For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:
    a time to be born, and a time to die;
    a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what its planted;
    a time to kill, and a time to heal;
    a time to break down, and a time to build up..... Ecclesiastes 3:1-3

So much of the time in our Christian walk, we wait. We do what is before us, but it often seems that we just plod along, persevering through circumstances that are difficult or mundane. But always there is a sense that something will change. We find ourselves in a season of change now....big changes. We see God moving in amazing ways, ways that are so much bigger than anything we could ever imagine. If we just look at our immediate circumstances, we become overwhelmed, thinking "ahh, there is no way God..." But when we surrender and do that which is before us, one step at a time, He is always there, leading, guiding, and giving to us that which we need.

I was talking to a gentleman yesterday about just that and I remembered back to our initial trip to Guatemala when we made the decision to come, sold all of our belongings and packed up a bus to drive through Mexico. Every single day of that trip was packed with difficulties and challenges, which were way out of our "comfort zone." But in each of those times He was there to sustain. The very first day that we left our home in Illinois, as we traveled through Oklahoma, it began to snow. We watched car after car slide down on either side of the road and we watched our son Aaron in the rearview mirror in our truck and attached trailer fishtail all over the road. When he radioed up to us and said, "Dad, I can't do this!", Duane looked at me and said, "Leslie, you drive the bus." Never in my life had I driven a bus - much less in the middle of a snow storm! But somehow - by God's grace, we made it to the hotel. When we turned on the news that night, they announced that we had just driven through the worst snowstorm in Oklahoma history.

I have remembered God's faithfulness in that moment so many times in the last few weeks. That is a little how we feel.....driving through circumstances that we have no experience for, with no knowledge of how to do it. But we feel His presence, His hand upon us, so we press on.... knowing that it is only by His grace that we are able to finish each day. Graham Cook says it this way, "there are no longer good days or bad days....just days of grace." May you feel His grace upon you today as you face whatever comes your way!

“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” (Ephesians 3:20)

As God is moving here, this verse keeps coming to my mind. He is literally doing more than we imagined. What kind of God is this that we serve, that can surpass our most creative thoughts?

Let me start with updates for the school. While we began with what I can now call a simple idea for an auxiliary nursing school, we currently have four schools rolled into one. The first is, in fact, an auxiliary nursing program. But when God does something, he doesn’t do it half way. Doors have now opened to do a pre-medicine bachelor degree program, a professional nursing school program, and an English school all beginning in February. I’ll go ahead and say it for you: holy cow. Not only this, but He dropped the Walton’s (a South African missionary couple) in our laps that have helped us through the whole thing. They have had much experience with opening schools in Guatemala, so their help has been invaluable. While God lined up everything, the truth is we had to fight hard for this school; praying and fasting, talking to people and meeting with people. But fighting is good. Sometimes, when you decide to respond to God’s call, you have to kick the doors down. And he delights in that.

The plans for the hospital are still progressing. While there are so many variables and unknowns, we are forced to take things day by day. Give us this day our daily bread, right? Isn’t that how Jesus teaches us to pray? So now we are just focusing on the next right thing. Once He provides the funding for the property, we will move. Until then, we wait on his timing and strive to be good stewards of what we have.

“Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!” (Psalm 27:14)

Meanwhile, I’m noticing more than ever the spiritual needs of the people in the places we serve. So many are so separated from God. It really nails down and simplifies the reason we are all here: so that the people of Guatemala might know Jesus. There is just an abundance of spiritual darkness in Chumisa, the village where we do monthly clinics. One known witchdoctor came in for a consult last week, but I could only think of the condition of his heart. I have so many times felt compassion for the people here, particularly for their physical and emotional hardships. But a person’s spiritual life completely surpasses all things. So when I started imagining a life without Jesus, I just felt broken for him. Now that I know Jesus, I know I can’t do my life without Him. And this is what I desire so much for these people that I have come to love. My hope lies in the promise of Isaiah 55:11, “so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.” God knows exactly what He’s doing, and nothing is too big or small for Him. May we continue to wholly place our trust in Him every single day!

