Fifteen year old Juana came Sunday to our clinic in San Andres from a village about 2 hours away. Her two front teeth were badly decayed, painful and needed to be pulled. The medical team from McAllen Texas examined her and said that they could do not one, but two root canals for her. It took some time to convince her that this would be a good thing for her and that it was worth her missing her ride back to her village. I was amazed...normally those teeth would have just been pulled and she would have gone the rest of her life without her two front teeth. No one is our area does that kind of dental care...bad teeth are pulled...not even filled. This team came with excellence and compassion - a rare combination - and we were honored to have them in our clinic. At one point one of the men came down fro the dental area with a little boy whose face was already swollen. As George came into the pharmacy area, he began to cry, telling me that they had had to pull all of this little boys permanent teeth...that he would for the rest of his life be without teeth.

In a culture where people are mainly concerned about where today's food will come from, dental hygiene is not a priority. And while it seems that we have given out enough tooth brushes and toothpaste to supply the entire population, there are still many who do not own or use a toothbrush. Teeth rot slowly and the nerve dies slowly as well, not producing tons of pain...or at least that is what I have been taught. I am unconvinced though when I look into mouths full of teeth blackened with decay. All of this to say, that it was a huge blessing to have this team here.

Yesterday, Duane, Ivan and I flew to Quiche to visit the men in Victor's drug rehab center. There are 15 men there at the moment - all sober and recovering, receiving care for their bodies and their souls. Ivan made them a nutritious lunch of beef stew and rice. It was a treat as they rarely have meat. Victor told us about one of the men whose 8 year old son brought him to the Center. He came in a Tuk-tuk (a small taxi - with a motorcycle engine) with his dad's suitcases packed. He knocked on the door asking that Victor care for his dad. It is so often the children's responsibility to care for their drunken parents. It is not uncommon to see men passed out, lying in the dirt, with a small child sitting nearby, waiting, watching over his father. Again, we are grateful for people like Victor who are making a difference in the lives of these people whom we have grown to love so much. It is a small difference...a drop in the ocean of need. But we do not "despise the day of small beginnings." And we know that as one person's life is affected by a demonstration of the love of Jesus, the ripple effect that it has upon that person's family and friends is often very great. So we wait...and trust...knowing that what is impossible for us, is an easy thing for God.