Monday, November 10, 2008

His grace is sufficient!

Well, all five of our families who traveled to Antigua will be rescheduled for surgeries in 10 days. Apparently when they arrived, there were so many children there who came for cleft lip/palate surgeries that they could not care for them all. So Duane will go into Quiche this morning to meet the family from San Pedro (in the Zona Reina) and fly them home. The rest will travel home by bus. It is disappointing but definitely a "Guatemalan moment" and an example of however well planned something may be, it is always subject to change - even in the last moment.

Last Thursday,we had an unexpected visit from the Social Worker - and her 2 fully armed body guards. It is a little disconcerting to serve lemonade to men dressed in military garb carrying M-16 machine guns! But this was a moment that we have been waiting for for some time now. It is an indication that finally, work is being done toward Abi's adoption. She charmed the social worker - and the guards -by giving them all hugs and saying "It's nice to know you!" and then going outside to bring in her 'popcorn popper' and make as much noise as possible. Please pray with us that her paperwork will finally be completed.

Duane made 2 emergency flights out to the Zona Reina last week - both for the same woman who needed a C-section. Unfortunately her baby died somewhere in the midst of that - we are not sure what happened. His second trip was to return her to the hospital with a very severe infection.

On Friday, David saw the surgeon who repaired his finger. They removed his dressings and he has a complete finger and will soon have a fingernail as well! God is so good to us! Thanks for all of your prayers.

This weekend in clinic was especially busy - probably because we didn't work last weekend due to the Day of the Dead celebrations. We saw about 75 people here in Canilla - most of them pregnant women. However, one very emaciated young man named Mariano came in saying he was loosing weight and could not eat. He tested positive for HIV. He lives alone in a village called Cruz Chich - a Mayan village where a lot of guerrilla hid during the war. It has been my experience that there is very little help here for those with AIDs. None of the medications available in the US are available here. So we had nothing to offer him medically - but we spoke with him about a God who offers eternal life to those who accept his gift of salvation through Jesus Christ. He knew nothing about this God but allowed us to pray for him and said that he would return in a week. Please remember him in prayer.

Yesterday we were greeted by over 100 people waiting to be seen. Armando (our translator in Chiminisijuan) was waiting as well and asked us to visit a gentleman in his home. He was too weak to walk and they had carried him down from his village the day before. I found him in bed, very thin and weak but without anything physically obvious. He did not look any of us in the eye but listened to every word that Armando and his son were speaking (in Quiche) about Jesus. When we asked him if we could pray for him, he said "please" and as we prayed, I saw his eyes fill with tears. It is very unusual to see any of the Mayan people cry, but to see a older Mayan man with tears was amazing and an indication to me that God was touching him. Armando told me as we left that he was a good friend of his father's - who was a brujo (a witchdoctor). Please pray for this gentleman as well. The rest of the day was filled with a seemingly endless line of sick children and pregnant women.

I have to admit that I yesterday morning, after a sleepless night, I did not feel that I had to strength to face what I knew would be waiting for us in San Andres. As I got ready in the morning, I just felt like crying but I didn't say anything. We always begin our clinic days with prayer and Katie prayed 2 Corinthians 12:9, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." How perfectly He meets our needs! Sometime in the early afternoon when we always begin to feel hungry and ready for the break that we never take, I realized that I no longer felt tired...and that His grace is always sufficient!

2 comments:

  1. We are glad to hear of what the Lord is doing in your family and through you service. We share your discouragement about the cleft palate children and not being able to be taken care. God obviously have another plan so we will wait to see what He does.
    Blessings,
    Russ, Bethany, Tye and #2

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  2. Boy do we miss you guys. Not really all the Guatemalan run-around stuff, but you guys. Many thanks to God for keeping an eye on David's finger.

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