2014...We know that this will be a year of change - and lots of it! And we are excited about what the Lord has in store for us!

We are frantically working to prepare a place for all the visitors coming this year. At the end of the month we will have 25 guests coming from all over and staying for various amounts of time. The "back house" is coming along...just not as quickly as we would like. Things like windows and cabinets have to all be made by hand - can't just run to Home Depot! Duane is usually up and out working by 5am. Once that is even semi-livable, we will move our family back there in order to give guests our home. The doctors who come will get a feel for living here with their small children, learn some Spanish, and hopefully will hear from the Lord!

The school opening has been delayed by government bureaucracy but we are hoping for a resolution today. The teachers have arrived and are helping in clinics and in preparation of the physical structure until the government releases the curriculum to us. Please pray that all the road blocks would be removed quickly! Along with the nursing school, we will begin to teach English classes. When we began to talk about the school, we realized that many people had a desire learn English and at the same time, the Lord sent three young women who have a desire to teach! Amazing how His timing is always perfect!

The hospital plans have been submitted to the government. There are 4 stages of approval that we must pass.... 1 down, and 3 to go. Nothing happens within government offices for pretty much the entire month of December but things are up and running again, so we are hoping that the process will speed up. One never knows with the government however - here or anywhere. So we wait, trusting again that His timing is perfect.

Amid all the change, clinics continue to be busy. Many of the men have left to work on the coast so women struggle alone to care for and provide food for their children. They come with their sick little ones or their complicated pregnancies. Those who need to go to the hospital in Quiche will not go now because they cannot without their husbands approval. Who will care for the other children? And how will they pay for the trip there? So we place each one into the hands of the only One who can ultimately heal and save, and we trust....

So trust seems to be the recurring theme as we enter into this new year. I am sure that it is the same in your life as well. We trust in His provision - financially, spiritually...in all ways.
Isaiah 26:3 says "You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You." May your mind (and ours) be securely fixed upon Him!

I am writing to update you on the changes that we as a family first and as a ministry as well, will be facing in the next year. As you may remember, Duane had a vision many years ago about us having a hospital here in Canilla. It was something that was way too big and out of the question so we just “put it on the shelf.” However in the last year, God has begun to move people into place who desire to come alongside of us to fulfill this dream. We have always said that in order to have a hospital here, we would need nursing staff (other than just me and Katie) and physicians. Katie’s dream of a nursing school is coming to pass and will open in January of 2014. By January of 2015, we will have a nursing staff able to care for inpatients. In February of this year, we were “randomly” contacted by a group of physicians (all family practice) who have committed to staffing this hospital. They have a practice in Iowa in which they all rotate throughout the year for 3 month cycles so that 2 can be “on the field” while the others care for their US practice and fund those on the mission field. They are planning to come full time by….January of 2015. Don and Lori – our long time friends who have come to help us each year for many years – have made a 3 year commitment as well….starting in January of 2015. Don is a PA and Lori is a CPA who helps us keep everything in order! And finally, we were again, “randomly” contacted by a physician who is Guatemalan, and currently finishing his residency in family practice in Spain. He and his wife have a heart to serve the poor here in this area. And they will be ready to start in…..January of 2015! None of these people knew about the others nor did we solicit help from them – this was all totally God moving on their hearts, synchronizing timing as only He can!

Now, our dilemma is where to put everyone not only to practice, but to live? Our original thought was to just build a small hospital in our front yard. But that seems short sighted as there would be no room for expansion. And we have been advised by those who have walked this road before us that having the hospital and community housing on the same property does not work well. So, after weeks of prayer, discussion, and more prayer, we finally have a plan that we all agree on and have peace about.

We have put a down payment on a property not immediately next to ours but within about 500 feet from ours. It is big enough for expansion and we feel that it will be a perfect distance from the “home base.” We are trusting (and this is a HUGE LEAP of faith) that within the 3 months that the government is saying it will take to get through paperwork, it will be paid for. We will then begin construction of the first phase of the hospital. We hope to begin with a facility that will have the capability to house up to 20 patients. It will include 2 operating rooms so that we can do C-sections if necessary as we anticipate that much of what we will do is assist with births. We will also be able to help those children who are so sick with pneumonias and dehydration (the number 1 and 2 killers of children in this country).  

