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.