One of the most wonderful changes that has come lately (and there are a multitude of changes!) are the increased times of prayer. There are over 30 of us now who are permanently here in Canilla and we all go in different directions each day whether to clinic or school or construction. We start most of our days with prayer together and then breakfast in an effort to stay connected with each other and all of our needs. It has been really good. In the last couple of weeks though, several of the young people have started to come early (5:30) to worship and intercede. It is such a privilege for me to be able to be in the kitchen cooking breakfast and still be a part of these amazing times. We believe so strongly that all of our efforts - wherever we are working - are really worth nothing if we are not connecting with the Lord in prayer. In addition to our regular Tuesday night services of prayer and worship, we have started a spanish service on Thursday nights. Dr. Luis and his wife, Noemy are heading this up and it is so amazing to see our living room filled with young people worshipping our Savior! As you have probably read in some of the other blogs coming from Canilla, the prayer room will be up and functioning soon. I have to admit that I will be pretty sad to see all of this move out of our home and onto the hospital property. 

The hospital construction is moving along well. Block walls are up for not only the prayer room but the emergency room, the observation room (an extention of the ER) and the kitchen as well. The "rough in" plumbing and electrical work is underway. Every day when I go it is a little scarier as this dream of ours is quickly becoming a reality. 

We went out last week to another rural clinic site for the first time. Cruz Chich is an area that I have prayed for for many years. It is a very large village, completely indigenous and has been "closed" for as long as we have been here. The community leaders came last year asking us to help there but I had to ask them to wait until we had more help. They came again a few weeks ago and we agreed to go on the condition that they gather their leaders and the leaders from the surrounding villages and write up an "acta" (a legal document asking us to come). Within less than a week, they returned with their "acta". Last Thursday we went and saw around 100 folks. Almost all of them are without a relationship with the Lord. Again, we find ourselves driven to our knees as we pray to the Lord of the harvest to soften hard hearts and open blind eyes. We would so appreciate your prayers for them as well!

"Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work with us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus thoughout all generations, for ever  and ever! Amen."         Ephesians 3:20

It has been so long since I have written. Everything has and continues to change each day. It is all good....just not so easy. We find ourselves daily asking for wisdom - Godly wisdom - to help us with what He has placed under our management - not ownership. We constantly remember the definition of "bondservant" as one who is the owner of nothing, but manager of all that He places before us. We are so not qualified....

The hospital construction continues to go well. The foundation is almost complete and the team of plumbers arrive in a couple of weeks to do the "rough in" plumbing. Then the walls will go up. It is pretty exciting and at almost every clinic we have a couple of people who would qualify as "admissions". It will be so great to have a place to send them. 

We have had a pretty continuous stream of guests and it seems that it will accelerate as the summer months begin. I am grateful to have Katie Ann and Lori here to help care for this area which tends to overwhelm me. The sweetest part of our day is always morning prayer right before breakfast when all who are here gather together. We find our Tuesday nights of worship have grown from just our family to 40 or 50 each week. And last night we started the same thing...only in Spanish. Dr. Luis is heading that up and from all reports, it was a time of sweet fellowship and worship. (I stayed home with the girls who have been sick.)

The nursing school started up in January and I am so proud of Katie and Aaron as I watch them step into their role as directors. They started with 40 students - which is bigger than they anticipated. Please pray for them as it is an enormous task to get all up and running well. Pray for them as they attempt to integrate a North American perspective on education into the Guatemalan system...it is quite a challenge.

We know that The Lord is "enlarging the place of our tent" (Isaiah 54:2). Please pray that we are in step with Him; that our priorities remain in right order...The Lord, our family and then ministry; and that we have ears to hear what He is saying - each moment of each day. Thank you!

January 2015...the time that the Lord has spoken to us about so much. This is when the Docs of Hope have said that they want to begin. This is when Dr. Luis has said he and his family will be ready. And this is when Don and Lori and their family feel that the Lord is saying for them to be here as well. The final approval for the hospital came on the last working day of the year from the Ministry of Health so we are officially ready to begin....although much of the preparation work has been done. It feels a little like we are finally at the starting gate - ready to begin this course that the Lord has set for us all. It will be a year of  great change and we covet your prayers. We have seen His hand move so mightily, so abundantly that we know that this is His plan....we just want to be found doing it in His way.

