Almost every evening, Duane and I try to take a walk with the girls. And every evening, we ask them the same question..."What color did God paint the sky for you tonight?" The sun setting over the mountains here is always beautiful but much of the time we are too busy to see it.

My prayer for you is that you will - amid all the busy-ness of the season - see the beauty in all of the gifts that God has given you. And most importantly that you will see the greatest gift that He has given...Jesus

In the ten years that we have been here, we have celebrated Christmas only once in the US. Because we live where we do, among the indigenous poor who do not really celebrate our biggest holiday, we have carved out our own traditions to celebrate the birth of our Savior. Finding a tree is quite the process...there are lots of pine trees here but to find one small enough to fit into our house and to find the owner of the property where that tree is growing to ask him for permission to cut one of his trees is always challenging. But we have a beautiful tree this year with all of our homemade ornaments. The little girls are having so much fun anticipating "Baby Jesus' birthday party". All of our children will be here this year except for Ryan, Katie and little Jacob. Katie is getting too close to the arrival date of their new little baby boy to travel this year. We will miss them terribly! Maybe next year....


Amid all of the Christmas anticipation in our home, we continue to work in clinics and on the corn project. Yesterday we did a clinic out in San Pedro (in the Zona Reina). It was closed in early in the morning so we waited until the clouds blew away enough for us to land and saw the 70-80 people that were waiting for us. Duane flew one woman into the hospital who was full term and had a very low placenta. She will be better off delivering in the hospital and amazingly, her family was all in agreement. It is so much better to have those ladies in a place where they, hopefully, can care for those complicated births. The day before yesterday (on our "Sabbath" day) we recieved a call from a village out in that same area. They were frantic with a woman in labor whose baby was "atravesado" (sideways). Duane and I flew out quickly with the ultrasound to find a woman in active labor with the umbilical cord hanging between her legs. Oh, how I wished that Heidi were here!! We hurried her off to the hospital in Quiche where we have heard that she is fine and her baby is alive - although in the ICU.

In other years we have had a small Christmas party for the children up in Chiminisijuan. This year we chose to use the money that we normally spend for apples and grapes (traditional Christmas food here) on food for the 60 widows that we are helping every 15 days. This along with the milk program that has almost tripled, and the families that we are helping with corn each month, is stretching out finances and our time to the max. We spend many hours each week bagging milk, beans, rice, sugar and oatmeal to give out in the weekly clinics. Craig, Tomas, Juan and Mario have spent hours walking in villages looking for families that we have seen in the clinics to assess their need. And Katie and Craig have spent so many hours organizing and getting corn out to areas of need. This week we ran out of milk with two days of clinic left in the week. We cannot really buy it locally so we prayed over the small supply that we had left, that God would multiply it as He did the loaves and fish. Amazingly, not one child left without his two week supply of milk...and we had absolutely not a drop left!! These are days when our faith is being stretched every single day! But we serve a faithful God who always supplies for our need!

Here are a few of the families that we (through the generous giving of people like you) are helping...

Ooops!

It was just brought to our attention that the Corn Blog link on our website here was not working. Please note that it is now in proper working order, and all you need to do is click on the picture to be brought to the latest news about the corn blog. Sorry about that!!

Thanksgiving....my very favorite holiday. What a great idea - a day set apart to give thanks to God for all the great gifts He has given us. Ours will be small this year. Rachel, Katie and Aaron left this morning to spend the holidays with Katie's family and Rachel will be with Hannah in Houston. Our friend Cali will join us tomorrow - and hopefully help me with the meal as all of the women have abandoned me!!

Late November and early December here in our area are the times of fiesta - first in San Andres and then here in Canilla. They are fiestas dedicated to the patron saints of each village and coincide with the end of the harvest. It is a week long celebration marked by drunkeness and sin of all kind. This year in San Andres, the witchdoctors are especially angry with the "evangelicos" who are cutting into their activities, as many who have become Christians will not participate. The municipal government typically pays a good portion toward the festivities but this year, the mayor (who is a Christian) has cut way back on contributions. The blame for the decrease is also blamed on the evangelicos - particularly the pastors. One of our good friends in San Andres came over the other night asking for prayer as his life, as well as those of his children have been threatened. His wife told us tearfully that their children have all moved out of their rooms to the backside of the house because they are afraid and cannot sleep at night. These are very real fears as with each fiesta there are often several dead at the end of the week. All of the men who have helped us on the corn project, are too afraid to go out this week, so we will resume next week. Please pray for the believers in San Andres; pray for their protection, pray that they will not be immobilized by fear; pray that the God of peace will invade their hearts and minds.

Home again...

Many months ago, the Lord began to lead me, in my quiet times with Him, to study our Hebrew roots. Jesus was a Jewish man, born of Jewish parents, in a Jewish culture. I began to understand that my Western church upbringing left me without a context to understand this man who I call my Savior. At the same time, I began to understand that Guatemala has a very different relationship with Israel than the US has. And I began to wonder how the two things were connected. My children, and my husband, thought I was a little crazy - as always. Then at the beginning of the year, out of the clear blue sky, we were offered a trip to Israel. We at first said no - that we were too busy here and we could not leave for 10 days. But as we prayed about it, we realized that this was a gift that God was offering us - and who wants to turn away a gift that the Lord hands to you?!


So, two weeks ago, Duane and I left Canilla and spent a couple of days helping Ryan (our son who lives in the US) to prepare a load of equipment which will be driven to Guatemala in December. It is mostly equipment that will help us more effectively manage the corn project - a grain bin, etc.

From Marine, we left with a group from Destiny Church and a church from Oklahoma (House of David) to arrive in Israel. Because we knew that this was a trip that the Lord had orchestrated, we felt a burden to be attentive to all that He wanted us to hear and understand. And while I am still processing much of our amazing experience there, I know a few things...

- I understand that we as gentile believers and as citizens of the United States, have a responsibility to stand with Israel. As we traveled into Sderot, a town bordering the Gaza strip, we began to understand in a very small part what the people are enduring there as the Palestinians have sent missiles into their town. We worked to help a dental clinic prepare to open, with the instructions that if the sirens sounded, that we had just a few seconds to get into the bomb shelter. We understood that we had little to worry about as the missiles were usually launched at 8 in the morning or around 3 in the afternoon because those were the times when the children would be going to or leaving school. We heard stories from people who had been in the Cast Lead conflict just a few months ago, men who were immobilized because the Palestinians would shoot at them from between the legs of old women or children. So we "pray for the peace of Jerusalem" (Psalm 122:6), remembering the promise of God to Abraham as he left his home to enter the land promised to him, that "I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse." (Genesis 12:3).


- I have a new and very small revelation of the unity that Christ brings (Ephesians 2:11-22) - that "His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two..." (Jew and gentile). I understand that we as believers are eager to claim for ourselves all of the promises given to the children of Abraham, but not quite as eager to take up the responsibility that we have as brothers to a people that we do not quite understand.

It is a mystery to us that in a time when our hearts are so broken by the people here in Guatemala that the Lord would choose to open our eyes to yet another area of need. The only thing that we know for sure is that there is great power in prayer. And so we will stand "in the gap" for not just this nation but for our Jewish brothers and sisters - wherever they may be.

So, we are home and trying to get back into our routine. It was an amazing trip and we are so very thankful for the opportunity that was given to us. Our family all worked together to keep things going here and did a great job! God is certainly very, very good.

Chuchitos

For the last couple of weeks I have been feeling much like the disciples must have felt when Jesus told them to feed the 4 thousand. Matthew 8 records that when Jesus said he wanted to feed everyone before they left, his disciples said, "But where in this remote place can anyone get enough bread to feed them?" I have said just about those exact words to the Lord a thousand times in the last couple of weeks.