I must confess that we are completely overwhelmed but at the same time so completely in awe of what God is doing! For so long we have prayed for a place where the people we love so much would be cared for with love and compassion; a place where they can not only receive medical help but spiritual help as well. Our floor plan for the hospital includes a prayer room - front and center. And one of the only things that the doctors have requested is a full time pastor on staff – someone who will always be there to minister to hearts. 

Again, this is a huge step of faith for us. We do not have money for a project as big as this. But we know that He is the God of the impossible. A friend of our recently said, “Our God is a gentleman. When He invites us somewhere, He always pays.” So we trust that He will provide all that we need!

Please pray for us – that we have wisdom to do all that He has asked with integrity and wisdom. Pray that we maintain our focus on Him, loving Him, worshipping Him, knowing that He is in control of our lives.

There are days when clinic goes so smoothly—days when the most serious thing you see is a snotty nose, and you leave with a smile on your face. Last Saturday was, to be sure, not one of those days. And I knew it from the start when the first kid that came in sounded like there were rice crispies in his lungs.

The sick people kept on coming—one after another. At this point, it’s no new thing for me to feel worried or super heartbroken for those that come in; it literally happens almost every single clinic day. What was new to me was being completely shocked by something that I saw. I guess there’s a first time for everything.

This lady came into the clinic with her four children. She handed me the smallest of them, which I thought was surely a premature newborn at best, and relayed to me that the baby had “fire in her mouth”. I looked at it and, sure enough, it was filled with white patches of yeast all over. This little one had thrush, which is honestly not so uncommon and definitely treatable. But my jaw almost hit the floor when I found out she was two months old. At first, my brain heard dos semanas instead of dos meses, because two weeks old made way more sense to it. But she repeated herself, and that’s when I experienced my first shock.

All I could think was this: I don’t care what third-world country I’m in, a two-month-old baby should never weigh five pounds. Not ever.

The longer she was there, the more I started to realize why this baby was not eating or gaining any weight: the other children in this family were completely out of control. Nothing out of the ordinary, just everything that comes with having three toddlers under the age of four. It was hard to watch this momma try to juggle all of them at once. Knowing that the baby was probably difficult to feed because of the thrush and seeing the chaos that she probably experienced daily made it clear that she literally didn’t have time to try to make the baby eat. What she overlooked is that eating is not a luxury; it is absolutely essential to sustain life.

We fed the baby as much as we could and asked her mom to keep returning for more formula. She came back once, but since then we haven’t seen her. Now the what if’s are starting to creep in…

But I can honestly rest in the fact that God loves her far more and can care for her far better than anyone on earth is able to, myself included. While I spent a few brief minutes with this baby, He actually created her— fearfully and wonderfully made her in his own image. I’m just in awe that He would still provide me with this peace that surpasses all understanding (Philippians 4:7). How inexplicable and incredible is that? It’s kind of hard to even fathom having true peace about something that is beyond my understanding. Not understanding things doesn’t seem like it would give me any peace at all, but here I find myself resting in His kept promise, praying this verse for myself and for her:

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.” Romans 15:13

Side note: I can’t help but see the parallel between the physical and spiritual realms here. This baby was near death because her mom presumably wasn’t able to spend enough time trying to feed her. Like literal food, time spent with God is spiritual food. It is absolutely not a luxury, but more like the manna that was provided for the Israelites: it’s our daily bread, food for our souls. So, do whatever it takes to encounter him. Make the effort necessary. It’s what we were created for, and it’s the most important thing we can do in this life.

Guest Post: Victoria Way

I really think there is only a certain level of compassion a person can have from the outside looking in. Of course, your heart can be sad from a story that you hear or from things that you know are happening to innocent people in foreign places, but only to a certain extent. For instance, my heart is only able to be so heavy for the people of Syria—and I think it’s because there is just a new level of compassion to be had for people that you know personally. That’s what is happening to me here in Guatemala. What I thought was heartbreak before is nothing compared to the heartbreak I feel when I actually look the hurting people of this place in the eyes. Because there is something that happens to you when you get to know people. It changes everything.

