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...
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