We have decided to concentrate our corn project to those areas which have been hardest hit by the drought. The last two weeks have been spent sending Juan out to various villages, talking directly to people in their homes. In some villages all of the corn plants died before they could make ears. In others, the yield was much smaller than normal. And since most have just finished harvesting, they have small amounts at the moment. The biggest need will come in the next few weeks when that small supply runs out. We have begun to distribute corn on a small scale to those most in need at the moment but are preparing for a much bigger distribution in the next few months.



But aside from the corn project, the amount of "viveras" (bags of beans, rice, oatmeal, sugar, soap) that we distribute in the clinics has more than quadrupled in the last month. Children who are in our nutrition program are weighed every 2 weeks so that we can make sure they are thriving and we are finding that many are not. When I talk to parents about how the milk and protein drink are meant to supplement their diet, not to supply all that they need, I find that there is no other food in the home. Many families are eating only once or twice a day now to make the corn supply stretch and there is no money to buy other food. So they are eating only tortillas - sometimes with salt.

I could write stories all day long of families who are living in circumstances that are beyond my imagination but I will share just one with you. We always give numbers in the clinics so that we can have some semblance of order and yesterday we had over 80 people waiting. They give out numbers early (around 5am) and again around 9am for those who cannot get to town any earlier. So people wait all day - literally. One little family - mom with a 3 month old, dad with the 2 year old and another child of about 5 waited until 3pm to be seen. All the food that I brought in the morning was gone. Every time I opened the door, I would see this man standing closest to the door, with his toddler resting in his arms. He was not pushy as so many are, he just waited. It is uncommon for dads to come, so I noticed him right away. When they came in, he just told me about his child who was not eating and about his wife who did not have enough breast milk for the baby. When I asked, he told me about how poor his harvest was this year and all he had was already gone. The little boy began to whimper and the dad stood up to try to quiet him, and in that moment I realized that this little boy had not eaten all day. I stepped into the shoes of this father for one brief moment and I thought my heart would break as I thought about one of my own children going without food all day and returning to a home without food. So I walked out of the clinic to buy food for them. I bought staples and a bag of "chuchitos" (little corn and bean patties that are sold for less than a nickle). As I handed him the bag of chuchitos, a small, brief smile crossed his face and he gave one to his son who stopped crying and filled his mouth as quickly as he could. So we loaded them up with what we had, and told them to return in 2 weeks.

And so I am like the disciples, looking at this huge need and wondering, how are we going to do this? But at the same time trusting in a God who is so much bigger than the need and One whom we know is kind and compassionate and who sees the need of His children. And we trust that He will supply.

Duane and I took out a very secure insurance policy against the "empty nest" syndrome that most folks our age feel when we agreed to adopt Grace and Abi. But with David and Joseph in the US now for going on 6 weeks, and now with Craig gone as well, we are getting close. Our house is so quiet without the boys...well, as quiet as we can get with Abi around. They hope to be home within a week or so. They originally went home to help Katie and Ryan get their house and all the barns painted but then after much investigation on corn storage, it has become a hunt for grain bins. They have found 1 which a man whom we have never met, has generously donated for this project. The boys, with lots of help will dismantle it and get it loaded onto a truck that our friend Martin will drive down, hopefully within the next few weeks. We purchased and began distributing corn last weekend to folks within our nutrition program.

Little Irma and her mom (see last week's entry) came on Sunday. Irma was better but still very listless. Her sister was very sick this week with pneumonia as well and after we weighed her (22 pounds at age 4), she just laid down on the floor in the middle of the clinic and went to sleep. The beginnings of our clinic days in San Andres are always so chaotic but we all just walked over her until we could gather around her on the floor and pray for her and her family. We sent them off with enough food to last the week and instruction for her husband to return this weekend so we can follow up on them. There were others as well. One woman insisted that she was fine carrying 50 pounds of corn along with 20 pounds of rice and beans and the milk that she comes for bi-monthly along with the baby on her back. She had an enormous smile to go with her enormous load as she walked out of the clinic.

We finally were able to speak with the mayor of San Andres this week...he is a very busy man and almost never in San Andres. He spoke of being overwhelmed with the need and that was obvious by the long line of people waiting outside of his door. In the US our mayors are typically surrounded by people who are delegated to take care of the needy so that he can take care of the business of running a city. Not here. Those who are hungry. those who are needy in whatever way come directly to the mayor. He told us of his Sundays with his family when he has a line of people waiting outside of his home with their needs. He has a list of over 4,000 women who are either widowed or abandoned. He told us of a prophetic word that was spoken over him by one of the local pastors who said that corn was coming, corn to feed the people. It was given to him over a month ago - even before we began to talk about it outside of our home. So we will work with both he and the mayor of Canilla and those pastors who have come for with an interest to help. Please pray that we have wisdom and that it is obvious to all that our help comes from the Lord...

"I lift up my eyes to the hills - where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth." Psalms 121:1-2

little Irma

Last evening, just as we returned from a long day in clinic in San Andres, Duane got a phone call from a pastor out in Mixcoloja. Mixcoloja is a tiny, mainly Mennonite community, out in the middle of nowhere at the complete opposite end of our valley. We have know Pastor Humberto and his family for many years but recently worked together with them to help Candalaria - the woman who had lost her home. By the way, she just had her baby, is living once again in her home, her husband is back and has rededicated his life to the Lord. God is certainly good!! Anyway, Pastor Huberto said a woman had come to them with her very sick baby, and they were hoping that we could help them. Mixcoloja, fortunately has a very rough little landing strip and by air is only 5 minutes from our house. It would take about 5 hours to get to them in car. So we packed up a few supplies and flew out to see them.

We were greeted by a small group of Mennonites with a little Indian woman and her two children sitting in the middle of them. Irma, a little over 2 years old was so sick with pneumonia. She was dehydrated and malnourished - weighing only 17 pounds. Her 4 year old sister was malnourished as well with a swollen face, hands and feet and an enormous belly. Maria, Irma's mom is 7 months pregnant. She held her baby out for me to examine and I thought my heart would break. She was so listless and pale. I told Maria that we needed to take Irma into the hospital but she shook her head and said that her husband would not let her...there was no money. They are buying enough corn each day to get through the day. There is no other food...no beans, no rice, not even salt to put on their tortillas. Their entire corn crop died in the field this year. So we gave her an antibiotic and some pedialyte and some food and then we prayed - entrusting her to a God who sees and knows the injustice that this family is suffering. As we prayed, all I could think of was Matthew 10:29 which says "Aren't two sparrows sold for next to nothing,,,and yet not one of them will fall to the ground without your Father's consent....so don't be afraid, you are worth more than many sparrows." I told Maria that Irma was like one of those little sparrows and that God had not forgotten them. Pray for this little sparrow...that God will heal her body and that this family will understand that He is a kind and merciful God who always cares for His children.

The Poor Among Us

Our house, for the last two weeks, has been full of phone calls, emails, and endless brainstorming about how we can get corn here to this valley for the least amount of money and as quickly as possible. We have been told that we need to move quickly because the corn that is available is being bought rapidly by speculators and companies in Mexico. These are things that the Ficker men (Craig included) are particulary good at.

We have thought and prayed long and hard about how to involve the community - especially the local church - in this project. We have asked for help from our good friends Oralia and Sebastian in San Andres. They are the directors of the orphanage there and have a feeding program as well which is being stretched to the breaking point. We will host pastors of the local churches to a lunch on Friday to enlist their help as well. Our thoughts right now are to ask for donations of rice, beans, oatmeal, atol and oil from the churches as well as their help in locating families who are at risk. It is a different way of thinking for most here who are used to receiving and not so much in giving. Pray with us that their hearts will be open to helping...that they will understand that giving is so much more blessed than receiving!

