Guatemala Update - Day 1 & 2 - Excersing the Heart!

Greetings and Blessings from Guatemala!

As the morning church bells ring out the start of another new day, our hearts are feeling strong by the tremendous experiences of the last couple days.

On Monday, our flights from Minneapolis to Guatemala City were mostly uneventful (except for a brisk "sprint" from one end of the Houston airport to the other! We made an easy transition through customs and were met with smiles and hugs from our friend, Becky Fernandez. It was great to renew our friendship of 18 years!

The night was short as we had a 5:45 departure on Tuesday morning from Guatemala City to Sumpango and our temporary residence, the orphanage Los Misioneros Del Camino. There we were warmly greeted by the Woodlands Church team, a great breakfast, wonderful Guatemalan coffee and an encouraging morning devotion.

After breakfast we boarded a school bus for the 10 minute down into the center of Sumpango and the community center where the clinic was being held. The clinic has a number of different services they offer, including; general medical care, optometry, Ob/Gyn, a pharmacy and a "spiritual clinic" where elders from the Los Olivos church talk with and pray for the people who come.

Dave & Joyce started off in the optometry department, fitting glasses. They quickly learned to ask (in Spanish) ... is it clear "claro?" ... is it better "mejor?" ... and most importantly, to say, "Dios le bendiga!" ... God bless you!!!

Christi and Cherise volunteered in the pharmacy, where the filled prescriptions and counted lots of pills! More Spanish words ... "una ala dia" ... "one-a-day" and also "Dios le bendiga!"

The wishes for God's blessings were returned to us in many ways ... through the words that were spoken, the smiles of the people who were being given care, and the thankfulness in their eyes!

We returned to the orphanage where we heard testimonies from a number of team members of how God showed up "big-time" in their lives and in the lives of the people they were attending to. The evening ended with an amazing story from the founder of the orphanage; Leonor Portela. 25 years ago, this lady of incredible faith started this orphanage. We were inspired and challenged by her life of faith and trust in God! Please take a look at their website by clicking on this link: Los Misioneros del Camino.

Today, Joyce, Christi and Cherise will once again be tending to patients at the clinic while Dave takes a "field trip" with Becky, some of the leaders from Woodlands, and Pastor Oscar Chiquito. El Yalu is an outreach location of Los Olivos church, who is sponsoring the clinic, and serving the people of the region with the love of God! This should be another exciting day!

Thanks so much for following us and praying for us! These first few days were tremendous! ... and we've agreed that their theme should be a quote from the cover of the brochure for the orphanage where we are staying:

“There is no exercise better for the heart than reaching down and lifting people up.”

We definitely sense God using us to lift up the lives of the people around us! We look forward to sending more reports in the days to come! We have some pictures posted in an on-line album which you can access by clicking on this Guatemala Album Link.

Adios!