in the USA but many of the bikers here in Guatemala wear guns.

Tonight is one of those rare ones when I am setting here in my house all alone. I got home at around 5:30 and let the kids stay for a while but then told them that I had to get caught up on my Journal. They didn't seem to like that idea too well but reluctantly when along with it. I guess that they got the word out to those that normally come a bit later because I have only heard some one knocking at the gate once in the past hour.

I guess I will close for now and see if I can get this thing spell checked and then sent out.

Goodnight,
Yours in Christ: Dick

Journal February 26 - March 3, 2009

Thursday, February 26, 2009

After another exciting dentist appointment I headed to Hermano Pedro orphanage in Antigua. Since Cesar had no school he came along with me. We met up with Ben and his friend Scott and took 4 of the kids out to lunch. Since I had been gone for 6 days it was especially difficult deciding which three kids to take with us but the list narrowed down a bit since some were still getting over being sick.

(Click on any picture to enlarge). .. . . .

They have had quite a bout with the diarrhea and other flew like symptoms the past few weeks, especially in the malnutrition ward. Most of the kids are better now but they are still taking precautions. One little boy passed away but from what I am being told it had nothing to do with this. He had come in to malnutrition a few weeks ago with a lot of complications and even though they kept him isolated from the others he was simply to week to make it. Since he was kept in isolation I never got to know him but still morn the loss.

I managed to spend some time with Lionel today and although he still has some diarrhea (I won't go into detail on how I discovered that) his fever is gone and he is once again laughing and smiling.

Helen and her family got to see the doctor today and they now have an appointment to see a specialist next Thursday. This afternoon I took her and her family over to Hope Haven’s wheelchair factory and we fit her into a new wheelchair. Judging by the smile on her and her parent’s faces I think that she likes it a lot better than the Bicycle that they use to push her around on at school. She was especially tickled with the tray that attaches to the chair.

Helen with two of the ladies that work at
Hope Haven's wheelchair factory

After leaving the wheelchair shop we took Rolando and her family out to Burger King and bought them some food. Helen was all smiles as we wheeled her into the restaurant. We then went and picked up Fernando who had called and asked if he could join us. After that we stopped of at the drug store and bought Helen some medicine that the doctor had prescribed, then dropped Rolland off so that he could catch a buss back to Xela. I had originally intended on putting Helen and her family on a buss as well but since it was getting late and they had the new wheelchair and other luggage with them I decided to drive them to their home in Comolapa which is about 45 minutes from Chimaltenango. When we arrived at their home mother tried to thank us but got choked up and started to cry. The entire family was overwhelmed by the love that they received from so many people during the past few days.

On the way home Cesar, Fernando, and I stopped off and got a snack. We hadn’t had too much healthy food today so I figured it was time for some fruit. The strawberry Sundays were great! The kids that are at my house tonight did not receive any fruit but they got their vegetables and dairy products. That reminds me since there were so many kids tonight; I have to pick up more corn flakes in the morning.

Goodnight,
Yours in Christ: Dick


Friday, February 27, 2009

This morning I went to Hermano Pedro. Before taking five of the kids out to lunch I managed to repair a few wheelchairs. Ben, Andy, Dave, Nancy, and myself took 5 of the kids out to lunch. Lionel who is now felling better was finally able to come along with us. He had the time of his life and was once again all smiles. Moises and Ervin were unable to come along yesterday because they each had to see the doctor about something. Moises is usually always in a good mood but today he was a grump. I think that it had to do with the fact that I had been gone for six days and when I did return yesterday he was unable to come along to lunch. He cheered up a bit later when I asked him if he wanted me to pick him up and take him along to church and then to my house for the day on Sunday. Ervin once again failed to live up to his old nickname of monster, as he was a perfect little gentleman while we were at Camperos. He had one screaming incident just before we left the orphanage though. For some unknown reason just as we were leaving for lunch one of the caregivers suddenly decided that he was not allowed to come along with us. Just as we were about to leave she changed her mind though and Ervin was once again all smiles. When I was a kid I was always told that stomping your feet and screaming would never do any good but today Ervin proved me wrong. I know! I know! Doctor Spock or perhaps even Doctor Dobson would say that we only reinforced bad behavior by allowing him to come along with us but today I felt that the caregiver who didn’t want us to take him was the one that was behaving badly so I didn’t take her along. We rounded off our group of five kids with Hiler and Saul. Both of these two kids seem to live in their own little world but I am finding that the more they get out the better they do. Unlike Hiler, Saul is usually smiling and talking up a storm even though what he says makes little or no sense but today near the end of our stay at Camperos he sort of lost it for a while. About ten minutes later he was fine again. We didn’t get too many smiles out of Hiler today but he is definitely becoming more alert and seemed to enjoy getting out of the orphanage for a while.

Ben and Andy are heading back home to Canada on Sunday so the three of us did not eat anything at Camperos today. Instead after bringing the kids back to the orphanage the three of us headed to Chimaltenango and had barbecued ribs at 56. After lunch we met up with my kids at the soccer field. Ben and Andy had promised the boys that they would rent it for an hour so that they could have one last soccer game with them. These two young men have been awesome with the kids at the orphanage and with my kids at home as well.
I didn’t stay for the game because I wanted to go up to Tecpan and say goodbye the group that has been here all week building houses. Would you believe ten houses in five and a half days? These guys are workers. Chris, Saul, Hanna, Howie, and Pastor Juan have been with them all week. I had been on the road for most of their stay so I did not get into the house building. Perhaps that was for the best because when I help build houses, it is much like Ervin helping me work on wheelchairs. Had I helped I doubt that they would have gotten all ten houses built.


