Journal, January 25-30 2010

Monday, January 25, 2010

Tonight I am sitting in a motel room in Xela. This is a trip that I have put off for 2 weeks partly because I simply had too many other things to do but mainly out of stubbornness. Two weeks ago Erica's mom phoned Bethel's wheelchair shop telling them that Erica had run out of medicine. I have repeatedly asked Erica's mom to let us know when they were down to about a 2 week supply instead of waiting until they ran completely out of the medicine that helps control her skin condition but it never seems to sink in. It seems like Erica's family just expects me to drop everything and make the 3 to 4 hour drive at the drop of a that. This time I asked Chris to call them back and tell them to send one of their family members by buss to pick up the medicine themselves. After all I wasn't their servant. Or was I?

Last night I started thinking. (I guess it's about time.) What was I doing? Was I actually jeopardizing the health of a 12 year old girl simply because I was feeling a bit used by her parents. Even if they didn't have a legitimate reason for not coming to Chimaltenango and picking up the medicine themselves, did I have the right to try to teach them a lesson at the expense of their daughters health. So what if I was feeling a bit like their servant hadn't I come to Guatemala to serve these people. After all isn't that exactly what Jesus had done for me?

Today as Eric's mother explained to me that they simply did not have the money to send any one to Chimaltenango by bus as she held onto my hand and thanked me for bringing Erica's medicine I wondered to myself why I had not done this a few weeks ago.

Mark 9:35

Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, "If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all."
While we were in the area we also paid a visit to Christopher and his family. Christopher seems to be in better health then he had been in for a while. His mom told us that he is having far less seizures the past few months and his overall health seems better. The family had some sad news to tell us though. A 12 year old cousin who lives next door to Christopher suddenly got sick and died within a few days.
Those of you that Have been following my Journals undoubtedly remember reading about Florinda a little girl that my friend Roland and I visited at her home last June. As you may recall 3 and a half year old Florinda had been perfectly healthy up until a year ago but then mysteriously started having occasional seizures that gradually worsened to the point where she was continually seizuring and in constant pain. In a few short months she had gone from a happy and healthy little girl to some one so frail that she was close to death. We managed to get her into the malnutrition ward of Hermano Pedro where she put on some weight but the seizures and the pain continued. The doctors there did all that they could to figure out what was wrong with her but neither they nor the specialists that they consulted seemed to have the answers. The doctors at Hermano Pedro made a decision to temporarily move Florinda out of Hermano Pedro for a short term stay at the national hospital in Antigua for some treatment of an edema that was on one of her knees. Florinda's mom had been OK with having her daughter at Hermano Pedro but shortly after she found out that her daughter had been moved to the national hospital mom panicked and took her daughter home. Both Rolland and I were devastated because we were not sure that Hermano Pedro would take her back since mom had taken her home without consulting them and they were the ones that had admitted her into the national hospital. In what seemed to be a last ditch effort to keep Florinda alive Rolland consulted a neurosurgeon in Guatemala City and some how convinced mom to take her daughter to see him. To make a long story a little shorter, the neurosurgeon immediately recognized the problem as hydrocephalus and offered to operate and put a shunt in for free. He told Rolland and Florinda's mom that it was uncertain how much damage had already been done and only time would tell how much permanent brain damage had been done and how much Florinda would improve after the surgery.

The following is part of a letter that I received from Roland today.

(Yes the 3 pictures above and the 3 pictures below are of the same little girl.)

Hi Dick:

. . . . .. . . .Florinda smiled!

























On the 15th of January 2010 I traveled again to visit little Florinda to give her medicine and her economic support from Liz. I was in the little humble adobe house for about 20 minutes when it happened; Florinda smiled a beautiful smile. I tried to quickly get my camera to take a photo of her smiling but I was too slow. But the photos I did take clearly shows how much better her health is now. After awhile, she became tired and made a big yawn and fell asleep. It was so wonderful to see that she can now sleep good . Florinda keep on smiling several times each day now, I talked to her elder sister recently. A big change has happened the last weeks. Her mother had tears in her eyes when she was telling me about that she has started to smile the last weeks, this happens each day now they told me, but she does not talk. Her arms and legs are now softer I felt no tension like before and she was relaxed during the several hours I was at her home. No convulsions, crying or screaming like before and by her own force and effort, she suddenly turned around a bit to the other side! She also moved her head like I never have seen her before which is just incredible. I have never seen Florinda smile before since I came to know her in June 2009 when she was close to starving to death. A big step has been taken but still there is a long way left for her recovery and she needs a lot more help with food and medicine. I pray I can continue to coordinate the help she needs each month. The medicine I have traveled to give her since October is to alleviate convulsions that were caused by the pressure to her brain because of Hydrocephalus. Perhaps she may need to take that medicine several months more. She has a shunt now that takes away the liquid that caused the pressure she had on her brain. This week I hope to travel with Florinda and her mother and sister to the neurosurgeon to the capital so that Florinda can receive a new exam and also probably a new tomography of her head so that he can see how the development is. The doctor has to check how the shunt is working.

God bless you
Roland


Matthew 25:37-40

Then the righteous will answer him, "Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?"

The King will reply, "I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me."

Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Tonight we are still in Xela. Yesterday after visiting with Erica and then Christopher the boys and I stopped off at the orphanage in Xela. Much like Hermano Pedro orphanage in Antigua this orphanage only takes in children with disabilities. All but a few of the 72 residence there are in wheelchairs. We try to go there every 3 or 4 months to repair and replace warn out and outgrown wheelchairs but this time it had been much longer than that. I am not sure what they are feeding their kids but many of them have really grown. I was amazed at the number of kids that had outgrown their wheelchairs. Both yesterday afternoon and all day today the boys and I did our best to re-size and repair as many wheelchairs as possible. I guess we made a small dent but there are still many chairs that have to be repaired or replaced. Both Jason and Marcos worked hard but they do manage to get off task a lot easier than the kids that helped me last week. I am discovering that teen age boys can teach you a lot when you are on the road with them for several days. How much patience you have, for instance. Just in case God is actually trying to teach me patience or some other lesson by having these 2 with me I think that I will say this little prayer before heading off to bed.

