As Jesus said, our Heavenly Father knows even the number of hairs on our head (Matthew 10:30) - and if our eyes are open to His grace - we will notice His provision in the smallest detail of our lives. This is one of my daily prayers, that I will be able to see His hand upon us each day. I know He is there....it is just that sometimes I get so busy that I don't notice and, more importantly, don't remember to say "thank you." But even when I am unfaithful to remember Him, His provision does not fail. He provides for each need even when I have not even asked!

We go through an amazing amount of vitamins each week. All of our prenatal patients (about 75 each week) get a month's worth of vitamins at each visit. Our nutrition children (around 200 of them) get vitamins every two weeks. And many of the 250-300 patients that we see each week get vitamins as well. And while vitamins may seem unecessary for those who eat a healthy diet, for people who eat only tortillas and beans daily, they can make a significant difference in one's health and well being. We depend on a variety of sources. We can buy some (prenatals) from the government when they have them. Most come from generous people who come to visit, and for those we are very grateful. Recently though we have run pretty low on children's vitamins. Katie's mom, who is coming for a visit tomorrow, went into a store this week to buy 2000 vitamins for us. When she explained where they were going, the woman said that she would like to donate them - only not 2000 but 200,000!

Last week in Chumisa, we saw so many little ones who needed milk and several families who needed food. We only bring a limited amount of food each time by estimating how many we should see plus a few extra. Each time I went back to the bag, I would think, "only one more bag of milk left." Then, in would come another family. I would go back to the bag, and there would be another bag. This happened three or four times....I am pretty sure that God was multiplying the "loaves and fish." 

I could go on for a really long time describing the graciousness of His provision each day. As I remember how timidly we began this walk of faith, this total dependence on His hand to provide for all of these people, I am overwhelmed with gratitude. 

"Bless the Lord O my soul; and all that is within me bless His holy name" Psalm 103:1

Little Pedro (not his real name) is over a year old and has been in our nutrition program for most of his short life. He came for the first time when he was just a couple of weeks old with a severe pneumonia. He was so sick that I feared he would not live through the afternoon. We quickly got him into the ambulance and he spent several days in the national hospital. Since that time, he has been a "failure to thrive" baby - a term that just means he never seems to grow no matter how much food we give him. At one point, his mom told me that her husband was sick as well, and asked that we see him. He too, had a pneumonia, but otherwise seemed healthy and strong. We recommended that he have blood work done to check for HIV - which amazingly, he did. Unfortunately, he tested positive, as did his wife and little Pedro.

The government here offers limited help for those who are HIV positive. In this case, the family needs to go to a city about 5 hours from here, where no one speaks their native Quiche. Dad is very sick now and has begun to drink heavily. Mom has a very limited understanding of her diagnosis, and at the moment is asymptomatic, which makes her less likely to fight for her family. I felt her desperation as she explained that they had no money, no food and no way of paying for a stay in another city. And who would take care of her other children? And even though the medical care is free, how will she buy diapers and food while they are in treatment? And what if her husband dies there....how will she get his body home for burial?  As she spoke, I asked the Lord for wisdom. What words could I give her that would turn her eyes to her only hope at this point....Jesus? Weak words seemed so small in the face of her pain and desperation. We prayed for her, and let her know that we would continue to daily pray, and offered to help in any other way that we could. I ask for your prayers for this family as well. For we know that HE alone is the only hope that she has...

We wait  in hope for the LORD: he is our help and our shield. Psalm 33:20

I met Ignacia several years ago. She is a young woman terribly crippled by rheumatoid arthritis. She never knew her father and her mother left her when she was a child. (In this culture, typically,  when a woman "re-marries", the children from her first marriage are not welcomed into the new family.) So Iganacia was left alone. When we met her she was living in a hut that was about the size of a dog house, made of corn stalks. She is in tremendous pain all of the time and she had no way of supporting herself. So she lived off of the kindness of her very poor neighbors.We gathered the support of the local church and built her a little house and twice a month we help her with food and medication for her pain. She was depressed and discouraged at that time - thinking that her life was of no value. I remember talking with her, trying to encourage her with words about the kindness and love of God; telling her that the Lord had a purpose for her life - and even if she could do nothing else, she could pray for those around her. And I remember going away from that conversation thinking that those were the weakest, most ineffective words...but somehow, God used them. She has made it her life work to pray for those around her. 


I do not see her often as it is so difficult for her to walk, so it is always a treat when she is able to come. She is well known now in the area and is often called to pray for the sick. She told me of how she had just spent a month with a family, praying day and night for a man who was making the long and dangerous trip to the US. She is a gentle, humble woman of God and I am honored to know her. I know that she will have a very special place in heaven... She daily walks out Jesus' instructions to "Go...as you go, preach this message The kingdom of heaven is near. Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freeely give." Matt. 10:6,7

Tios Xabaj (which means holy god of the rock) is a small village almost two hours from us here in Canilla. At this time of year, when the rains come daily and heavily, it is a challenging trip. We had a trip planned for last Thursday. The day started with almost nothing going well...two of our translators didn't come. We had no one to give the message and pray. It had rained during the night and we were not sure that we would be able to get through an area which is always precarious (where part of the mountain kind of continually slides downward). After some phone calls and some confusion about whether or not the village was ready for us, we set out. Starting in a new village, building relationships is always difficult. It takes about a year to actually gain the trust of the people. And when the physical obstacles are so great, it is easy to question whether or not it is God's plan for us to go. But we are persevering....