I didn’t get back home until around 9:30 so only a few kids showed up. They have now all headed for home so I guess I will call it a day.

Goodnight,
Yours in Christ: Dick


Saturday, February 28, 2009, 3:50 PM

I promised four of the kids that I would take them swimming if they helped me clean up around the house this morning. Some how we managed to have nine of us in the car when we left for swimming though. I thought that those that did all of the work would complain but the didn’t. I hope the four that did no work and are now swimming don’t complain either when I find work for them after returning home from the hot springs. I swam for a while but my stomach has been bothering me today so I got out early. My kids protested a bit because they love to have an audience when they are swimming and jumping from the rocks.







Well it is Saturday so I will keep this one short. Guess I will go and see how many Band-Aids need to be handed out.





Yours in Christ: Dick

Sunday, March 1, 2009

Breakfast

Church

Lunch

Soccer game

Lionel's father came to visit him today.

Took a group through Hermano Pedro Orphanage.














Spent some much needed one on one time with Moises.



















Spent some much needed one on one time with Calin.

Monday, March 2, 2009

I always enjoy the groups of people that I take through Hermano Pedro orphanage, but being human I can not help but enjoy some more than others. Today I had the privilege of taking a teem of people through the orphanage that I wish could stay there for ever. They came bringing gifts to the kids that will never be forgotten. No the kids were not given any dolls or teddy bears like many people bring them. Nothing wrong with dolls and teddy bears other than the fact that most of them are gathered up by nightfall never to be seen again by any of the children. This group didn't even hand out candy or toothbrushes. (I have yet to figure out the reasoning in that combination of gifts.) This group dug a lot deeper than that, they gave of themselves. Even though it was difficult for some of them they gave. That is not as easy as it sounds because when you are willing to do that you can leave yourself very vulnerable. You can find yourself laughing hysterically one minute and crying uncontrollably the next. Your emotions can be so stretched that you don't know weather this is one of the best experiences of your life or one of the worst. How can holding a starving child in your arms and giving hem or her the unconditional love that only Christ can give you be so wonderful when you are at the same time crying your eyes out over the suffering that this child is going through? I am not sure that I have the answer to that but I am learning more and more that being willing to feel and to weep is not necessarily something that should be avoided. The group that I spent the day with today seemed to know that as well. Were there any tears? Lots of them! Were there times when it would have been easier to run. I am quite sure that some of the members of the group wanted to at times. I know that I did. It would have been so easy for any of these nine people to have found something else more exciting to do here in Guatemala than to spend their day in an orphanage. After all Antigua is becoming a favorite vacation spot for more and more people. There are all kinds of exciting things to do. You can go zip lining or climb a volcano you can even go shopping. Although for me that ranks right up there with having a guided tour of the local cemetery. Why then did these nine individuals choose to spend the day at the orphanage? Was it curiosity? Trust me I have seen that. I will never forget one group of people that I saw in the orphanage that wore long green rubber gloves and face masks. I was later accused of telling them that if they had something that dreadfully wrong with them that they should leave because we did not want any of the kids catching what ever they had. I honestly don't think that I actually said it. I think that I just thought it, but I wish that I had been bold enough to verbalize my emotions. At any rate today's group was not at all like that. They had come to love and to serve. They also brought the perfect gift for each and every child, teen, and adult that they came in contact with. They gave of themselves. Not 25% or even 50% but 110%. Was it hard for them? It might have been, I didn't ask them. Do you know what the neatest thing is. I don't think that they stopped to ask either. They had come to serve and to love and that is exactly what they did. One little secret though is they were not doing this on there own. I know for a fact that each one of them had spent a lot of time on their knees preparing for this day. Did they personally share this with me? They didn't have to, nor did they have to tell the children. The love of Jesus was simply oozing out of them. Thanks teem for making one of the hardest places to be one of the best.

Goodnight:
Yours in Christ: Dick


Tuesday, March 3, 2009

This morning I was once again privileged to spend my day with the same eight people from the USA that I spent it with yesterday. I know I said that there were nine of them yesterday but Matizomas revenge calmed one of them last night and still another later today. Nothing serious but I don't think that either of them wnat to venture to far from a rest room for a day or two.

Since my kids had no school today (Why? Good question) three of them accompanied me to Hermano Pedro. Yesterday we took a bunch of the younger kids out to Camperos. Lionel and his father also accompanied us. Lionel's dad is here visiting him for a few days and seeing the bond of love that these two have for each other is fantastic. Anyway today we decided to take several of the teen age boys out to lunch. If I had thought that nothing could have been more fun than taking yesterday's group out I was wrong because the seven young men that accompanied us to lunch today were delightful. I don't think that having a few younger girls from the USA in our group dampened their spirits any either. I think that each of the girls had their hands kissed so often that they are going to be chapped for a week.

I would have loved to have been able to spend the entire day with the group but at around 2 PM I had to say goodbye to them because I didn't want to miss out on the good time that I know I was going to have at the dentist. I am finally finished up unless I decided to have the $75 crown that another dentist put on a few years ago replaced by an expensive $200 one but the quarter inch gap around the gum line is not bothering me that badly so I may let it go for a while. I have sort of gotten attached to it because it provides a good place to store a midnight snack.

After the dentist I snuk away to the restaurant that is located in an old plantation near here and got caught up on some computer work. Well actually I did not get fully caught up that is why after leaving there I stopped off at the shop and am still there trying to get caught up. I always feel a bit mean doing this but if I go home and do not let the kids in they feel that I am really mean.


Tomorrow I plan on going back to the orphanage. The group that I was with for the past few days will not be there. Both the kids and myself will miss them.



Goodnight:
Yours in Christ: Dick