"God grant me the serenity to accept the people I cannot change, the courage to change the one I can, and the wisdom to know it's me."

Goodnight,
Yours in Christ: Dick


Wednesday, January 27, 2010

The boys and I had another busy day today. We left Xela at around 9 AM and arrived in Cimaltenango shortly before noon. Not bad considering the trip use to take nearly 5 hours. Something that has improved a lot over years here in Guatemala are the roads. Granted there are still a lot of places that can only be reached on foot or by 4 wheel drive but many of the major highways have seen significant improvement. Much of the highway between here and Xela is now 4 lane. Now all they have to do is convince the slower drivers that the left lain is the passing lane but that is hard to do considering the right lane often has people, dogs, horses or broken down trucks and cars on it.

Our stay in Chimaltenango was a short one. We only stopped long enough to get a bite to eat and then headed to Antigua. Last week there were a few people that did not get wheelchairs at the distribution that Hope Haven did near the coast, so today they came to Antigua to receive the wheelchairs that they had been promised. I had intended on dropping off Jason and Marcos here in Chimaltenango and going to Antigua by myself but the boys begged me to take them along with me.


This young lady fit nicely into the smallest size wheelchair that is made at Hope Haven's wheelchair factory in Antigua. She is 26 years old.

21 year old Sylvan was also delighted with this new wheelchair. This is the first wheelchair that he has ever owned.

Now I am back home and the house is quickly filling up with kids. Those pictured here sitting at the table are waiting for supper. These are the eager ones. There will be more kids at the table once I actually start cooking some food, but first I have to once again get out the first aid kit. Esbin's leg took a bit of a beating when he fell off from his bicycle.







Thursday, January 28, 2010

Would you believe another wheelchair distribution today? This distribution took place in Guatemala City. Chris and Donna, about a half dozen of the Bethel Ministries crew, 3 members of a rotary club from my home State of Washington, 2 of my boys and myself managed to give out around 45 wheelchairs in about 4 hours. That may not sound all that difficult but each wheelchair was carefully adjusted to fit whoever it was given to. In some cases that can be done in a matter of minutes. For some of the more severe patients it can take several hours.


After Chris had seated a young man who has muscular dystrophy into a manual wheelchair he called me over to see what I though about setting him up with a power wheelchair. His hands are to week for a conventional joystick but after running a few tests I decided that he was the perfect candidate for a chin controlled power wheelchair. When we explained how this worked to him and his mother they both lit up like Christmas trees. I told them that it could be a month or 2 before I found the time to put one together but knowing what it will mean to them, I will do my best to get it done within a week or 2.




We got home at around 3:30 and the kids pleaded with me to rent a soccer field. I finally gave in and even agreed to play goalie. I still believe that goalie is the Guatemalan word for target. All I can say is some of those kids can kick a lot faster than I can get out of the way. There is a 3 inch by 4 inch spot on my left arm that is not bright red and throbbing. The rest of my body is.

Goodnight,
Yours in Christ: Dick

Friday, January 29, 2010

This morning 2 of my boys and myself went to Hermano Pedro and visited with the kids. Most of them are now back from visiting their families during Christmas break. It was good to see them all again. At noon Dave, the boys and I headed out and Picked up Dave's wife Lou. I will let her take over from from here and tell you about the rest of our day.

Dick


The following was written by Lou.

At noon today Dave and Dick (as well as two of Dick’s boys) picked me up outside of Casa Jackson and we headed off to visit Alex, a young teen that Dave and I are sponsoring for Christian schooling. First things first though, Dick had to stop off at home and switch kids. We dropped off two and picked up four more. Only in Guatemala would that be called an even trade.
The ride was only about 40 minutes but it was straight up. I’m sure that had the road been any steeper or twisted, we would have dropped off.

(I'm glad that Lou has never been along to the places where I have to put the car in 4 wheel drive. Dick)

When we arrived we were greeted by one of the nicest families that I have ever met. They have recently moved to this new home with a beautiful piece of property. Mom keeps this place spotless. When we arrived both Mom and Sister were painting the outside walls while all of the teenage boys were playing... I wonder why that is.





(Actually as we rounded the corner I saw them quickly switch places, but failed to mention this to Lou. I guess in this case a picture is worth a thousand words. Dick)








Mom immediately stopped to make us juice from fresh oranges. That speaks for itself, sooo tasty! We learned a bit about Alex’s new school and then Dick took the time to give Mom a new water filtering system which will ensure that their water is safe to drink. If you are thinking that this is a little late as we have already had our drink, don’t worry. Our drink was made from purified water.

(At least that is what we told Lou so she would not panic. By the way do you notice who is doing all of the work on the new water filter.)
























Being true Guatemalans the family could not send us off without a gift of their own to us so they suggested we visit Grandmas place which was “really close”. A short drive, a blocked road, a 15 minute trek down a mountain path, through the forest, past some dogs and across a creek....sounds like “over the river and through the woods to Grandmother’s house we go”...we arrived at the home where Alex’s mom was born. Here Grandma and two aunts were earning a living by harvesting corn. As it turned out we had been brought here to receive our gift of fresh oranges. In fact we knocked them off the tree with a long bamboo stick. After filling a large bag, eating some of the oranges and receiving a tour of their place, which included the murky source of Grandma’s drinking water, we headed back. Mom decided we should take a short-cut back to save us some time. This simply meant using a less traveled path up the forested hillside. I was very proud of myself for keeping up with everyone until I realized that I was following a grandmother plus I’m pretty sure that they were being polite and had slowed down to keep pace with Dick.




(I thought that perhaps Lou would have thanked me for being a gracious host and walking slow enough that she could keep up, but will post this blog the way she wrote it trusting that the readers will know who is telling the truth. Dick)




What a gracious family. Once again I have to say that I had one of the best days of my life.