Duane and I were in Quiche earlier this week, picking up some medication for the clinic. The pharmacy where we buy was unusually quiet and when I asked Fransisco why, he said that the hospital was on strike. All of the health care workers are protesting because they have not been paid for the last 6 months. So, if you have a broken bone or any other condition that is deemed "not life threatening" you will have to wait. Katie and I interviewed a woman this week who worked for the government doing rural clinics. They have had to shut down that program due to lack of funding so if you are in one of the remote villages, and your child is ill, you will need to travel at least 2 hours to get to the hospital....which is not open.  All of these things just confirm to us the need, the urgency to get things up and running.

When (and if) you pray, would you ask God to help us....
 - that we can keep the perspective right; that we remember that this is all His; we are His bondservants doing only what He asks; that we remember we are owners of nothing.
 - that we change well; that we keep priorities of God, family and ministry in right order.
 - that this not become a humanitarian effort but that we remember that without Jesus, the best healthcare in the world is worth nothing but is only a temporary fix.

Thanks for taking the time to read this. May this New year bring to you and your family health, strength, peace and above all else, a closer walk with our Lord Jesus!

Can it really be December 1st again so soon?! It seems like I just packed away all the Christmas paraphernalia! This year has flown by and I wish somehow that I could slow things down just a bit. There is so much to do in the short time that we have left of this year.

Dr. Luis' apartment should be finished within the month. Ruben, one of the young men who we have known and loved since we came to Guatemala has become quite the skilled woodworker. We still need to build
cabinets and put in the bathroom sink. But we should be able to finish by the end of January when they arrive. It is hard to believe that a few months ago, this was the garage/Duane's very messy workshop!

The hospital property apartment is underway as well. Ryan and Katie will move there until they can locate a more permanent living situation. The house was there on the property but was very rundown and had been the home to various cows and other wild creatures. The men gutted it, tore out walls, put in windows (most homes here don't have many windows), put down tile and added a bathroom. It is a pretty amazing transformation!
It too needs cabinets, bathroom fixtures, plumbing, a ceiling, and some electrical work.

Then there is the small problem of where to put the teams who will start to come to help with the construction beginning in January. We have decided to build a very simple concrete block building on the hospital property. In its two rooms (and bathroom) we hope to house up to 12 men.

And, the school needs an additional classroom to house the rapidly growing population of students. That too will be a very simple structure which, thankfully, will not need a bathroom. They make everything so much more complicated!

I haven't even begun to talk about the hospital. The fence is complete, the concrete plant is up and ready, and they have hauled literally hundreds of loads of dirt to bring the actual site up to grade...not really sure what that means,
 but I know it is important.
 

The hardest part is that the work that we did before all of this project began, continues. Duane still does emergency flights on a pretty regular basis, the tractor work for local farmers continues, and I am still gone a good portion of the time with clinic work. So, when you think of it, could you send up some extra prayers for Duane and the boys as the brunt of the construction responsibility lies on their shoulders? They are pretty stressed right now. And yet His grace is sufficient everyday!

Forgive me if it sounds like I am whining...I am not. We count it the greatest honor to serve the Lord in this way. We know that all of things are from Him and to Him...to serve His people well.The knowledge of that makes us want to do the very best that we can for Him.
"If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen." 1 Peter 4:11

It's been a while since I've written. We've had so many visitors in the last couple of weeks. It's been really good but busy!

The Lord keeps confirming to us the need for this hospital - which is good and necessary for those days when it gets hard and the work seems overwhelming. We got a call about two weeks ago from an indigenous family who had a 3 week old baby. He wouldn't stop crying and although it was late and pouring down rain, they brought him. Dr. Sherwood and I saw him and knew that he probably had meningitis. There was nothing that we could do - he needed tests and treatment that we do not have. So we prayed and sent him off to Quiche (21/2 hours away, on really bad and muddy roads). They went the next morning and was immediately whisked away from his parents and placed in their "ICU." Pedro (the baby's dad) called us the next day, crying and saying that they could not find their son. We could hear screaming and sirens in the background and he said that there was a gas leak and that they were evacuating the hospital. It actually turned out to be chlorine gas that had been stored for many years and had begun to leak...they did evacuate the entire hospital! Pedro's son was taken to another facility there in the same town but still his parents were unable to see him and had no idea what was happening to him. Finally they told Pedro that his son had an infection but that there was nothing that they could do. So they sent him home and within a few hours he died. Now we know that even with the best, most up-to-date care children still die with meningitis. But we could have started his treatment earlier and hopefully cared for them in a more compassionate manner. Please help us Lord....

Psalm 145:9

The Lord is good to all, and his compassion is over all that he has made.