My prayer for many years has been to have a deeper understanding of the man Christ Jesus - this man who died for me; this man who is fully God - in whom I put all of my trust. I have come to realize something profound...that He was (and is - because He never changes) Jewish. And if I want to understand Him, I need to understand Him in His Jewishness. Now, I know very little about the Jewish faith and I do not desire to live under endless laws about how to wash my pots and pans but I do want to know what it is that moved Him; how did He think? So I have begun to study...and what I am finding has opened my eyes to so many things that I have never understood. For example, one of my favorite scriptures is John 12:1-3 where Mary, in deepest worship anoints Jesus' feet with costly perfume. I have meditated long on that and wished that I could have been Mary. But as I read the next few verses, I find Jesus saying, "you will always have the poor among you..." It has always confused me and because I now find myself living among the very poor, I want to understand why He said that. Couldn't He in all of His power, fix that? And then I read in Deuteronomy as Moses gives final instructions to the Israelites as they prepare to enter the Promised Land about the tithes that they are to give. My understanding of the tithe has always been 10% of our income to the church but now I see that it is so much more. God instructed the Jewish farmers to leave grain at the edge of their fields so that the poor could harvest it every season. They would leave 1/50th of their crop, as well as "leket"or the leaving of dropped stalks for the poor. In addition, Moses commanded that 10% of the crop every third and sixth year of the seven year cycle was to be given to the poor. Now that is a lot of rules and regulations, but the heart of the law behind all of that is that the poor are provided for; that although they are poor, they are not to be hungry; that it is our responsibility to provide for the poor. And in this agricultural culture, that is what we hope to express to the church - the body of believers here. Wouldn't it be great if we could somehow give these farmers a vision of how God designed provision for the poor? And even greater, that as we here begin to live by His rules, we would reap the benefit of His blessing - "All these blessings will come upon you and accompany you if you obey the LORD your God: You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country.The fruit of your womb will be blessed, and the crops of your land and the young of your livestock - the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks.Your basket and your kneading trough will be blessed.You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out." Deuteronomy 28:2-6. Would you pray that we will be able to express our hearts to these pastors as they gather here Friday? Would you pray that above all else, that the Name of the Lord will be honored in this project?

The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed...

I usually don't write anyone or pretty much talk with anyone on Sunday evenings. I'm usually too exhausted to think...much less talk. But tonight is different. I...we, are so burdened by what we are seeing in our community that I have to share it. Friday we went out to a remote village to do a mobile clinic. We have been there several times and it is a very isolated community of indigenous people with the normal needs of most communities in this area. This time however, we were stuck by the overwhelming need. Although we only saw about 60 people, almost all of the children were very sick or very malnourished or both. When we asked if there was enough food, most said no, some said that their harvest this year would be small.




Saturday, we had a pretty normal clinic day, adding only one new child to our already full feeding program. But later that evening, Cali, our friend from the Peace Corps who works in the city office came with news of the "red alert" in our area - signifying the urgent need for food. We spent much of the evening trying to figure out ways to help.




And today, I was overwhelmed with requests for food. Almost everyone we talked to said they were out of corn, some asked for corn, others asked for money, and almost all seemed resigned and without hope. These are people who live always on the edge of desperation...even in the best of times. One woman came asking for prayer for her husband who was threatening suicide. She is 8 months pregnant and told me that her husband said that if the baby was a girl, he would feed her poison as well...but if it is a boy, he will let him live. And so we prayed for Felipe, we prayed that God would open his eyes to see his value as a husband, as a father, as a child of God; that he would see the importance of his life, that he would understand and know his God and Father who longs to love him.

But somehow in the middle of circumstances that leave me overwhelmed and grieved beyond words, I know that God is still God, that He holds the universe in His hand. I know that He sees and is grieved even more than I am.


"You hear, O LORD, the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them, and you listen to their cry, defending the fatherless and the oppressed...Psalm 10:17,18

"Feed my sheep."

It is hot and dry...so much like April here at the height of the dry season. With September usually come the torrential rains. Not so this year. The corn is dried and much of it died before ears were formed. This will be a difficult year.

Here in this culture, corn is the main staple. Those who are prosperous have dried corn stacked neatly against the adobe wall in their bedroom. It is taken out as needed, ground into meal and made into tortillas. A healthy man can eat 10-12 tortillas with each meal. A woman recently told me that her family of seven will eat 10 pounds of corn in 3 days. A hundred pound bag of corn costs about $20 - often more than a week's wages IF a man is working. When we are trying to assess the level of need in the clinic, asking if they are buying their corn is a defining question. Growing corn is a loosing proposition. Because it is so important to their diet, corn is planted year after year in the same field with seed from the last year's poor harvest. Corn will not grow without fertilizer now and that costs nearly $30/bag. So each year people actually loose money by growing corn...not as much as they loose however if they have to buy it.

In the last month, the price of a bag of corn has risen Q60 ($7.50). We have added 7-8 children to our nutrition program each week for the last 2 months. Last week we added three infants less than 3 months of age. All of their moms had very little milk because they were not eating. When mom is not eating, neither are the other children in the house. So in addition to formula for the babies, we are giving large bags of beans, rice, oatmeal, and sugar to entire families. I am concerned - this is only the beginning of a year that may prove very difficult for many families. Today, President Colom declared Guatemala in a state of emergency due to the large number of chronically malnourished. Sadly, we have the highest rate of malnutrition in Central America and fourth highest in the world. And rural areas like ours are the hardest hit.

Duane and the boys are looking into getting a container of corn shipped down from Illinois. We are not sure how it will work with government regulations and such, but we are doing some investigation. We rest in the fact that God is our provision, that He is faithful and that He is a just God. We trust that He will open doors and that He will give us creative ideas to provide all that we need to serve these people whom we have grown to love so much.

Jesus asked him the third time, "Do you love me?" He said, "Lord, you know all things: you know that I love you." Jesus said, "Feed my sheep."

I have not posted for a while. We have had lots happening...most of it good, some of it sad. Two weeks ago we hosted a group of young people from Washington for a week. They were a great group. We went out to several different schools and we taught about creation and how important each one is in the plan of our Creator. We still have the freedom here to talk about God without intimidation. The teachers were all grateful for the encouragement that the team brought and each one said that they would continue to reinforce what we taught the children. My favorite school was in a village called Pajopop. It was a very long hard walk down to the school after a 45 minute drive. The teachers work with nothing...no books, very few pencils, no crayons. Most of the teaching is done by oral repetition with very little room for creativity. And because all of the children enter 1st grade not knowing any Spanish, there is a huge language barrier which stands in the way of much learning - outside of learning Spanish - which is important. As we began our long walk up the hill from the school, Duane called me...a little frantically...saying that the social worker, child psychologist, and the pediatrician working on Abi's adoption would be arriving within the hour. We raced up the hill and arrived before they did. The visit went well and was another step closer to finalization of Abi's adoption.



Typically on the last day of a team's visit here we take them to do a little shopping in either Panajachel or Antigua. As we finished our day in Pana, we received a call from the retirement center where my aunt and uncle have lived for the last several years. They have been like grandparents to our family and their health has been deteriorating for the last year. My Aunt Verna had been admitted into the ICU. We made arrangements for me to leave the next day with the team. Unfortunately Aunt Verna died Sunday morning but we have the confidence that she is with Jesus. She died quietly, without suffering and I am grateful to have had the last days of her life at her bedside. I also got to spend some time with Ryan, Katie and Jacob, as well as my two sisters - a tremendous blessing and joy for me.