Your Sister in Christ:
Lou

I guess if I want to keep Dave and Lou as friends I better be truthful and admit that Lou's account of what really happened today could possibly be more accurate than mine. After all I am getting that age where I get up in the morning and say, "The face is familiar but I just can't think of my name." Thanks Lou for writing this, and my personal thanks to you and Dave for sponsoring several of our kids.


Saturday, January 30, 2010

Tonight I am doing my own writing. For some strange reason after yesterday I could not find anyone to volunteer to do my journaling for me.

Today 4 of my boys and I met up with Dave Black and 3 of his friends and the 9 of us took 8 of the kids from the orphanage out to lunch. (No, Lou is not boycotting going places that I go she simply had other commitment.) All of the kids that we took out today were ones that had gone to their homes for Christmas so it was good to see them all again. I just found out yesterday that Gaspar's brother Filipi died while he, Rifina and Gaspar were home during the Christmas Holidays. It seems that almost every year at least one of the residence dies while they are at home. Gaspar and Rifina worry me because they are slowing down a lot. When I think back to how they were a few years ago I can see a big difference. I guess that is one of the reasons why I enjoy taking a bunch of the orphanage kids out like we did today. We can never be sure weather or not we will be given another opportunity to make their lives just a little brighter.




Goodnight,
Yours in Christ: Dick

Journal, January 19 -23, 2010

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Yesterday I had the privilege of going to the opening ceremonies at the school that Cesar will now be attending. Cesar's father and I placed our hands on Cesar as the pastor from the school prayed over him and the other students that will be attending this small Christian school that has welcomed Cesar with open arms. What a contrast compared to the 2 public schools that turned Cesar away for no legitimate reason. After the prayer Cesar's dad looked at his son with tear filled eyes. I could see that his sons education meant a lot to him.





It was not until today that I realized just how much it meant to him. At 8 AM he and Cesar were at my gate. I had promised to take Cesar shopping for some school clothing and supplies. Even though it meant that he would once again have to pay another man to take his place at work Cesar's father had decided to take a few hours off from work to go along with us. Fernando came along as well because his English is a bit better than Cesa's and I was hoping that I could get more of an opportunity to visit with Cesar's dad. After getting the school supplies and fabric for Cesar's pants I asked Cesar's dad and the kids if they would like to stop of at Camperos for breakfast before going to the tailor shop. Naturally the boys jumped at the opportunity. Cesar's dad was a bit more hesitant but agreed. I have an idea that this was the first time that he has ever been in a restaurant. While we were eating Cesar's dad and I struck up a conversation, with the help of the 2 boys as interpreters. When I asked Cesar's father how he felt about Cesar going to this school I saw his eyes fill up with tears. He told me that he had been praying that Cesar would be able to continue his education but had never expected that he would be attending a Christian school. He then looked down and said. "I wish that I could have had the opportunity to go to school myself." He went on to explain that after the second grade he had to drop out of school so that he could work. He told me that his mother and father had both died when he was 8 months old and his 2 brothers who were scarcely school age ended up raising him. Since he was the youngest they tried to keep him in school while they worked but at age 8 he had to quit school and go to work with them so that the 3 of them could stay alive. Since Cesar's dad can neater read nor write he has never been able to get a job that pays very much. Even though he works 16 hours a day he still brings home less than $200 per month. No wonder he is so proud of his son.
Late this afternoon 5 of the boys and myself went and got haircuts at the barber shop where Cesar's brother Miguel works. Miguel is a great kid and a hard worker. We have a sponsor for him so that he can attend night school. He also spends 48 hours a week at the barber shop but for now is getting no pay because he is in training. While we were there Cesar and Miguel's father came by with a wheelbarrow loaded with fruit that he was trying to sell. When he saw us he stopped and loaded some tangerines into a bag and handed them to me. He then once again shook my hand and thanked me for helping get his to sons into school.



It is days like this that help me see more clearly that we are not wasting our time even if it is difficult to get some of the 64 kids that we are providing sponsors for into school. Thankfully many hands make the work load much lighter. Donna and Hanna, are spending countless hours communicating with sponsors and updating our ever growing spread sheet that helps us keep track of who is sponsoring what child and who is still in need of a sponsor. Carlos is also helping us keep track of sponsors and those that are being sponsored. Little did we know that when we started with a hand full of kids not that many years ago that what we then looked at as a little side line project would be so blessed by God and such a big part of this ministry. We pray that God continues to allow us to minister to more and more families in this way but do not want it to grow so fast that it is no longer personal. At this point I can truthfully say that either Chris and Donna or myself personally knows each child that we are sponsoring. Seems like personally knowing each family has one drawback though. It makes it harder to say no. This month we went out on a limb a little bit by putting some kids into school that we do not yet have sponsors for. Had these kids not been registered last week they would not have had an opportunity to attend school for at least another year. We are trusting God that somehow the $350 per month that is still needed for school sponsorship of unsponsored kids that we have enrolled in school will be supplied.

Goodnight,
Yours in Christ: Dick


Wednesday, January 20, 2010
My good friends Dave and Lou plan on being with 3 of my boys and myself for the next 3 days and Lou has graciously offered to do a few days of journaling for me.

(click on any picture to enlarge)

Today we headed out for a wheelchair distribution. We got an early start…the distribution isn’t until tomorrow but the sun is hotter where we are headed. We spent most of the day on the road, Dick, Dave, myself (Louanne…better known as Lou) and three awesome Guatemalan boys, Carlene, Fernando and Brian. Before we left Antigua we stopped in at Hope Haven where they make and assemble the wheelchairs. The work is done mostly by locals, many in wheelchairs themselves. We sorted through parts and threw extras into boxes so that we wouldn’t find ourselves running short when we got to the villages. When we left Carlene was a gentleman and let me have the window seat. I soon found out it was really the pillow seat (I was the pillow). We had a great time traveling with the boys and they seem to feel quite comfortable with us.

Mid afternoon we stopped in Santa Lucia for an ice cream and picked up a few snacks at a grocery store. We then went on to San Bernardino where we visited with Dona Maria and her daughter Deborah who is deaf and mute and is an amazing artist. She mixes painting and embroidery to make the most incredible pieces of art. Apparently Dona Maria is the lady, in this area, who finds most of the people in need of wheelchairs.





