med clinic 2

Our group left for the village around 12:30ish.  We took 2 vans and an explorer.  Dan drove the van with the meds and a few group members. That van was to be used to get everybody up and down the mountain because it was the only one with 4-wheel drive. The first trip down the van got stuck and had to get pushed. Everybody who was left at the top walked down because it was safer. We unloaded everything and set up the clinic. This was a small village of about 35 families who were much poorer than the first village we visited. Some of the group helped with the clinic while the rest went out and played frisbee, soccer, painted fingernails, and colored. We showed our love by actions due to the language barrier.  After we ate, we went out and sang for the  villagers and a few of us gave our testimonies.  It was very powerful to hear our fellow believers pour out their hearts.  Hermano Jesus then gave a  message while we went through the crowd and prayed for open hearts and courage. It was an amazing harvest. Nearly all of the village accepted Christ. To put how incredible it was into words is difficult, but we could truly feel the presence of the Holy Spirit.

During the acceptance prayer, a little girl began to have extreme stomach pain. Dan was called over to her to check if there was something that could be done for those pains. After Dan talked to her, he looked at me and said, “It’s not medical.” Hermano came over along with many team members and we all laid hands on her. Our team prayed and Hermano passionately poured out his heart to heal this little girl from her pain. After we said amen, her pain was gone.

The night wasn’t over yet. We still had to make our way out of the village. Dan knew this was going to be difficult. We loaded the van with the medication and 10 team members, mostly those who wouldn’t have been able to climb the mountain (the well-aged :)). As the van left, within minutes we saw another miracle. The van was going up a hill and nearly tipped over. It was only the hand of God that kept it up. They made it to the top of the mountain with little difficulty.  This was a blessing in itself considering how difficult the circumstances were. Dan returned for the rest of us. All the boys piled in the back to be gentlemen and give the girls the seats (not that they had a choice). We made it up about 1/4 of the way and got stuck. The boys got out and we were able to move on. About half way up, we got stuck again. This time everybody piled out to help. We used a jack, trees, dry grass, a hammer, and a pinchers to try and get the van out of the rut. It took forever! We got it out only to have it get stuck about 10 or 20 feet later. Dan then made the tough decision to have the girls and Glen walk back to the top and get in the remaining vehicles to go back to base. The boys stayed and waited for some of the men from the village to come and help. After a half hour of being on the road, the boys called and said they were out. God is great!

 

med clinic 1

Yesterday (Saturday) our group got to sleep in! We woke up and ate some breakfast then had our personal devotion time. We spent the morning getting things ready and organized for the clinics.  Some people were able to play cards too.  We had devotions and sang before we ate lunch.  After lunch, we left for the village.  We didn’t get more than 15 minutes down the road when one of the vans overheated.  This put us a little behind schedule.  Once we arrived at the village, the medicines were set out and the people were ready.  A few people from the group helped with getting medicine together and the others spent their time playing with all of the people who came to the clinic. The villagers watched a movie about Christ while we ate our supper.  After watching the video, we sang a few songs and three members of our group gave their testimony to the people. Hermano Jesus then gave a sermon to the people.  Many who were there came forward and accepted Christ into their hearts.  Each was given the New Testament.  Two other groups of people came forward to accept Christ and they also received the New Testament. Each family was then give a bag of beans and rice.  We packed up the vans and headed back to base.  We would ask that everyone keep praying for us so we can have a safe trip to our next village and that the people there would come to know God and accept Him into their lives.

 

Hello everyone! Our flight went very well. We actually arrived in Guatemala. Then we waited for Dan to come and get us and then we were on our way to La Bendicion on a very bumpy road. We got settled and had some supper, followed by devotions and praise and worship. On Wednesday we woke up at the butt-crack of dawn and ate breakfast.  We split up into 5 different teams and began work on our houses. We went back to the base all sweaty for lunch then returned to finish putting up the walls and laying the roofs on. We had a few hours of free time. After supper we had a little bit more free time to talk with the people who lived in the village.  We ended our day with devotions and worship. Thursday we got up, ate breakfast, and headed off to our houses.  We finished mudding and taping, then everybody moved from house to house to help stucco the outsides of the houses. The windows and doors were put on as well. We ate lunch, then had free time.  Some of us stayed and talked with the villagers, while others went and played soccer. We had supper followed by more talking with the villagers, then devotions and worship. Friday morning everybody went to their houses and painted the walls. Each house has green walls, but each team got to paint their own designs on the walls.  All looked wonderful.  We then dedicated 3 of the houses. One of the families had their three boys accept Christ =).  The parents were already Christians. The other two families declined =(.  We had our last meal at La Bendicion, then went out to dedicate the last two houses.  Each accepted Christ =). We then got all of our stuff together and said our goodbyes to the people.  The vans were loaded and we headed out.  We arrived at the base around 7 and ate a wonderful supper of pizza and strawberry jello with pop! After our hot showers we sang some more praise songs and told of some God sightings we had that day.

 

Friday!

Hello everyone!  Thanks for all of your prayers and support!  We made it to the base in Chimaltenango safely after a long drive.  Everyone is doing great.  We will write more about our experiences in La Bendicion tomorrow.

 

Watch here for Team Maurice – Harlem pictures and updates as they serve the people of Guatemala July 28 – August 4.