While I was gone, Katie and Craig kept the clinics going and even made a trip out to San Pedro with Heidi and Chris - another doctor who came to help. They were overwhelmed with patients and the heat but were able to make it back by evening as Heidi and Chris had early morning flights out of Guatemala. It was a tremendous amount of work for them to do and I am so grateful that they were willing to do it!



I returned from the US Tuesday afternoon, completely exhausted. Fortunately, Wednesday continues to be our day of rest...so that is exactly what we did. In the afternoon we flew out to a village called Mixcoloja to visit with a woman whom we have helped in the clinics for several years. She is 8 months pregnant, has 6 other children and a husband who is unfaithful and regularly beats her. He recently lost their home and they have been living under a piece of plastic in the middle of nowhere, eating some days, and some days they have no food. We wanted to see her situation first hand and find out in what way we could help her. In the end we decided that we will pay the debt owed on her house and put the title in her hands and not those of her husband. We left her with food, prayer and the promise to work toward a solution to her situation. She sobbed great sobs as we prayed for her, and her children surrounded her in an effort to console her. She broke our hearts. Pray for her when you can...her name is Candalaria. She is a Christian but has been put in "discipline" (she is not allowed to go to church) by her pastor until she apologizes to the woman her husband is living with. Apparently Candalaria hit her...go figure.



And today, our friend Victor (who runs the drug and alcohol rehab center about 2 hours from here) invited us to a service at his center. We had a great time of worship, testimonies from the men, and prayer followed by a lunch which Victor had very thoughtfully prepared for us "gringos." He is doing an amazing job of loving and caring for men who are rejected by everyone else. Many days he collects them up out of the street in drunken stupors, brings them back to the home, detoxifies them and shares Jesus with them. What better way to learn of His love.

"I tell you that whenever you did these things for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did it for me!"Matthew 25:40

A week has passed since I wrote about little Domingo from Chiminisijuan. He is the 3 year old, severely malnourished child whose mom and two siblings accepted the Lord last week. He was there waiting yesterday for clinic with his mom. He at least cried when we weighed him and his mom says that he is beginning to eat (he was eating a bag of chips as they waited). When I asked how her husband was, she told me that he had come - so she called him in. He was sober and said that he had stopped drinking and given his life to Jesus this week. We rejoiced with them and then prayed for them - that God would give him the strength to resist when the temptation comes to drink again. Mom was beaming. God is so good!!





Monday afternoon we had a gentleman come into the clinic who was having difficulty breathing. We put an oximeter on to see what his oxygen level was and found that it was 60 (normal is 90 - 100 - 60 is an indication that he would not live long - hours maybe). We gave him some oxygen and talked with them only to find out that a doctor in Quiche told them a year ago that he had a spot on his lung and sent him home to die. He did not want to go to the hospital so we talked with him about Jesus. He was a Christian although his family all walked out the door when I began to talk with him about the Lord. He finally looked at me and said, "I am going to die, aren't I?" I said yes, that I thought he probably would not live very long but we talked about heaven and we prayed together. He cried and said he would miss his children so much. We sent him home with a small oxygen tank to use until his family could all get there. This afternoon, his family came to return the oxygen tank and to thank us for our prayers. It seems that he began to perk up when he got home and is no longer having any difficulty breathing. They understood that it could only have been the power of God that has given this gentleman life instead of death. I don't know how long he will live - he is elderly - but until he leaves this earth, I believe he will be testifying about the power and love of our God!





And a funny story... We live next door to a very sweet elderly couple. I recently went over to visit with Dona Reyna. Her cat began rubbing up against my legs so I asked her if he caught rats for her as I know firsthand that they have a large population living with them. We treated their son for an infected rat bite several years ago. She replied that he was a horrible mouser and that he would only eat them when she caught them and fried them in a little oil! It is at times like this that I realize our cultural differences are very great!



Our friend Adrienne is here for the month. She comes in and immediately steps in to help and keeps us in line. She is great and we are grateful that she continues to come each year. This will be a busy month here with lots of visitors and a team of young people from Washington. We are thankful for each one who comes to help and serve alongside of us!

waiting...

I have not written for a few weeks - there are never enough hours in the day. It seems that we have more work and less help these days. Honestly, I have been a little discouraged and have been asking the Lord if we are doing what He desires or if we have missed Him somehow. I don't know why...He is always so faithful to provide all that we need. Rachel was cleaning out a drawer earlier in the week and found the first letter that I wrote before we had even left the US, 11 years ago. In it we were explaining all that the Lord had put on our hearts to do here in Guatemala, and I wrote, "There are also groups of completely unreached indians over the mountain range north of the orphanage. Our dream is to be able to take the Gospel to this area, 'to prepare the way in the wilderness, the way of the Lord; to make straight and smooth in the desert the highway of our God.' (Isaiah 40:3) As we all re-read it, it was clear that this is the right direction. So we wait on Him - trusting that He will bring the right people alongside of us to help - in His time. My friend Bonnie Wallace used to say, that waiting on the Lord was just that - like a waiter in a restaurant - serving.

Yesterday in Chiminisijuan in our line of children receiving milk from the nutrition program (we weigh each baby every 2 weeks) was a little boy whom I had never seen. His mom handed me her newborn first who was fat and healthy and then she laid her 19 month-old on the scale. He was severely malnourished with edematous hands and feet and the skin hanging off of the rest of him. He just laid on the scale without a fight - lethargic from a lack of food. Upon questioning, his mom told me that he would eat beans when they had them but mostly they just gave him coffee. Giving coffee to very young children is cultural - it is weak, warm and full of sugar - I often see it in baby bottles. She had the saddest eyes as she told me that she has 7 children and a husband who is drunk all the time. They are buying their corn which is an indication that they don't have enough to eat - all of their money goes to buy corn to make tortillas - which is their most important food. Armando began to talk with her about the Lord, asking her if she went to church. She said that she had in the past but her always drunk husband was an embarrassment to her. Armando included her two older children in the conversation and when he asked them if they wanted to accept the Lord again, the little boy said, "Do it mom, do it!" So all of them together repeated the prayer of salvation. The little boy, Pedro, said that he could read, so we gave them a Bible which he proudly tucked under his arm, with instructions to start in the book of John and read to his family each day.

I have struggled to find a way to make the God that I know...a God who is so faithful and kind to me - relevant to people who never have a moment of joy, who watch their children go to bed hungry, who are beaten down by their desperate struggle to stay alive. How do I talk to them about a God who loves them and cares for them when their circumstances shout otherwise? These are questions that I have asked the Lord since our arrival here and while to this day, my understanding is very small, I am beginning to understand that He is our judge. Not a judge who is ready to condemn (although we may eventually see that side of him), but a judge who is our advocate; a judge who sees and will bring justice where there is injustice. So we talk to people about this characteristic of our God; about how He is watching and waiting to bring justice to those who put their trust in Him. We talk with them about the judgment that awaits those who hurt his children, and we talk with them about the hell that awaits those who mistreat his chosen ones. We talk with them about the need to pray for those who hurt them, knowing that this will bring freedom from the bitterness that grows out of unforgiveness. And we encourage them that even though their outward circumstances may not - and probably won't immediately change, that they become part of a community who will stand with them in prayer - that they are no longer alone. So would you pray for this family? Would you pray that Fermanina's husband would be freed from the bondage of alcoholism and that his eyes would be opened to the salvation that Jesus brings? Would you pray that he would begin to be the father and husband that this family needs? And would you pray that little Domingo would live and not die?