After that it was on to Matzatenango and the Bambu Hotel where we drowned the kids…or should I say they drowned us (and I have the red eyes to prove it). The hotel had a great pool with a water slide which we took advantage of before dinner and the boys did again after dinner.


That’s it for tonight.
Your sister in Christ: Lou




Thursday, January 21, 2010

Today I became the perfect wife. My husband is always bugging me about the Proverbs 31 wife. He says that I have it down pat with the exception of getting up in the morning and getting him breakfast. I tell him that the chapter reads that the wife is to get the servants organized to make the breakfast and if he supplies me with servants, I will gladly organize them. Well today he was greeted with smiling waiters and waitresses who provided him, and the rest of us, with a fantastic breakfast….finally allowing me to gain that “perfect” wife status. We left the hotel and headed back to San Antonio where the wheelchair distribution took place. What an amazing process that was. A group from the States was here to distribute P.E.T. chairs which seems to be a cross between a hand-pulled wooden cart and a hand-driven bicycle. Mark was the leader. He had asked Dick to come along to distribute about 13 Hope Haven chairs. That’s where Dave and I and the boys fit in. We are here to help Dick assemble and fit the chairs for the recipients. Well actually, I took pictures while the others worked. Two of the boys, Carlene and Fernando not only did the manual labor (that’s labor for you Americans) but they also do the translation. They really are amazing young men (about 11 - 14 years old). After the work was completed and the grateful locals had left, we were treated to a late lunch.





During the distribution we met a lady whose son already had a chair that needed alterations made to it so that her son could sit more comfortably. After everything was cleaned up, we headed over to her house so that Dick could make the adjustments. While he was working on the chair the mom led me to the back of her house where she had some half-grown chickens. Through Fernando’s translations, she asked me if I had room at my house for a chicken as she would like to give me one. When I explained (or rather Fernando explained) that just wouldn’t work, she took off into the back fields and came back with a bag of freshly picked tangerines. Wow, are they tasty! We still have some left for tomorrow. Following that we went to our hotel, did some more swimming, went for dinner and now here I am.

Have a good night.
Your sister in Christ: Lou


Friday, January 22, 2010

Written by Dick

Today we had another wheelchair distribution in Esquentla. It was not the easiest distribution that I have ever been at but it did result in lots of happy people receiving wheelchairs.




Some of the parents that came for wheelchairs for their children got a bit nervous when they realized that we had not taken along quite as many wheelchairs as there were children. 2 families actually tried to sneak out of the door with chairs that had not been given them but things calmed down a bit when we told the 3 families that we did not have the right wheelchairs for that they could bring their children to Antigua on Wednesday and we would give them the type of chairs that their children needed. Over all it was a good day though and the majority of the families went home praising God for answered prayers.



Saturday, January 23, 2010
Well I am back home and things are pretty much back to normal. Well as normal as a house full of kids can be. With in 15 minutes after arriving back home there were no less than a dozen kids in front of, on top of and inside of my house. At bed time I had narrowed the numbers down a bit but there are still enough kids camping out here that I will have to watch where I walk if I have to get up to use the rest room during the night.


While we were having supper the kids told me that I looked a bit tired, so I think that I will try and get some sleep myself, but first there are still a few band-aids that need to be put on wounds both visible and non, so I guess I will go and see how many hurts I can do something about. Giving enough love and attention sometimes seems a lot like giving out wheelchairs. No matter how much you give there still seems to be a few that are left wanting.


Goodnight,
Yours in Christ: Dick

Children have never been very good at listening to their elders,
but they have never failed to imitate them.

Journal, January 12-15, 2010

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

(Click on any photo to enlarge)

Many of the kids here in Guatemala will soon be returning back to school. I wish that I could say that they were all going back but there are a lot of things keeping a lot of them from going to school. Just last week I shared about how happy I was that we had found school sponsors for 12 year old Samuel and his younger brother and sister. Today I went up to the village where Samuel and his family live. I needed to bring some money there so that a neighbor lady could register her 2 children for school. While I was there I decided to check in with Samual's mother Roselia, just to make sure that she had registered her 3 children into school with the money that we had given her. Roselia told us that she had registered Ana and Alvaro into school but not Samuel. She then went on to explain that Samuel works in the corn fields every day and that he is the only bread winner of the family, And that the 90Q ($11.25) per week that he makes is the only income that the family has to live on. Mother's eyes welled up with tears as she told us that if 12 year old Samuel quit working the fields the family would starve to death so as much as she wanted him to receive an education there was no way that he could quit his job. Before you all run off looking for your check books I want to tell you that the family that is sponsoring Samuel has already stepped forward and offered to pay the equivalent of what Samuel would be making so that he can go to school. We have a lot of other kids like Samuel who still need sponsors though. On Friday I plan on going back to Samuel's village and present mother with this offer. Please pray that Samuel get to receive and education.

When I got home this evening I got a phone call from Alex who has just moved to San Martin. He told me that his mother when in to register him into the public school there but was turned away. The only explanation that she got was that they were not accepting any more students. Alex mom is not one to give up though and by night fall she had found a private Christian school that is willing to enroll Alex. Believe it or not after all is said and done this private school that has about one third as many kids in each class is no more expensive than the over crowded public school would have been.

Seems like when it rains it pours. Many of you undoubtedly remember me writing about Cesar and the battle we had trying to keep him in the public school in El Tejar after he missed a week of school when he was sick last year. After several days of camping out in front of the door to his principals office we were finally told by the principal that Cesar would be allowed back into school if we got a signed letter from his doctor stating that he was indeed sick. We got the letter that day but is was another 2 weeks before the principal would meet with us and then 2 more weeks before she informed us that the doctor had used the wrong kind of stationary to write his letter on. More time passed and we had to finally let the principal known that she had won. Cesar was out of school for the year. We did manage to have one more meeting with her. We wanted to be sure that we had everything in line for getting him back into school this year. That meeting was a short one. The principal informed us that since Cesar was no longer in school he was considered a dropout. She said that her school had a reputation to maintain so they did not accept dropouts. Cesar would never be allowed back into this school.