This little village is fairly isolated and has not ever been evangelized - at least that we know of. The community leaders have asked us to come, and we are very clear from the beginning that with the medical treatment comes prayer and evangelism. Their body language speaks loudly and clearly. They listen with arms folded, frowns on their faces, and then they begin to ridicule whoever is speaking. But the people are open....wide open. Several have already said "yes" to Jesus.

So we pray for strength to continue just as Paul prayed for the Colossians in chapter 1:10 - That we might live a life worthy of the Lord and might please him in every way; bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God....(my paraphrase).

"A Father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling." Psalm 68:5 The amplified version says that he is a judge and a protector to the widows. I like that. For some reason, there are so many widows in Chiminisijuan. And now, at this time of year, when crops have been planted but last year's harvest is gone, is when they begin to come. They are out of food for their children. And there is no way for them to earn money to buy corn....or anything else. Lucia came yesterday, heavy in her last month of pregnancy(see my last post). She asked to borrow Q100 (about $12) so that she could buy soap and a little corn. She brought all of her children so that they could help her carry the food that we loaded her up with. Maria's midwife came later. Maria gave birth about 3 weeks ago to a baby girl. Her husband died when she was in her 4th month of pregnancy, leaving her with 5 - and now 6 - young children to feed. She has no family to help her so her midwife fights for her - and we sent food for them as well. Rojelia came later in the day with 3 of her 5 children. Her husband died 5 years ago. Her oldest son is 12 and some days he works earning Q25/day (about $3) carrying loads of firewood for her neighbors. She buys corn daily to make tortillas for her children  - using all of the money that he earns just for corn. All of these women will pack up their families in the fall and take them to the coast where they will work, cooking for the men who cut sugarcane. They will earn a little money to sustain them for a few months. Their children will not be able to go to school and so the cycle of poverty continues.

But we know that there is hope in the God who defends and protects widows. He has placed such a burden upon us -and hopefully you - to pray each day for them. We  pray that He will provide for all of their needs - not just the physical but the spiritual and emotional needs as well. We do the very small part that we can but we trust that He will send help in their time of great need. And we know that He is a faithful God!  

Lucia is a woman who we have helped for several years. She is a widow with 4 young children. Her husband died about 4 years ago followed by her infant daughter of about 8 months. She fought for her daughter's life - as hard as one can who has no money, and no one to help with her other children, and without speaking the national language. And she was broken hearted when her daughter died.

We have helped her with food and medicine when she comes. She lives about a three hour walk from our clinic in Chiminisijuan. She goes to the coast to pick coffee when she can, taking her children with her. So we might not see her for several months at a time. She came about three months ago and we had not seen her for a while. She was obviously pregnant and I thought, "Well good, maybe she had found someone to help her." But when I did her ultrasound and told her that she was 7 months pregnant, she began to weep - huge gulping sobs. We have seen her in times of hardship but I have never seen her cry like this. She began to tell us about being "obligated" to have sex with a man on the coast. She has been rejected by the other women in her village as unclean and banned from her church who brands her as a sinner. She has no way to support her other children now and there is no food in the house. We talked about putting this child up for adoption (which is not really possible now in this country), about the orphanage where we knew that they would care for this new life. We loaded her up with as much food as she could carry and then delivered corn to her later in the week. She has come regularly now for her prenatal care. Tuesday when she came, I told her that she was about 6 weeks from delivery and asked what she would do when she went into labor. She told us that no one in her village would help her with the delivery so she plans to go to the local hospital. This is not common practice - almost all babies are still born at home. I have an idea that her 11 year old daughter will help her when the time comes. She then told me that she has decided to care for this baby girl herself.

Once again, I was amazed at the inner strength of this woman who has suffered so much injustice. And how, in spite of the treatment she has received from "her brothers and sisters in Christ" her faith has remained strong - her trust being in the unseen God.  I wonder what my faith would look like if I were walking her "her shoes". I am so afraid that I might be offended with God...  Pray for Lucia in these coming days - that God "out of his glorious riches , that he would strengthen her with power through his Spirit in her inner being..." (Ephesians 3:16 - my paraphrase)

I will say of the Lord, "He is my refuge and my fortress; my God, in Him I will trust." Psalm 91:2


I have not written for a while. These have been challenging weeks for me personally. I have struggled with some health issues and have made many trips to the doctors here in Guatemala and ultimately in Houston where I stayed a few days with our daughter Hannah. There was a fear that I had an infection in my leg where I still have lots of hardware from my fracture many years ago. And while I have had as many different opinions as I have seen doctors, thankfully, there seems to be no infection. There was also a fear that I had a DVT (clot) in that same leg. The medication for that has made me weak and nauseated, but with the last ultrasound done, that clot seems to have thankfully, disappeared. I really hate thinking about myself and am pretty good at just ignoring pain, but as I watched the concern in my husband's face grow, I knew I needed to do something....so that is where I have been. Thank you to all of you who have prayed for me. What amazing friends God has given me!


And again, thankfully, I am surrounded by young people who continue the work here. As always, God is so gracious to not give us more than we can handle. Clinics have been quieter than normal and we have had no visitors in these last few weeks. As I feel my strength returning, I know that the pace will pick up again!


A final update on Rubidia....she went home to Jesus last week. She was never able to get rid of the infection nor did she have surgery. Please pray for her mama, Olga. Even though she is just 15, she never left Rubidia's bedside during all these months of hospitalization.