 

“Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves….” Genesis 11:4  

I have to admit that I have never really understood this passage but as we begin this huge building project, it has come to me several times. Construction projects have always scared me. I have watched plenty of marriages struggle through the building of a new home. I have watched church expansion projects become just about squeezing a little more money out of members each week. And yet, it seems that construction is just what the Lord is asking of us right now. Somehow, we have to figure out how to do just what He asks of us, while remembering that we are just His bond-servants….owners of nothing but managers of all that He places under our care. It is a tricky balance. As David said the other day, how do we do it well without it consuming us? How do we keep our eyes just on Him in the midst of a thousand details that need attention immediately? How do we make it only about Him and honoring Him and not in any way about “making a name for ourselves”? Please pray for us… 

On the flip side, we are in awe of how God is supplying all that is necessary to begin the construction…from skid loaders to cement truck. The fence is close to being done and the gate is completed. We are still waiting on the final approval from the Ministry of Health but trust that it will come just as we are completely ready to begin the actual construction.  

Our son Ryan, his wife Katie, and their three children arrived this week. It is an amazing miracle of God that we are able to have 7 of our 8 children here with us working together on this project. What a joy to have almost all of our grandchildren here as well. I know that it is only God’s grace to us….and we are so very thankful! Hannah and Matt remain in the US and help in so many things that can only be done there.

 

 

Last Tuesday in Chiminisijuan, a little 100 year old woman came in to clinic.  Completely blind,she had walked at least 3 miles and one of the paths is so narrow on the side of the mountain....I have no idea how she actually made it. She was alone and as she walked up the last few steps to the clinic, she had to crawl. Finally one of the widows who we know very well stopped to help her in. She came for her body pain...nothing too specific - just old age aches and pains. When we finished working, we woke her up where she had fallen asleep outside in the grass and we drove her out to the main road. We had to stop and ask several people if they knew this little lady sitting in the backseat of my car until we found someone who identified her. She walked on home then from there.

It has occurred to me several times since then that our life right now is so much like hers. We walk - not really knowing what is ahead - knowing that if we make a wrong step, we could tumble down the mountainside. That's a lot of pressure.... We just trust though, that He will lead and guide us and keep us from falling . Psalm 119:105 says "Thy word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path."


Here's a quick update on all that has happened in the last few weeks -
 - Duane made a super-fast trip to the US to help Ryan organize a load of construction equipment to be shipped. We have never taken loads this way and it (so far) has gone really well. It all has actually already arrived in Port Barrios and we are waiting for the government to release it. The taxes turned out to be much lower than we expected - Thanks be to GOD!
 - There has been an amazing amount of equipment donated (and I am not the one to tell you about it!) including a concrete truck, a skid loader, concrete forms and a long list of other necessary tools.
Many thanks to all the men who have worked so diligently and tirelessly to accumulate all of this. Again, all praise be to GOD!
 - Our son Ryan, his wife Katie, and their three children will arrive on the 13th of September. They feel that the Lord is directing them to come on a permanent basis and they will be an enormous help. Ryan is a manager and will be invaluable in helping Duane manage all the workers as we start the actual hospital construction. Katie will be a mom first but is a great hostess who has an ability to see all the details that folks need when they arrive. And I will be soooo happy to have more of our grandchildren close! Thanks be to GOD!
 - The construction of the apartment for Dr. Luis and his family is underway. It will be small but hopefully adequate for their growing family. Our friend Juan has stepped up to take the responsibility of this and is doing a great job. All thanksgiving to GOD!
 - The fence is about 2/3 of the way to completion around the first phase of the hospital, a new gate has been made and is 1/2 up (we had to pour a new bridge over the canal and it needs many days to "cure" before we can put up the other section.) 
 - We have had a good couple of weeks working with Dr. Jared and his wife, Dr. Melissa. They have been great! And Dr. Heidi was here to bring such encouragement - as she always does. We also hosted a youth team from Destiny Church (our home church). They did lots of painting, poured a new porch to accommodate the changes to the house (dividing it into three apartments - eventually), and we had amazing nights of worship in the evenings. They were a huge blessing to us and even when we did not have water for the last 4 days of their trip, their attitudes remained enthusiastic and grateful. All praise be to GOD! 

We continue to be in awe of all that God is doing here. Please pray that we have wisdom that can come only from God. Pray that we will continue to put Him first in all things - no matter how busy and chaotic it all seems at times. Thanks for reading!