For the past few months Cesar's dad has been stopping in at the public school here in Chimaltenango asking when he can register Cesar. Up until today he has been given the same answer. "We are not registering students yet please come back in a few days." Today, just one day later, He got a new answer, "Sorry we are full, You should have registered him a long time ago." Please pray that we can some how get Cesar into a school some where. He is a sharp kid and he wants and deserves an education.

Goodnight,
Yours in Christ: Dick


Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Today it was Jason's turn to come along with me. Usually I take 2 or 3 kids at a time with me when I go some where but there are a number of reasons that today it was only Jason.

Reason #1 - Keeping Jason in line can at times be more difficult than a hand full of any of the other kids.

Reason #2 - Jason is not always appreciated by my other kids. I have though about talking to them about learning how to be more accepting of Jason even though he can be rather annoying at times but I figured that I better learn to practice what I preach before doing this.

Reason #3 - My friends Dave and Lonna Black were also going along with us and since we were going to take Ronny and his family school shopping I figured that we could likely end up with a dozen people in my car. (I only missed it by 3. How was I to know that Ronny's grandmother and 2 cousins were going shopping with us.

Nevertheless the 15 or us had a great time and the Camperos in Santa Lucia was tickled to see us.

Six of the kids in Ronny's family will be attending school this year. Ronny's oldest sister had talked about dropping out of school but has finally decided to stick with it. Ronny is having a bit of a rough time in school. He is doing OK grade wise but a few school bullies have been giving him a rough time. From the sound of things one of these bullies is his teacher. The lady that use to teach him was wonderful but is now teaching in another town. Ronny's parents want shim to continue his schooling but are worried about bandits along the trail that leads from their house to the school. They are afraid that they may target Ronny because he can not fight back and his wheelchair is worth money.

Well 4 of the kids are spending the night so I better claim a bed while there is one left.

Oh by the way. Jason was awesome today. He did a great job of interpreting for us and was a down right pleasure to be with. I guess all that time I spent on my knees praying that I would not try to strangle him before the day ended payed off.

Goodnight,
Yours in Christ: Dick



Thursday, January 14, 2010





Today Cesar and Bryan came along with me to Antigua. David had called me from Hope Haven a few days ago telling me that 4 kids would be coming in this morning for wheelchairs. We managed to seat all 4 of them into the wheelchairs that Hope Haven manufactures but a few of them were real challenges.








Last night while thinking about Cesar's situation with trying to find a school that would take him I started thinking about Alex's mom and the Christian school that she had found for Alex. I knew that it was a miracle that she found one because most private school have a waiting list that is several years long. Why not try though. After all does God have a limit on the amount of miracles that He can preform? I made a phone call to Mario, a friend of mine who's daughter attends a private school. It just so happens this school just moved to a larger location and is starting their new school year on Monday. Cesar will be one of 7 sixth graders attending this school. Quite a change from his old school that had nearly 50 kids in one class room.



Well about 10 kids are asking me if we are going to have supper tonight and chances are that another half dozen will show up before it is cooked so I better say, "Goodnight."

Yours in Christ: Dick


Friday, January 15, 2010





Great news! I just received word that Pastor Juan talked to Samuel's mom yesterday and Samuel will be starting school on Monday. Hopefully an education will mean that he will not have to spend the rest of his life working for $11 a week like he has been doing.









Since Pastor Juan went in and talked with Samuel's mom yesterday I decided to postpone my visit there until another day and went to Hermano Pedro instead. Miguel and Marcos accompanied me. After showing another group from Spring Arbor University around the orphanage the boys and I took 3 of the orphanage kids out to the park. The boys were a bit disappointed that we could not take Josey out of the malnutrition ward but there was a bit of a breeze so the doctor in charge told us that another day would be better. Josey is doing well though and is now up to 13 and a half pounds. Not much weight considering he is 3 years old but not bad considering the fact that he weighed exactly 5 pounds when he was admitted into the malnutrition ward less than a year ago.

^ Josey Now.............

Josey >
11 months ago.

After returning from the park the boys and I spent the rest of the afternoon repairing several of the orphanage wheelchairs.

Tonight I am fighting a cold so I sent all of the kids home at 8 PM. Surprisingly they were all pretty good about leaving. Then again it may have helped that I fed them before sending them out the door.

I think that I will actually take advantage of this rare quiet time and just relax so I am going to quit writing and just kick back for a while.

Goodnight,
Yours in Christ: Dick

Journal, January 5-11, 2010

(Click on any picture to enlarge)

I know that I just published a Journal a few days ago but you may have noticed that most of it was done by my friends Judy and Pat and had little to do with anything that took place here at home. That is why I thought I would bring you up to date on some of the things that have been going on here at home. Don't worry I will keep this one short.

On Tuesday Cesar, Marcos, were thrilled when the head nurse and the doctor that work up in the malnutrition ward gave us the green light on taking 3 of the kids from that ward out the park. Taking any of the kids that are in the malnutrition ward out of the orphanage is usually a no no but the staff there is starting to recognize how well my boys do with these kids and I think that they are starting to realize that happy kids do a lot better health wise than ones that are sad.

On Wednesday when 2 of my other boys and myself returned to the orphanage Jose headed straight for the gate thinking that he was going to get to go to the park with us again today. We immediately let him know that we had simply come to play with him but had no intentions of going to the park. He immediately let us and anyone else that was within crying distance know that if we were not intending to take him to the park he was not going to play with us. Jose may be small but his temper outweighs that of any of my kids.


On Thursday I took 10 of my kids swimming at a place near San Martin. This was sort of a going away party for Alex and Elder. Although Alex and his family have talked about moving to a small 1 room house that Alex's Grandfather has given them for quite some time now, but up tell now they have not moved out of their rented house here in Chimaltenango. Mom finally decided that the $88 per month rent that they are paying here in Chimaltenango was more than she could pay, so on Friday Alex, Gladys, Windy, Chino, Elder and their mom will be moving to this small one room house that is located in a rather remote area about an hour from here. Alex's dad left for the States over 6 years ago to find work. He keeps telling his family that he will soon be returning but I am beginning to wonder if he has perhaps started a new life in the States that does not include his family that is here in Guatemala.

