Week 1

(I apologize for the formatting problems...I'm still trying to figure this blog out.

Well I have been here almost a week. When I arrived, Tito was on a trip, so Brenda and Tito’s mom picked me up from the airport. (For those of you just starting this journey with me, Tito is the doctor who is in charge and founded this medical missions organization. I live with him, his lovely wife Brenda, and their two sons Alejandro and Pablo. They adopt me as part of their family and it is such an awesome relationship dynamic that we share. However, my new hair is definitely not something the Guatemalans envy. Brenda was like “you had such beautiful hair, why did you paint it!” (In truth, it’s kinda of starting to grow on me...I can see more horror on my mom’s face now).

Naturally, when I arrived at the Palacios home, there were black beans and steaming tortillas awaiting me. The next morning Brenda and I went to pick up Alejandro and Pablo from their school. It was so neat to see how they have grown and that they still remember me as their big brother. (One of many since different gringos are always staying with them). At least THEY appreciated the hair. Alejandro’s first word was, “WOW.” They are both speaking English so much better, especially Alejandro. The rule for him is that he only speaks to me in English.

One of the first mornings, Tito took me to a conference that he had to go to for credits for continuing his medical education like we have in the States. I guess this requirement for Guatemalan doctors just started recently. The conference was held at a restaurant and was a short presentation about seizures, their different classifications, and effective treatments. It is always so interesting to me to see the universality of both my passions: Christianity and medicine. One of the biggest reasons I am entering medicine is the fact that what I learn in med school is what people are learning throughout the world, though in different languages. Nevertheless, we all are working to make the human condition better through treating and healing diseases which plague us all, regardless of what culture and country we are from.

This past week was spent primarily in the office working to prepare for when the teams of gringo

s come down over the next several months. I was pleased to find that the organizational system we

made for the pharmacy for the most part has endured these past two years--a feat which is quite rare here. Most of the time,

because interns are constantly coming and going, there is not much consistency when we try

to organize things. However, I still created a hefty job for myself compiling all the medicines we bring on the clinics into a master list that you only have to look at one list to figure out where the medicines are.

While this is my third time, it is definitely a new experience. Many of the people that worked with La Mision when I was here have moved onto other things. There are two new Guatemalan doctors who are in their last year of school before residency and a new dentist who just graduated. While I definitely miss my old motley Guatemalan crew, the new staff is nice and I hope we have a great time working together.

This trip I really wanted to make a concerted effort to continue working out once in awhile down her

e. So, even though it was humid, I made up my mind to turn on that darn treadmill in my guest room and get to running. Well, that lasted a good 20 minutes before my knees hurt, I got lightheaded, and was sweating up a storm. Pablo and Alejandro just stared at me and laughed. Sweet little Pablo tried to help encourage me by turning on the TV to some Spanish Disney Channel teeny-bopper show, but to no avail. Then I thought it would be a good idea that since I wasn’t doing a great job running,

I would still try to do some push ups and sit ups. Well, as you can see from the photo of my room

, there is not exactly a ton of space for calisthenics. Plus the tile floor proved difficult for a variety of reasons. The worst of which was that the deluge of sweat I was excreting created a slippery mess on the ground that several times almo

s

t caused my hands to slip while doing push

ups nearly breaking my nose. While that would have been an interesting beginning to this trip, I guess God decided to spare me that embarrassment.

Today, however, God decided NOT to spare me the embarrassment of some pretty horrendous tummy troubles. Normally my problem with changing to the Guatemalan diet is “estreñamiento” or constipation. However, after having two meals of chinese food yesterday and

taking my weekly dose of anti-malarial pills, let’s just say that my problem got fixed...in spades.

Yesterday, an all female team arrived of women who have been coming down here the past 11 years or so. They did a Bible study with some teachers and are going to help with a clinic. It is so incredible to me to see their commitme

nt to Tito, his family, and all the people of Guatemala. Brenda and I spent the majority of the day in the kitchen cooking the biggest vat of spaghetti sauce in the world, while Pablo enjoyed playing Michael Jackson songs on my iPhone.

It has been so wonderful to be back with these gracious and faithful people. It always strikes me how integral prayer and faith is in their lives. Prayer for them is like the breath they breathe. And it’s not like something to cross off their “Good Christian Checklist.” It’s something that they truly believe God protects them, answers them, and provid

es for them through prayer. They look for and see God’s hand in everything. It’s always so convicting to my faith since often I honestly don’t believe in the true tangible power of prayer. Today was a beautiful new experience because we had our church service and then went to a pool for the baptisms of people in the church. I

never get over the awesome concept of the global church and how God is the same everywhere.

Well, it is time to sign off, but thanks again so much to those of you praying for me. I feel so comfortable and at peace, which was one of my biggest prayers for this trip. Things are going to start getting crazy around here over the next 6 weeks with new teams coming and clinics to be done, but I am so excited. Gracias a Dios.

Third Time's a Charm

Well, here I sit in the Houston Airport, awaiting to return to Guatemala for my third trip. If any of you remember my last journey, the mere fact that I have made it this far is a great improvement from what happened last time on the way down.