"Strengthen the feeble hands,

steady to knees that give way

say to those with fearful hearts,

"Be strong, do not fear;

your God will come,

he will come with vengeance;

with divine retribution

he will come to save you." Isaiah 35:3-4

Juana

There are times when I think that we are seeing changes, that we are making progress, that we are able to shed a little light in the darkness. And then there are others times when I am knocked off balance by the depth of ignorance and darkness that still exists here. Yesterday was one of those days. Remember the young woman in Unilla (in the Zona Reina) that I wrote about 2 weeks ago? Juana, 5 months pregnant, had been sick for many weeks. Her husband had tried to care for her by taking her to the witchdoctors, following their instruction carefully until he finally had her walk, in her very weakened state, in the middle of the night, to their home village, where we are told she died. In her last hours, we are told, they tried to call us to take her to medical help but it was too late. I am grieved because she did not have to die, she had options...not that I have delusions about "our abilities". But a hand, an offer of help was extended and they refused it. And I am grieved because she died without knowing the hope of eternal life...without knowing the eternal God.


So we grieve for her, for her husband - who tried to care for her - in his way, and for her 3 young children who will grow up without their mother's love. And then we go on, continuing to pray that God will open up eyes, that His light will shine in this darkness. When Duane spoke with Rudolfo (the community leader of Unilla) yesterday, he invited us back to his village. So we will return at the end of this month. Would you pray with us for this family and for this village?

on the field....

We made our second trip into Unilla on Thursday of this week. For those who do not remember, Unilla is a small community of about 7,000 on the border of Coban. It is inaccessible by road so we fly in - this time making 2 trips in with loaded with medicine, equipment and medical personnel. As we unpacked and set up the clinic, Francisco, (the medical advocate for the community) asked us to go and see a young woman who was "grave" (very ill). We walked into a wood shack to find Juana lying on the dirt floor, covered with woolen blankets in the 100 degree weather. She emaciated and appeared semi-conscious. Her family told us that she had been sick for 3 years and that they had just returned from the "spiritist" (witchdoctor) - a two day trip away. She was vomiting 10-12 times a day. We gave her some IV fluids, and did an ultrasound to find that she was 5 months pregnant (which they had vehemently denied). Her husband was not there - he had gone to get medicine for her. He arrived later with a two liter bottle of green liquid that he had been instructed to pour over her head in an effort to cure her. He immediately left again to bring back to the house another witchdoctor. The house was crowded with 30 - 35 people who had come to watch as Juana continued to vomit, never making eye contact with us, never changing expression when we told her she was pregnant with a baby boy. We prayed and tried to express to them the power of our God to heal, to save. We returned the next day to give her another liter of fluids, her vomiting had slowed some but she still would not eat nor would she make eye-contact with us. Please pray for her. I felt such darkness in that house and we know that only the light of Jesus' love deliver them.

We returned to the clinic and began seeing patients - working until 5. Craig and Malachi stayed the night and showed the Jesus film to well over 300 people. The rest of us returned to Canilla for the night and Duane and I returned in the morning to finish the second day. We saw around 300 people - with more women and children coming this time. We know that these first trips are times to gain the confidence of the people. We were told repeatedly that they are afraid of us. I spoke at length to the midwife - a woman who never smiled. I tried to explain that we had no desire to steal their children or their gold (a common belief here) and that we came only because the Lord has put a incredibly deep love in our hearts for the Mayan people. She stayed in the clinic area the entire time that we were there - both days - just observing. By the end of the second day, she began to smile. We are hopeful that God is beginning to break down the walls of fear and distrust.

Well, maybe I'll get this post done soon...a week has gone by already! Tomorrow we fly out to San Pedro. We don't usually plan trips out to the Zona Reina in two consecutive weeks as they require so much planning and are so physically draining. But since it is sometimes difficult to get medical help that is willing to make this kind of trip, we are taking advantage of the time that Malachi and Heather are here - since they both have willing and adventurous spirits! We will also be accompanied by Dr. Pedro, the dentist from Guatemala City who went with us last month. Although he saw over 60 patients last time, he had to turn away many people. The community leaders were very happy to hear that he was willing to return. Please pray that the weather cooperates, that we have safe flights in and out, and most importantly that the Lord will open hearts to receive salvation.

Our clinics in the past two weeks have been extremely busy with lots of sick children. Yesterday in Chiminisijuan we saw over 100 people - many who were very sick. Again, we were very thankful to have Malachi and Heather here to help us. Last week was almost as busy in this small community and I saw one little baby who really needed to be in the hospital. She had pneumonia and needed more medical attention than we could give her. When I asked her mom if she could take her into the hospital, she said no, that it was impossible. So we prayed and asked Jesus to heal her. Yesterday she came and when I asked how the baby was, thinking that she was probably still sick (my faith is so small sometimes!) she said, "Oh she's fine. I am here for my other daughter." She did not understand what a miracle it was that her daughter was alive - but I certainly did! We also had a young woman whom we had seen a few months ago. She and her husband had been together for almost five years and she had not conceived. In this culture it is assumed that infertility is always the woman's fault and many times men will not stay with women who cannot give them children. So we had prayed for her...we have no way of addressing that problem here. She came in yesterday, 3 months pregnant! God is so faithful!!

Here are some pictures from our trip to Unilla.

The runway...

Our greeting "committee".

On our knees...

Prayer is probably the most important thing that we do here. It is always a temptation to skip that part, to relegate it to the last thing that we do. But we know that without it, nothing is really worth the effort. Lately our hours of prayer have increased. Guatemala's newly elected president was recently implicated in several murders and there has been talk of removing him from office. And in typical Guatemalan fashion, those in support as well as those who oppose him have been demonstrating in the streets of Guatemala City. So we pray...

On a more positive note, on the 30th of this month, there will be a service in San Andres designed to unite the pastors not just in San Andres but in all of the surrounding villages. This is something that we have prayed for since our arrival 10 years ago. The mayor, who is a Christian and our good friend Pastor Rodi are organizing everything and met with over 50 pastors on Monday. They are anticipating around 5,000 people who will attend the 2 day event. We pray that God will grant these congregations to be like-minded toward one another...that they with one mind and one mouth will glorify the Father. (Romans 15:5-6 - my paraphrase). We pray as well that this will be the beginning of a powerful movement of God in this place.

And today, after much prayer and many hours of preparation gathering paperwork from all parts of this country and the US, we submitted Abi's adoption to the final agency for approval. With regulations changing daily, we are told to anticipate another 3 months but this, we are told, is the final hurtle. We are hopeful that all will be complete so that we can attend Hannah's graduation in December.

And always, we pray for those we see in clinic. Yesterday was an especially difficult day in Chiminisijuan with so many sick children. We saw 2 little babies who needed to be hospitalized but as is so often the case in this village, they will not go. So we do the best that we can do medically and then we pray, trusting in God to do the miraculous. As we arrived here in Canilla after clinc, I was greeted with a woman who comes frequently for her asthma. She was very sick and gasping for every breath. We did all we could do here, started her on some oxygen and then Duane quickly flew her into the hospital in Quiche. So, much of my sleepless night last night was spent praying for these and others.

As we anticipate 2 trips to the Zona Reina in the next two weeks, we ask for you prayers as well. Please pray that God will touch hearts with His love and mercy and that these people can know and understand the free gift of salvation that only He has to offer. Thank you!

Green Pastures

"He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside still waters; He refeshes and restores my life... I will fear no evil, for He is with me..."

With everything becoming more and more green, it is hard to not feel refreshed as well. Of course this refreshing goes beyond simply the external refreshing, but as we come to understand more and more what it means that "He is with us..." in the midst of death or life, the refreshing waters pour over our souls as well.