On Friday we loaded up a large truck and my car with all of the belongings of Alex's family and headed off down the road. None of the kids want to move but if they move they will no longer have to pay rent so mom feels that it is something that they must do. I think that transition is going to be a rough one for the entire family. Please keep them in your prayers.

Friday was also my birthday but I did not plan on doing much in the way of celebrating, especially after spending most of the day loading and unloading furniture. When I got back home from helping Alex's family move my house slowly started filling up with kids though. Nearly each one showed up with some sort of small gift that they had either bought or made. None of the gifts could have cost over a dollar but believe you me I wouldn't sell any of them for a million. Calin even gave me a birthday cake. Let me tell you it is hard to cut up a cup cake into 12 peaces but no one complained about the size of the piece that they received. Fernando and Cesar were the last to arrive at my house but I could tell that some thing was bothering Fernando. Cesar presented me with a small gift but Fernando held back. His tears did not hold back though. He then explained that he and Cesar saved up to buy me presents and had taken their bikes to the mall and had each bought me some thing. However on their way home Fernando fell off from his Bicycle and the picture frame that he bought for me had broken. A few Kleenex and a tube of super glue later, Fernando and the picture frame were as good as new, well almost new. I convinced Fernando that not all picture frames have to have glass in them. When I asked the kids if they had eaten they said no but they did not feel that I should have to cook for them on my birthday. I then suggested that they take me out to Burger King for supper and got a few startled looks until I explained that I would foot the bill. I don't think that the Burger King staff is used to singing happy birthday to their customers but my kids some how talked them into it. I was even presented with a free hamburger and a hot fudge sundae. The manager apologized for not having birthday candles but I told him that the straws that were polkaing out of my sundae were quite original. In 63 years this has to be one of the best birthday parties that I have ever had.

When we got home some of the kids decided that they would supply the evening entertainment by putting on a talent show. Elder won top honers with his impersonation of Rambo.



I think that tomorrow I will take Elder shopping for underwear. His older brother's underwear does not seem to fit him all that well.









On Saturday I took the 7 kids that I did not have room in the car for on Thursday swimming. Unlike Thursday's group I took this group to Esquentla which is about 6000 feet lower and 20 degrees warmer than San Martin.

Deja-vu

I think that tomorrow I will take Elder shopping for a swimsuit. His older brother's swimsuit does not seem to fit him all that well.








On Sunday (today) we went to church and then I took the kids out for a relaxing hike.

Actually the kids
did most of the hiking.

I did most of the relaxing.

Goodnight,
Yours in Christ: Dick


























Monday, January 11, 2010

This morning Marcos and Bryon accompanied me to Hermano Pedro Orphanage. I had promised 2 groups of students from Spring Arbor University that I would take them through the orphanage, one group in the morning and another in the afternoon. Unlike many groups that visit the orphanage this group did not ask me ahead of time what they could bring the kids in the way of tangible gifts. As it turned out they ended up bringing what the kids needed the most. They brought their love, and the kids loved it.

Thanks gang!


"Happiness is not so much in having as sharing. We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give."


Goodnight,
Yours in Christ: Dick

Journal, January 8, 2010

Last week I received the following e-mail from a good friend of mine who runs a school up in Santa Maria Dejesus. Lately there have been an alarming number of kidnappings in this village so when I received the flowing e-mail I expected the worse.

Judy Kerschner wrote

AN URGENT PRAYER REQUEST!

I received notice that one of our New Life students has gone missing. Her name is Azucena Coroy and she is 10 years old. She is socially very developmentally delayed. This makes her more vulnerable. She has been missing since Wednesday Dec 30th. Her parents have involved the police, fire dept, everyone they can think of. They have even checked the morgue in Antigua. Please ask your Sunday school classes and church families to pray. Please pray for her protection and to return home safely.

WITH CHRIST'S LOVE
JUDY

A few days later I received this e-mail from Judy.


This is just a short note to say that Azucena has been found. It's a miracle of God! He had placed her in a safe situation.

This photo was used for a flier. The New Life staff had attached more than 100 (to anything & everything) in Santa Maria then Antigua when she was recognized.

As Paul Harvey would say "Stand by for the rest of the story".

Thank you for your prayers!

Judy


I could not wait to here the rest of the story but had no Idea that my friends Pat and Bill Guillermo whom I met with the following day had been a big part of it. I stood in aw as Pat shard with me "The rest of the story."

Here is the Godincidence that Pat shared.

WHAT BEING IN THE MIDDLE OF GOD'S WILL CAN ACCOMPLISH!

You know, sometimes what seems to be something less than it could or should be turns out to be exactly right. Like when you don't get to a task when you want to, or when other commitments keep you from doing other worthwhile stuff. So here is a true story that will forever keep me glad to serve a living God! How wee details and big problems can be part of such an amazing happening. We got to go to los Estados Unidos for a visit, had an outrageously wondermus time, and returned to Guatemala exhausted AND with lots of stuff our friends and family in the states gave us to give to some of our young friends. Stuff like underwear, socks, and blankets. Well, because we were so wiped out when we returned AND because we got back just in time to prepare for Christmas, we didn't get to Rosa's de Amor, a loving home run for kids who have been removed from dangerous living situations, until Dec. 31st.

Here's a foto of some of the kids with some of their new gifts. A GREAT BIG, HEARTFELT THANK YOU TO EACH OF YOU WHO DONATED ALL THE AMAZING ITEMS, BY THE WAY!! But wait; there's more. It gets even better...which is saying a LOT after we gave them such practical and necessary stuff. Hope you can see the little girl in the front row, 2nd from the left, with the white shirt. The one NOT smiling....this is Azucena..pronounced Ah-su-cena; beautiful, isn't it?). The police brought Azucena to Rosa at 3am this same day, the 31st, having found her in the streets nearby, all alone. She would or could only give her first name, that's all; not her age, where she lived, her parents' names, nothing. I tried talking with her, she was so sad; it was not possible to keep her engaged, and even the other kids couldn't get her to talk with them.

