Sunday, June 26, 2011

These have been a couple of very busy weeks...beginning with the youth team from the Woodlands church in Houston. We are grateful to have had the opportunity to go out to several of the local schools with them. They taught a lesson on world cultures and how different we are but that ultimately we all have the same need for love...for a Savior. We have an open door with the local schools and still have the freedom to openly talk about Jesus which is a tremendous blessing. The youth left each school with a map of the world painted on the wall and various activities for the children to finish. Most people here have a very limited, very small view of the world...I guess because most do not have television nor computers. Even the teachers all said that this was new material for them - that they focus mainly on Guatemala. It was fun! And it is always fun to work with young people who have so much energy!

This week we did an additional clinic in Cruz Chich. This was our third trip out to this very large, very needy village. We had to limit our numbers to 100 and turned many away...which I do not like to do. In our past visits, we have mainly seen men - which I have learned is their way of "checking us out". When we talked with the community leaders a couple of weeks ago, I told them that we would really like to see their wives and children as well - that we would not steal away their children - which is a common belief here. I guess they believed me because we saw lots of children this time, and more women. Little Diego broke my heart. I knew his mom from previous visits to the clinic in Canilla. Diego had a high fever when he was a few months old and was left with brain damage. He could not sit or hold his head up at that time - which was several years ago. We helped her with milk and some very basic physical therapy. She had seven other children at that time and in the four years that have passed since then, she has had two other babies. Diego is five now and weighed 13 pounds on Friday. Mom gives him just two bottles of corn "atol" (corn meal, sugar and water) each day. He is starving - literally - to death. This is so often what happens to children like Diego who are unable to help themselves. There is no help for these families so these imperfect children are left on the floor, being fed when they cry and nothing more. Diego's dad drinks alot and is angry and abusive. When we prayed for Diego, his mom cried huge sobs of grief. I cannot imagine how difficult her life must be. Please remember this family in your prayers for only "He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds." Psalm 147:3

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