A few weeks ago, a prophet came to San Andres with another call towards unity for the Christians, specifically the pastors, in San Andres. We have known this Truth for a long time, not only because of its obvious Biblical roots, but also because we have watched the town fall apart as the unity among the pastors has been destroyed. After leaving the service, we felt that it was time to start a weekly prayer and worship time, interceding for San Andres - for unity among the Christians, for the salvation and discipleship of those not saved, for forgiveness for the sins of the past and present, of Guatemalans and Americans. Our prayer is that this will be a time that will join together believers regardless of race, age, background, and the biggest stumbling block here - the church you attend. We know that we cannot move forward without His lead, and we know that nothing moves us along like prayer. So a couple of weeks ago we started meeting in our clinic in San Andres, and as we get ready to meet for the third time, would you also pray with us that this will be a time that will bring unity among the people and bring all of our hearts in rightness before God again?

As this greeness continues, so does David's tractor work. He and some of the other boys have been out working each day, trying to dance around the rain to get the work done before the rain saturates the ground too much and they have to wait a day for it to dry out. The men continue to line up daily, and it is great to see these relationships being built.

Clinics have continued to keep us busy as well, although God always shows His grace and faithfulness throughout each one. The lady from San Pedro who slipped and broke her arm had her surgery a couple days ago and we should be able to fly her home as soon as the doctor gives the okay. Due to some miscommunication, we were unable to do a clinic in San Pedro as planned for yesterday, but we are planning for trips out to both San Pedro and Unilla in June.

We also look forward to some visitors in the next couple of weeks. Heather, a friend who will start medical school in the fall, will arrive tomorrow and stay for five weeks, and Malachi, another friend who will start residency at the end of June, will also be coming for a couple of weeks. We are looking forward to catching up with these friends as they come to help out and work alongside of us for a little bit this summer.

We pray that today you also feel the comfort of knowing that as you walk through this life, God is with each and everyone of you.... bringing you by green pastures and refreshing and restoring your life.

It's raining!

It is raining today! For those of you who have never experienced 6 months without it, I am not sure that I can explain how wonderful it is when that first rain of the season begins. The smell of it, the sound of it on the roof...it is just that...wonderful! The children are all outside standing in it, screaming with delight. Now, our desert will turn green and the river will flow once again. This week as the skies signaled the beginnings, the men have come each morning asking for their turn with David to have their fields cultivated. He has been working all week to get the tractor and equipment ready. What a great time of year!

It has been a quiet week here with time to catch up on school work and all that has piled up in the last few weeks. Grace and Abi have officially started their pre-school activities. It is quite the challenge to keep Abi's attention for more than 30 seconds, but when we can, we find that she has a remarkable memory. And Grace, typical "first" child is a perfectionist and very emotional when her hand does not cooperate.

Duane was called out to San Pedro yesterday to pick up an elderly woman who fell and broke her arm. When they say that she broke her arm, they really mean that she almost completely broke it off. With the bone exposed, her arm hung at an odd angle as Duane carefully transported her to the Quiche hospital where she was immediately taken to surgery. She will have another surgery on Monday as well. Unfortunately, she waited more than 24 hours in that condition and the risk of severe infection is high. Pray for her if you think of it, her name is Dominga. What seemed like the entire village greeted Duane as he landed there in San Pedro. It has rained there pretty continuously for the last 3 weeks and the grass had grown up on the landing strip so all of the available men had been called out at dawn to cut the grass - with their machetes. "Community" takes on a whole new meaning in these remote villages.

As the rain continues to fall outside, I am reminded of God's promise..."I will send you rain in its season, and the ground will yield its crops and the trees of the field their fruit." (Lev. 26:4). He is a faithful God!

bearing our burdens....

"Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burden." Psalms 68:19

There are days when I, like everyone, don't feel the strength to do what is in front of me for the day. This morning as I looked out to the clinic waiting area full of people lined up for numbers, that is exactly how I felt. And yet, as we gathered together to pray before we started, I felt as if my burden lifted, and as we began to see patients, I began to feel like maybe I could do this today. We saw over 75 people with the help of Dr. Sherwood, Areli, Brad, Christy and Chris who all came to work alongside of us. Here in Canilla, we continue to serve lots of pregnant women and today was no exception as we did over 40 ultrasounds.

This week we were pleased to have Pastors Phil, Micheal, Vinny and Wade visiting from our home church in St. Louis. They ministered in 5 different churches, encouraging the local pastors and leaders. We know so many of the people in the various churches from the clinics - we know their stories. In the first church was a woman who had told me just the week before that she was so sad, she just wanted to die. In another, was a woman whose husband beats her regularly. And in another, an unmarried woman of 2 small children cried great sobs as the pastors prayed for her. We know the pain that so many suffer here and yet we know that in Christ they will find the strength and the love that they so desperately want and need. The pastors were a great blessing to us as well as we fellowshiped together. Pastor Phil has such wisdom not just as our pastor but as the father of 10 children, he also encourages us as parents. We were blessed to have them here.

On Thursday we, along with the pastors, were able to visit our good Guatemalan friend Victor's new drug and alcohol rehabilitation center. It was not only a blessing to be able to bring the men there a meal and minster to them through some worship music and preaching, but it was also such a joy to see Victor working in the area God has called him to. We have watched him pray through this for many years, waiting for God's timing, and many of you have joined us and him as well in this prayer and support. Despite the challenges, it is always a blessing to see a friend fulfilled in His calling - not only for him but for the men who are being set free from their addictions as a result of his obedience to that call of God.

Her Father's Delight

"Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me bless his holy name!" That was all that went through my head as we walked out of the courthouse with our Abi in our arms. For those of you who do not know Abi, she is a 3 year old bundle of energy that we took into our home the day she was born. Her mom died shortly after giving birth to her, her grandma died 6 months before that and her grandfather had a house full of young children to care for. We named her Abigail, which means "her Father's delight" - and that she is! We have been struggling through the adoption process now for the last 3 years and when they closed foreign adoptions last year, things got a little more difficult as they threatened to take her out of our home and place in a government institution. At one point our lawyers advised us that if they came to take her, to run out the back door and hide. There was one judge in particular who was giving us the biggest problems. Yesterday, we finally had our hearing which we entered with more than a little apprehension - we were to meet with this judge. Our lawyer met us with concern that Abi would be taken before the end of the day. As we entered the we were advised to keep Abi quiet (that is next to impossible), and to have her sit on our laps and tell the judge how much she loved us (she doesn't speak much spanish.) The lawyer for the PGN began first and spoke against us - they were the ones that we thought would support us. Then our lawyer spoke briefly and finally the judge - who I didn't even realize was the judge because it wasn't the woman who had given us so much trouble - she was on vacation! He read off all of the violations that Abi's grandfather had committed and then said that under the circumstances, he felt that it was better for her to remain with us! The court reporter told us afterward that this was the first time since the new regulations have gone into effect, that they have given custody to North Americans. We know that it was only by God's grace that she is here with us now and there are not words to express our gratitude. This was our biggest hurdle and we are hopeful that within a few weeks she too, will have our last name.

It was with great sadness that we said goodbye to the Allison's this week. After completing their 7 month commitment to serve with us, they returned to the US. They helped us in so many ways but more than that they became good friends and we already miss them. Please pray for them as they seek God's will for their future.