TAKE TWO....

So that was last Thursday. We didn't get to church Sunday, but we were told that they prayed for a missing child from Santa Maria de Jesus. This girl has special needs which leave her unable to communicate well, among other things. She went missing on Thursday, Dec. 31st. Sta. Maria de Jesus is about 7 miles south of Antigua, way, way up on the side of Volcano Agua. Rosa's de Amor is on the road to Guatemala City, at least 10 miles in the other direction from Antigua. We live in San Felipe de Jesus, oh, 2 miles or so in yet another direction from Antigua. I had english class this afternoon at my house, but only 2 of the 4 girls came. When it was time to walk the girls home, we discovered that there was a funeral was walking down our street....did I tell you we live on Callejon del cementario? And yes, they were walking..that's how they do funerals here in Guatemala, even if it means walking down one of the main highways! Anyway, as we were walking down the main street of our little town, here comes my friend Amy, and she has on rubber gloves, and she looks very intense in her work. And since she lives nowhere near us, and because of the gloves, really, this is really why I asked, I asked what she was doing in our part o' town. She and a friend were hanging posters for the missing little girl from Sta Maria De Jesus. So I ask to see one, and this is what I saw.

YEP, IT'S HER!!!

Azucena, the sad little girl at Rosa's. So I get to tell Amy I know where she is AND that she is OK!


Look at some of the IFs in this.

If we didn't have any gifts to give to Rosa, we probably wouldn't have been at her house on the 31st...gives giving a whole new meaning!!!

If we had gone to Rosa's any earlier than the 31st to give the gifts, which was what I wanted to do but didn't have the energy for, then we wouldn't have met Azucena.

If the funeral procession didn't go past our casa, or if the other girls had come to class, which would have meant we would have walked them home another way, we would have missed meeting Amy on the street.

If I wasn't so nosy, remember the gloves?, then I wouldn't have seen the missing poster.

If Amy and I weren't out just doing what we heard God ask us to do, simple stuff, walking girls home and hanging posters, then we wouldn't have been given the privilege of connecting lost and found!

GIVES BEING IN THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME A NEW LEVEL OF SIGNIFICANCE!

All this adds up to what our friend Dick Rutgers calls a Godincidence vs. coincidence, and we agree with him!

Now I know you remember as you read this that we are indeed in a 3rd world country, where the police and legal machines just don't function as they do in the US. There are no Amber alerts here. And thankfully, the police DID bring Azucena to Rosas. These police operate out of Chimaltenango, which is even farther away from Antigua than all the other places aforementioned...oh how I wish I could draw a map of all this for you :) And when her parents tried to file a missing report, being New Year's Eve, I guess, the police dated it 12/2010. Mom and dad even tried to file a report in Antigua, but the offices were moving, so they were told to come back on Monday. Azucena is 10 years old! Any guesses on how long it would have taken the wheels of justice to figure this one out?

So back to Amy and the gloves, which she got to take off as she wouldn't need to glue any more posters to poles, etc. She called the parents immediately, OK, as soon as she stopped crying, and arranged to meet them in Antigua. Then she drove them to Rosa's for a reunion. She will also help them work through the legal stuff (Remember the police brought her to Rosa's) so Azucena can go home hopefully tomorrow. It may never be known exactly how she got so far away from home, but they were able to determine that she wasn't abused in any way on her dangerous journey. And out of this, the special needs school is going to be working on getting ID bracelets for many of their students.

I like this job!

Pat Guillermo


Thanks Pat and Judy for making this week's journal a breeze for me, and thank you Jesus for watching over this precious little girl.

Here is something to think about.

"The first question which the priest and the Levite asked was: 'If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?' But ... the good Samaritan reversed the question: 'If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?'"

Goodnight,
Yours in Christ: Dick

Journal, January 2-4 , 2010

Saturday, January 2, 2010

Today was another good one. This morning four of my older boys and myself loaded up my car with shoes, back packs, and medicine and headed up towards Tecpan. Those of you who have been keeping up with my journals possibly remember reading about the widow and her five children that Pastor Juan, his family, some of my boys and I went up and visited last week. I mentioned that we were able to tell them that we would be building them a house in a month or two. Those of you who read my journals also know that I try not to ask for money I don't even have a magic red button that you can push to donate money to this ministry. Fact is if a person wants to help sponsor a child's schooling, medical expenses or anything else he or she has to e-mail me to find out how to do so. However last week I mentioned that none of the three children that were school age were going to school because their mother simply could not afford to send them. Guess what. Today when the boys and I visited with this family we were able to tell mom that her kids would be attending school this year. Within a day or two after publishing my journal four people offered to sponsor one child each from this family. Now I went to school back in the old days before they had the new math but if I am not mistaken that is one more sponsor than necessary. This is the first time that I know of that we have ever had to contact some one that wanted to sponsor a particular child and ask them if they would either consider sponsoring another child or consider letting us use their sponsorship money to help provide some groceries to this family on a monthly bases.

Do you want to here about another Godincidence?

The lady that is going to sponsor Samuel, the oldest of the five children did into decide to do so because she had read my journal but because she had been here several months ago and I had taken her and some other people up to the village where Samuel lives. Even though I did not remember meeting him at that time this lady had taken a picture of him and last week she just happened to send me that picture asking me if I knew who this boy was. In her e-mail she went on to say that God had laid it on her hart to put this boy into school if by any chance he did not already attend. Talk about God's timing. I had not known that she was looking for Samuel and she had not known that I had just written about him and his family a day earlier.

Today we were also able to visit other families who have children that are being sponsored, and supply them with shoes and back packs that have been donated to us. It was hard to tell other families in the area that we did not have shoes for their children but by the time we gave them out to the kids that are being sponsored there were only a few pare left. We gave the last few pare of shoes to whom ever they fit but there were still a lot of children left with out anything on there feet.