Last time, my parents and I arrived at the airport with all my gear ready to head off to my second Guatemalan adventure. This enthusiasm was only to be greeted by a cantankerous Continental check-in lady who curtly informed me that my connecting flight to Dallas was cancelled due to thunder storms and that there was no way in or out. Naturally, I was quite dismayed but anticipated her reassurance that they would figure out other routes to my final destination. However, I have learned time and time again with airlines to NEVER expect even the most basic of customer service. She just stared blankly expecting me to just turn around and go home as if nothing ever happened. To spare the gruesome details, I will just say that I did get another flight which went all the way to Miami, where I spent the night in a sketchy motel and almost got shanked walking this shady street to a Subway, and left for Guatemala the next morning.

But that was 2009. This is Guatemala Trip 2011 and so far things are going much more smoothly. I mean I should be thankful that I am still around considering I scheduled this trip two days after Judgment Day was supposed to happen! Silly me.

The past three days were spent feverishly packing, desperately shoving every scrub shirt, nasal cannula, and glucose strip that I could muster into my bags. While I am so grateful for all the donations I received from people, never before have I had to mash so much stuff into such little space. You know you are getting to be a good packer when you no longer see two checked bags, a carry-on, and a personal item as four individual pieces, but rather as one cohesive organism in which all parts must share the burden as a whole. By the end, I had manhandled over 150 pounds of stuff into two “knee-closed” suitcases, an obese swim bag, and a ridiculously heavy 29 pound “personal” item. However, the true cherry atop this Ghetto Packing Cake was my layering of clothing and items on my person, most notably the rain jacket stuffed with 12 protein bars and 8 Cliff bars. I looked like the Michelin Man and a Beverly Hillbilly all rolled into one and needless to say, TSA didn’t know what hit ‘em. I think I single-handedly held up the entire Sea-Tac airport as I had to perform luggage disimpaction at security, only to be irradiated as I had to “assume the position” in the back-scatter machine.

After waving goodbye to Mom and Dad at least 7 times, I was off to the gate. The flight to Houston was pleasant for the most part, as I spent the flight next to this lovely elderly couple who apparently were REALLY living up their retirement. They were just returning from a cruise to Alaska, and planning to go to Costa Rica soon after another cruise around the Mediterranean. Unfortunately, they were probably going to cancel their trip to China, but this would give them more time on their sailboat with their toy poodle.

While the flight was pleasant, the pilot made up for it by conducting one of the most frightening landings I have ever experienced, in which the tires squealed as we lurched from side to side while this girl in the back screamed.

We finally disembarked, I bid adieu to my new AARP comrades, and began my four and a half hour layover in Houston. After consuming a mediocre chicken wrap, I successfully spilled grease on the crotch of my pants, providing the lovely notion to the terminal that I had voided on myself. Since there was essentially no shame left in my game, and I did not want to suit up to lug all my stuff to the bathroom, I decided to do what any other self-respecting person would have done. I took my Nalgene and poured some of the water onto my crotch to help wash out the grease so it would not stain. I can see the horror on my mother’s face right now. I can’t wait until 20 years from now when I am done with medical school and in awkward situations like this I can say to gawking observers, “Don’t worry, I’m a doctor.”

Within the same vein of disconcerting things future doctors do, Saturday night I decided to do one last crazy thing with my appearance before I start medical school and have to look professional the rest of my life. With the help of a soon-to-be Gene Juarez graduate who shall remain nameless, I decided to take a page from my college book and once again personally test the old adage to see if blondes really do have more fun. As you can see from the picture, we still didn’t quite get me all the way to Thor quality locks, but it definitely looks a lot better than my previous Bozo the Clown rendition.

While Dad and Mom were expectedly aghast when I pulled off my hat to reveal the glorious new do, my mane apparently was not too jarring to deter this friendly Nepali man named Bishwa who just sat down next to me and asked how to set up his new iPad. While leading him through a crash course in downloading iTunes onto his ancient Dell computer, he randomly asked me if I was a Christian. I said yes, and lo and behold, he told me he was a pastor from Nepal who was traveling around for conferences in the States. It’s always so awesome to me how God’s people are spread throughout the world and we all have that common ground to share with one another. And hey, now if I ever want to go climb Mt. Everest, I’ll have a place to crash!

Well, I will soon be boarding my flight into Guatemala City. I would post this to my blog now, but unfortunately Houston is not as generous with their free Wifi as SeaTac is. Thus, I will post this when I am settled in Guatemala so you will know that I got in safe and sound.

Thank you all so much for your support. I greatly appreciate those who have been praying for me and for this trip. Please continue praying especially for safety since there was an issue with a drug cartel group in northern Guatemala the week before I left. While this incident did not occur in an area where we do clinics, it is still important that we remain vigilant. God bless and I look forward to sharing exciting stories with you all in the future!

Adios!

Well,
Today is my last day in Guatemala. It has been a very interesting 53 days here with its ups and downs. This past week we worked entirely in the school at Palencia with a team from Houston. It was actually a pretty small team of 9 people who were older than our previous groups but boy could they work hard. New toilets were put in the school which was great, and they were able to paint a beautiful new mural on the basketball court and in the playroom as well as paint inside the bathrooms. On top of that, we did clinics for the first 4 days as well.