Nanci, a 23 year old young woman with cerebral palsy received a new wheelchair yesterday from El Shaddai church in the City. We were the lucky ones who got to deliver it to her. She has spent much of her life either lying in bed or in the cowhide chair that we gave her many years ago. There are so many of these young people tucked away in houses here. There is no help for them, no physical therapy, no relief for their caretakers. Because most babies are born at home, many times there are complications which lead to conditions like Nanci's. It is our desire, some day, if the Lord opens the doors and provides the help, to have a place where children could at receive physical therapy and assistance with daily living activities.

happy easter

Easter here is not like Easter in the mid west. It is so hot and dry and brown. When it seems that the newness of life should be coming forth - whether physical or spiritual, all seems dried up and dead here. The Evangelical churches do not emphasize the resurrection of our Lord - not at this time of year anyway. In an effort, I think, to move away from the ritual of the re-enactment of the crucifixion which takes place in the streets, filled with drunkenness and pagan worship, very little is said in the church. It is hard not to be homesick...

Our trip to San Pedro was really good. Dr. Pedro (the dentist from the City) went with us and pulled a minimum of 120 teeth out of about 65 people. No one there owns a toothbrush and oral hygiene is a low priority. We also saw lots of people for general consults and Katie did almost 35 ultrasounds. Compared to a year ago when the women were all afraid, we were thrilled. Our friend Silvia, who advocates for the women in the village has offered to go out with us to Unilla the next time to help us get to know some of the women there.

And since we have cancelled all of our regular clinics this week we have gotten to do some of the things that I always want to do but never have time for. One was to visit our friend Victor in the drug and alcohol rehabilitation center that he opened 6 months ago. Victor was a pastor here in Canilla and we became good friends during that time. He is young and many times sat at our table talking with us much like a son would. The desire of his heart has always been to minister to men like these - a desire that was birthed out of his own history of drug use and abandonment as a child. This is a work that no one else wants to do...and the need is great. Thursday when we went (the day that all of the Holy Week festivities really began) he had only 16 men there but normally has up to 26. Most are men that he picks up off the street, abandoned by their families as unworthy of helping. We fixed a lunch for them, made tortillas on the open fire and attempted to encourage them. He is doing great things there, making a difference in many lives, and living completely dependent on God's faithfulness. He has awesome stories already!

I pray that as you celebrate Easter with your family and friends that you will remember the reason that we celebrate. For "Christ has made all things right. I had nothing to do but accept it as a free gift from Him." Hannah Whitall Smith

Loaves and Fish

One of the most amazing things about what we do here is how faithfully God supplies all that we need. When we said 'yes' to starting up another clinic out in the Zona Reina, my faith was stretched a little as adding another clinic would add another drain on our supply of medications coming in. We give everyone who comes something...if they are not sick then they get vitamins -but almost no one goes away empty handed. We get medications from a variety of sources, many are donated and hand carried down with friends. Some we buy here in country from the government. This week as we prepared to go out again to San Pedro, I knew we were in need of several things that we did not have. Thursday morning I received an email from a friend in the City who said they had just received a shipment of medications and to come and get what we needed. So Duane and I flew in, went by El Shaddai (the church who came and helped us with a medical team not long ago) and picked up a wheelchair for a young woman with cerebral palsy and cannot walk, and then we went on to this warehouse filled with medical supplies and medications. Dennis said "Take whatever you need!" And there were all the medications that we needed to take with us out to the Zona Reina! Our friend Heidi used to say in moments like that, "Loaves and fishes...." And that is exactly what it is. He amazingly supplies and multiplies all that we offer to Him and makes it enough - always enough.

We will leave Monday morning for San Pedro with our normal team plus Dr. Pedro (a dentist from El Shaddai), Dr. Sherwood (from Agape in Action) and two 4th year medical students who are visiting him. It will be a full day. The dental needs are overwhelming in this area of sugar cane. No one has a toothbrush...new concept. Please pray for safety as we travel, for wisdom as we work medically, and most importantly that these people might come to understand and know this God who loves them enough to come and die for them.

Unilla

It always takes me a few days to process all that has happened after a trip like Unilla. We planned and prayed for so long beforehand that I need time to pray through and understand it all. The trip itself was great - the people were welcoming and helpful. The mayor had organized everyone so well. The building where we worked was clean and adequate in all ways. There was even a bathroom, of sorts, which is always a bonus. The weather cooperated although we were praying pretty hard when we woke up to rain on Friday. And most importantly we learned that there has been some evangelism done in this tiny village as there are 2 small but seemingly thriving evangelical churches.

Disturbingly though, were several facts that indicate a deeper spiritual need. One is that this village in the middle of nowhere, is famous for the sugar cane liquor that they make. We had many men confess to drinking problems and in the evening, that drunkenness became more visible. The other problem was that very few women or children came. They were there - in the evening, as we walked through the village they hung back, lots of the children appearing malnourished and many visibly sick with skin infections. When I asked, I was told that they were afraid of us. But the other thing that concerned me was the lack of an advocate for the women. Always in the past the local mid-wives come either to translate or to be with their pregnant patients. Here, there was no one speaking for these women. And in a culture were woman are considered servants - at best - this was disturbing to me. My prayer is that we will be invited to return and that the Lord will provide someway for us to be able to reach this overlooked group.

We returned from that trip Friday night and turned around to do 2 more busy days of our normal weekend clinics. We were so grateful to have the help of our friend Arlen. His energy and humor always keep us going! By Monday night though, I was so tired all I could do was cry. So Tuesday after clinic, Duane packed us all up and we left to spent our Sabbath at the lake in Panajachel. It was great to get away and relax for a little bit.

This weekend will be a busy one as well as Katie and Aaron are scheduled to take 2 of our cleft lip babies into Antigua to have their surgeries done by a visiting team of surgeons. That will leave Don and I alone to work in the clinics.

Enough whining.... Here are some pictures from Unilla. It is a beautiful place!

For those of you who wait for news about the airplanes, the props are on the Aztec! The boys hope to get it started up this week.

And some other good news...Abi's hearing for her adoption is finally scheduled for the 16th of April. We will take her in and meet with the judge. If all goes well - and we are not anticipating any problems - we should have her legal Guatemalan adoption within a few weeks. Please pray that the judge will rule in our favor!

God is faithful!

For those of you who were praying for Joseph and Duane's safe return home, thank-you! They got home just before nightfall last night. I am overwhelmed this morning with gratitude to the Lord for His amazing faithfulness to us. He asks us to do difficult things at times and always asks that we walk in integrity, but as we do all in our power to follow His ways, He always provides a "way out". This trip was no exception.



It was an 11 hour flight in the 182. They left in the morning Thursday, arrived in Brownsville late in the midst of rain and fog, spent one day there and left to return to Guatemala yesterday morning. As you may have been reading in the news, the situation in Mexico is volatile right now between the drug enforcement agencies and the drug rings, so all of the airports are on "red alert". And when you fly internationally, you must pass through immigration in whatever country you pass through. Yesterday when they landed in Tampico Mexico, they were immediately surrounded by 3 heavily armed guards and the supervisor of the "aduana" (the agency which assesses taxes). They demanded that Duane and Joseph unload the plane and open all the boxes so that they could determine the value of each item for taxation purposes. This of course, was totally illegal because they were only passing through Mexico - they were just looking for a pay-off. But they were angry and threatening so of course, Duane and Jo did exactly as they ordered. Our policy since our arrival to this country is to never pay bribes as it feeds into a system of corruption that runs deep within this country - and Mexico - and unfortunately our own country as well. One of Duane's best gifts is his ability to talk fast without a trace of intimidation, and because we know that the Lord honors integrity, He always provides us a way to get out of bribery. Oh, the stories I could tell.... Anyway, these "officials" demanded receipts for all the items in the plane. Duane said that they were all "regalas" (gifts) and thus he had no receipts. Some friends had had boxes sent to Brownsville for us to take back which Duane had not even opened. And the props, which were very expensive, were lain flat, on the floor of the plane. Duane was a little fearful as the guards began cutting the boxes open. But when they opened the first box, it popped open with plastic toys, the second box was filled with books, the third with candy and after that, they didn't open anything more, realizing that they really were gifts and of no real failure to them. They never opened anything that would have been "taxable" nor did they even see the props! The supervisor grudgingly stamped all of his paperwork and they loaded the plane back up and flew off. On arrival in Guatemala, he again had to pass through immigration where they could have legally searched the plane and assessed the contents for taxation, but they never even looked in the plane. They just stamped his paperwork and he was off. The men in the control tower here in Guatemala know Duane now and knew he was eager to get home before dark, so they offered to file his flight plan for him and they arrived in Guatemala about 5 minutes before dark - safe and sound and exceedingly grateful for God's protection and provision!