(Click on any picture to enlarge)


We got back home in time to attend Etiline's birthday party. Even though she has never seen her father and not seen her mother since she was a baby, she at least has an uncle and an aunt who take care of her. She received quite a few presents but I think that the highlight of her night was getting to come over to my house to visit with her mother over Skype. True seeing each other over a camera is not as good as being there in person but Etiline, Fernando, and their relatives had a good visit with Etiline and Fernando's mom.

Well it is getting late so I think that I will say, "Goodnight".

Yours in Christ: Dick


Sunday, January 3, 2009

Some may call it a bribe but I call it an incentive. No matter what you want to call it I am going to keep doing it because it worked. Telling my boy that I would put 2 Q (25 cents) into a kitty for each one of them that took notes on what Pastor Mike preached about this morning and later using the money to rent a soccer field seemed to work wonders. Never before have I seen a more attentive and well behaved group of teens sit through an entire church service. Actually Pastor Mike had already printed the notes in the bulletin but had left out a few words here and there that needed to be filled in. I am not sure that he had my boys in mind when he did this but after seeing how well they listened to the sermon I would not be to suppressed if next week he offered some of the older members of the church a cash incentive for filling in the blanks in the bulletin.


After church the boys and I hiked up to the cross that overlooks Antigua. I figured that if I tired them out enough they would perhaps be willing to put the soccer game on hold for a day or 2. Silly me, all it did is built up enough of an appetite that I had to feed them lunch before we went and played soccer. I actually played for the entire game but must admit that I felt more like a target than a goalie.

More food
this evening,




....and now it
......is bed time.

Goodnight,
Yours in Christ: Dick



Monday, January 4, 2009

I recently ran across the following statement.

"There are people in the world so hungry that
God cannot appear to them except in the form of bread."

That may be an exaggeration but I know what God says in the Bible about simply patting some one that is going hungry on the back and telling them that you will pray for them and then doing nothing about their physical situation.

James 2:15-17 tells us,

¹⁵Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. ¹⁶If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? ¹⁷In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.






Today Chris and I spent the day down near the coast. No it was not a day spent lying on the beach. Fact is much of our time was spent in courthouses and lawyer's offices. The end result was more satisfying than a day at the beach though. In about 4 weeks we will be having a teem of men come in to help us build a new house on the parcel of land that we purchased today. No longer will Rosa and her children have to call the ramshackle shack that they have been living in their home. As an added blessing for the first time in their lives they will have electricity, running water, a stove to cook on, and instead of 2 beds for 7 people each one will have their own bed to sleep in.

Are we going to witness to this family while we are building the house? You bet we are! And I would not doubt that as we are sharing the love of Christ with them that God will even give us the opportunity to use words.

Goodnight,
Yours in Christ: Dick

Journal, Janurary 1, 2009

I am frequently asked what I would do if I were held up at gun point here in Guatemala. Knowing that it was likely to happen to me some day I have done a lot of praying about it. I know that statistics here in Guatemala show that you are less likely to get shot if you hand over everything that the robber or robbers ask for, but they also show that even though this improves your chances of survival it is no guarantee that you will walk away in one peace. Now before any of you that are considering coming here cancel your plans and put your tickets up for bid on e-bay let me remind you that I spend a good deal of time in the back country and this is where most of these robberies and ambushes take place. Never the less even the best parts of Guatemala are far from being Disney World so if you are not prayed up and are simply thinking of coming here for a holiday there are safer places to be. I may also remind you that I have been here for 10 years now and although I have run into a few tense situations this is the first time that I have rounded a corner on a dirt road and been greeted by 3 masked men with guns. Anyway in praying abut what to do if, and in all likelihood, when that situation happened God seemed to tell me that He would give me the wisdom to know what to do when it did happen. As I sit here looking back on Tuesday's experience I realize that there was not much wisdom involved on my part. It all happened so fast that I really never had time to think about anything. I think that my approaching car startled the robbers as much as they startled me. At any rate they jumped out of the way and simply stood there looking at me as I drove by. As I looked back through my rear view mirror I saw them step back out on to the road but none of them shot at me or even aimed their guns at me. They just stood there watching me drive off down the road. I guess that I can thank the Lord that I did not have to think about what to do. I think that He had it all figured out and that it was a good thing that I did not try to use my wisdom in trying to handle what could have been a bad situation.

Sorry I didn't get any pictures of the bandits because some Guatemalans
don't like to have their pictures taken while they are working.

2 Corinthians 12:9

But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.

Was my trip to Ronny's house worth it? You bet it was. I had promised Ronny who's physical condition prevented him from attending this year's cam that he and his little Brother Arlindo could spend a few days at my house and they have been looking forward to that for over a month now. Ronny has muscular dystrophy and it is doubtful that he will have many more opportunities to do something like this. For 2 days Ronny and Arlindo, have been having the time of their lives. Ronny is getting so week that he can scarcely sit up in his wheelchair any more and every hour or 2 someone has to get up and reposition him when he is sleeping but my kids have been helping out with this, with feeding and even toileting him so I am actually not having to do all of the work. I know that I do a lot of bragging about the kids that hang out at my place but it is hard not to brag when they are so incredible. It never ceases to amaze me how kids like Esben who's own mother will have nothing to do with him can show so much love and compassion to some one like Ronny.It is now Thursday and we just brought Ronny and Arlindo back to their home. I took a different road this time. On the way home I stopped off and visited another family. They asked me why I was taking this way home. "Didn't I know that there were sometimes thieves on this road?" I guess I could stay locked up in my house. I am sure that nothing bad ever happens to people who stay at home.

I do covet your prayers as I continue to serve here in Guatemala, but please don't send letters telling me to be careful. I have already made a new year's resolution to be more careful, careful that I continue to be exactly where I know God wants me to be.

1 Peter 4:19

So then, those who suffer according to God's will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.

Goodnight and Happy New Year,
Yours in Christ: Dick