While I’ve seen all kinds of illnesses since I’ve been here, this one patient continues to stick out in my mind. She was 18 years old, and her complaint was that she felt pain in her heart. Though this could have easily been a medical emergency, I quickly found out that the chest pain was due to sadness and anxiety from things that were going on in her life. Have you ever had a moment where it felt like a lightening bolt strikes all the way through you? That’s how I felt talking to this patient, and I know why. Because I’m not that far away from eighteen. Because I remember what it was like to be her age, and because I remember my biggest concerns being getting to class on time and what I was doing that weekend. Isn’t that how it’s supposed to be? When you’re 18, shouldn’t you be carefree? Not here, and not in many places. And, of course, I was never naïve enough to think otherwise, but it’s a different thing when you see it firsthand and suddenly have the overwhelming realization there is such a disparity between your life and hers. It wasn’t even so much this particular story of this particular patient as it was the whole wealth of people that she represented to me. How’s that for heartbreak #1 million.

Here are two silver linings to this story:

11.     She came to us, and for that she heard of the peace that God can provide and the hope that is found in Jesus. He is the only hope for all of us, no matter where you live or what you are doing. And I remembered that even though my life was so much easier at 18, I was essentially floating in the same boat as she is. A life apart from Christ is an empty life from every angle. I can only hope that the words we spoke to her sink in. For his yoke is easy, and his burden is light (Matthew 11:30).

22.     I delight in the fact that God is breaking my heart for the things that break his. My desire is to care deeply about the things that my heavenly Father cares about—so I can only pray that He keeps opening my eyes to see things as they really are.

As I think about this little girl more (though she’s not really so little), I remember how essential the Gospel is to every single person everywhere on the planet. “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news” (Isaiah 52:7a). Please pray that we would continue to be those feet!

Guest Post: Victoria Way

As a newcomer to Canilla, I write this blog with fresh eyes after just seeing so much of this beautiful country and many of its people for the first time. Thus far during my days here, I’ve been given the opportunity to serve in the clinics that are held weekly. For anyone that knows me, this is more than my medicine loving heart knows what to do with. While I literally can’t get enough of interacting with patients and learning trademark signs and symptoms of certain illnesses, it’s more than just the medicine that I am so enthralled with. My spirit is well aware that physical life is so unimportant when lined up next to eternal life. Jesus doesn’t just get pushed to the side here. He’s the center of every single part of every single day. Mind=blown.

Each Sunday we hold clinic in San Andres (if you want to know where that is, everyone here will tell you its just over those mountains over there—all I know is it’s about 30 minutes up the road). On the ride there my first week, my new dear friends Leslie (supernurse) and Adrienne (organizational mastermind) forewarned me that this clinic was the more hectic of the one’s I’d been to. And it was. There were lots of people coming in and out all day, and it felt like we saw one hundred million patients. Some were super sick while others just needed someone to listen to them talk for a little while. Regardless of their reason for coming, each one was given love just the same. A few were prayed for, many were given medicines, but everyone was served with the love of Christ. It was such a reminder that even in the chaos, no matter the circumstances, Jesus can be shown to the least of these. That’s the only reason to do medicine at all.

There was one particular patient we saw who had broken her leg very badly several years ago. God chose to miraculously heal her, as her leg used to be about 3 inches shorter than the one that had not been broken due to the shattering of her bone. Though this miracle has taken place, she is still in disbelief. It saddened my heart to see her walking with crutches when I knew she could do otherwise. But when I dwelled on it some more, I realized how common this is to so many people. What are you and I letting hold us back even though God has set us free?

“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom” (2 Corinthians 3:17). What a humbling reminder to walk in the freedom that God has so graciously given to us. It’s a daily decision that has to be made, but that freedom is there waiting to be embraced every single day. I’m praying that this verse will sit in the forefronts of our minds as God allows us to be his hands and feet here in Guatemala.