For us here at home, it was an interesting day as well. As we finished clinic yesterday, a young man came to the door asking for milk for his baby. His wife had given birth 6 weeks earlier in their home in the mountains. She bled heavily afterward and the local midwife had treated her by having her lie between two very heavy rocks to stop the bleeding. After several days of treatment, this young woman became gravely ill and was taken into the hospital were she stayed for 3 days. When she left the hospital, the doctors gave Juan (her husband) prescriptions for antibiotics that cost over Q500 (about $70). Juan didn't have the money so they just returned home and 3 weeks later she still is unable to get out of bed. So after lunch we hiked up to see her. It is the dry season here and each day the smoke gets denser as fires rage through the forests. So when we met Juan in his village, he pointed to his house - which was right next to a huge cloud of smoke. When we arrived at the house, we could hear the crackles of the flames as they moved closer, but we were assured that there was no danger. Fortunately Juan's wife was better than we anticipated finding and little baby Kati was fat and healthy. So we left her with antibiotics, lots of vitamins and hydration drink, and prayer, and will check on them in a week. When we came out of the house though the flames were within 50 feet of the house and there was lots of scurrying around as they were concerned - not about Juan's house but for his in-laws house which was directly above them. People here usually do not attempt to put out the fires but accept them as they accept everything else that this life has for them. And fortunately, adobe does not burn well. So we left amid the smoke. Don and Lori took lots of pictures so check out their blog.

prayer requests...

I have two requests for prayer this morning. One is for Hannah Allison who broke her arm last weekend. We have been debating about whether or not it was really broken for several days. She is so sweet and never complains and said it didn't really hurt that much but after watching her, her parents decided to take her into Quiche yesterday for x-rays. Unfortunately it is broken. So they drove on into the City to have it set this morning. Please pray for them. It is always a little troubling to be at the mercy of doctors about whom we know nothing and to have the extra problem of communication. You want to really understand when they are talking about the health of your child!



My second request is for Duane and Joseph as they took off this morning in the 182 for Brownsville Texas. We have not talked much about the other plane that we have - the Aztec - which had a nose gear failure in our first trip out to the Zona Reina. It has been sitting for many months waiting for Aaron to have the time to do the necessary repairs and for the finances to buy new props and paint for it. In His great faithfulness, that funding has come, so they will bring those parts back with them, hopefully on Saturday.



An update on little Mari....she had surgery last week and we are awaiting the results of the biopsy. The doctors say that she definitely has osteomyelitis (infection in her bone which will require long-term IV antibiotics) and possibly also has a malignancy. Please continue to keep her in your prayers. And some really good news...remember Helen, the baby with hydrocephalus? About 2 months ago her parents decided to not pursue further medical treatment and to leave her in the hands of God. She is now alert and responds appropriately and her head is no longer growing disproportionately. Her parents are thrilled and we are rejoicing with them at the goodness and faithfulness of God!

When we are not in clinic, we are busily preparing for our trip out to Unilla - scheduled for nest Thursday. It is not an easy task to anticipate the needs of around 400 patients plus our team's needs. We cannot just run out to Walmart if we forget something. Fortunately, each one on this team is experienced in "flexibility - Guatemalan style". What we are finding as we continue to work in this area where resources are so scarce is that we are being bombarded each day with emergency calls. Unfortunately our definition of emergency and theirs do not always agree. So we have been trying to set up a system of triage through one person in each community. In this way we hope to be able to screen out those who really just want a ride in an airplane from those who are truly emergencies. Managing the resources that we have been given with both integrity and generosity is sometimes a difficult task. But we are very aware that we are only bond servants of the Lord's - owners of nothing, yet in charge of everything.

Mari, adoptions, and Unilla

February 27 - Maybe you remember from my last post about a little girl named Mari out in the Zona Reina. She has some sort of infection - whether in her muscle or in her bone or possibly both - but she has lost the function of her entire left leg. She is in extreme pain and has been in that condition for the last 4 months. We have been trying all week to get them into see someone who might be able to help her. Our friend and fellow missionary who lives in Chichicastenango agreed to see her. He is a surgeon who just happened to have a medical team there this week. So our plan was to pick her up on Tuesday and get her in to see Tom. However, it rained all day Tuesday (out in the Zona Reina - not a drop here!). Disappointed, Mari's dad walked three hours back to his village with Mari on his back and said he would not be able to leave again until Friday. So again this morning we tried to take her into see Dr. Tom who turned out to be out of town until next week. So we called our new friends in Guatemala City - Manos de Amor (Hands of Love) - and more specifically Dr. Pedro. He made a few phone calls and within a few hours Duane was on his way out to pick up Mari and her family. He just called to tell me that he left her in the hospital with IV fluids running and doctors examining her. Please remember to pray for this very sick little girl. Pray for her mother as well who is at her side and due to deliver at any minute in a strange city with people who do not speak her language. How thankful we are for this new connection to the City and the resources available there! God is always faithful!

This week has been one to "catch up" on so many things - from housekeeping to paperwork. Duane and I had an appointment yesterday with our lawyer about Grace's adoption. Although she is officially ours, when we received her paperwork, they had incorrectly written her name as "Grace Ficker Ficker". Now, having Ficker as a last name is bad enough but to have it twice was a little too much! Plus, and more importantly, it would raise all kinds of questions when we apply for her travel visa at the US Embassy. So for the last 6 months we have been working on this paperwork only to find out yesterday that it has been filed incorrectly not once but 3 times. And we wonder why it always takes so long to accomplish anything here. We are thankful though for a lawyer of integrity who perseveres through this unbelievably complicated maze of paperwork. Abi's adoption is still in progress.

March 6 -We have been asked by the mayor of Uspantan to help out in a village called Unilla. It is not far from San Pedro where we go monthly and is about a 3-4 hour walk from the nearest road. Duane flew out there Tuesday for the first time. Unlike the US, none of these airstrips are on a map nor is there any information about their condition, so he likes to "check them out" personally without passengers. This runway (a narrow grass strip) didn't look safe enough to land on so he flew to another one which was close by. The villagers were expecting him and could see that he landed on the other side of the river so they canoed over to meet him. Below are pictures of this canoe which was a very long, hollowed out log, a man using the canoe to cross the river, and a sign outside of the clinic we will be working from. The river was deep and the current swift. The man who navigated however was an expert and easily poled until his pole no longer touched bottom and then paddled until they landed exactly where he wanted them to go. Duane was met by close to a hundred men and children who led him to the "clinic" where we will work for the first time on the 19th of this month. Unilla itself is fairly large for that area with about 500 people right there and other smaller villages surrounding with an estimated population of around 5,000. We will plan to go for 2 days, show the Jesus film in Kek'chi at night, and see patients during the day. Please begin to pray with us for open hearts to receive the good news of Jesus, pray for safe traveling, and health for the villagers and for our team as well. These trips require a tremendous amount of planning and organization and financial provision. But nothing is more important than the prayer that takes place beforehand. Without the hand of God upon them, they are nothing but 'good works'.