On Friday, we were supposed to go to a beach with black sand, but because we still had some work to do, the team leader decided we should stay. I actually was really happy we stayed an extra day, since it was only a beach. But since we stayed, I was able to work with the kids in the computer class. It is amazing how much they are learning. These kids are working on Powerpoint presentations at age 8! I definitely remember not even doing Mario Teaches Typing at that age. God has really blessed a school which wasn't even open only a few years ago. Now there are 85 children attending there as well.

Also, last year I really wanted to sponsor a child at Palencia, but since I couldn't work during the school year, it wouldn't be possible. But since this year I will be working, I really wanted to finally sponsor one. The kid I decided to sponsor actually was the last kid at the school who was not sponsored and I was able to meet him on our last day at Palencia. It was so awesome to actually meet the kid I would be supporting; I realize that is such a unique experience that most sponsors do not get to have. We worked on his Powerpoint presentation together, and he even was rewarded a little prize for having such good conduct. I was so proud of him. It is such a small sacrifice to help change the life of a child...I just wish I was more wealthy so that I could help sponsor a whole classroom of kids and help give them so many more opportunities in their lives. But being able to be used by God to change the life of only one precious child is good enough for me.

The Palacios family that I am staying with (Tito, Brenda, Alejandro, and Pablo), have a nanny named Amelia. She used to live in a very poor part of Guatemala, but was able to get out of it and ended up working for the Palacios to afford an education. She has been so fun and today we had the special treat of being able to go to her younger sister's Quincenera. It was such a special treat because we Gringos were invited as special guests. I was actually happy that we were able to go to the Quincenera of a poorer family than some wealthy one because we got to see how much work they put into such an event for a girl they love even though they have so little. It was a nice event and they gave us food and everything. Actually, Amelia's mother even gave us special gifts for coming. It was amazing that she would give us presents when she didn't even know us and she had so little already. It was so special and meaningful.

The last night that we were here, Tito took us out to this amazing steak place where we stuffed ourselves with awesome food. We gave a few little tokens of our appreciation and then headed back to the house where I now sit finishing up my blog.

This trip has been a very interesting experience overall. I can't say that it met my expectations, because they were very difficult aspects about it that I did not expect to have to deal with. But I believe that God will use and is already using these situations to force me to rely on Him more and realize that when His people pray, He really can move mountains.

The faith that these people have for God's providence is truly awe-inspiring. Considering their humble budget, they accomplish so much in helping the people while still providing a comfortable experience for the Gringos that come down here. It is honestly hard for me to wrap my mind around the trust they just thrust into the lap of God, believing that He will take care of it in the way the He chooses to. For someone who plans and analyzes things as much as I do, this is quite the radical concept. But I think it's about time that I grow up a little and take the plunge into the hands of God.

I'm reading a book called, "In the Grip of Grace," by Max Lucado. On the title of the book it says, "Your Father always caught you...He still does." There are a lot of unknowns coming up in this next year for me. Unknowns about my job, future relationships, med school, living arrangements, and life in general. If I tried to plan it all out like I would like to, it would overwhelm me and all come crumbling down anyway. But Tito reminded me today that I am always in the hand of God and He will never let me go.

Thank you all so much for keeping track of my adventures while down here in Guatemala. I have learned a great deal, met literally hundreds if not thousands of people, and experienced so many rich things that I can cherish and store up in my heart forever. Thank you all so much for your prayers and thoughts and comments. I pray that in some way, this blog blessed you or at least made you think.

Right now my family is currently dealing with a death in the family of my Uncle Walter. It was not a sudden thing because he had been sick for awhile, but it has been hard on my family especially my dad. He was very close with this brother and I know that this has affected him differently than any other loss. I will be flying to California to be with him and the rest of my family on Tuesday (the day after I get back to the States). Please pray for strength for us and the right words and actions to best help the situation. Please pray for healing and time for my father to actually grieve for his loss. Thank God that Uncle Wally was a Christian, and when he passed away, he was looking towards Jesus, his Maker and Savior.

Well, this has been a long post and I still am going to write a letter to Tito and Brenda (in Spanish), so I better get to it since we leave at 5am. I am going to post pictures soon when I get back to the States for you to enjoy and see my little sponsor child, Angel. Once again, thanks for everything, and it has been an amazing journey which I have been privileged to share with you all.

Verses of the blog:
"Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
If I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
If I settle on the far side of the sea,
Even there your hand will guide me,
Your right hand will hold me fast.
-Psalm 139:7-10

God is at work! In Guatemala and around the world! Thanks again and God bless!

Office Space

Well,
The past week was a much slower one. We spent the week working at the office. Normally this is somewhat of a boring time for us. Luckily, I had a little task of making a presentation about nutrition, diabetes, and hypertension to help explain and hopefully prevent some of the health problems which are becoming very rampant. Stephanie, a nurse from Whitworth who is also an intern here, helped me make a nice little slideshow, which of course had plenty of Spanish grammatical errors which Tito pointed out. We also alphebetized the whole pharmacy and separated the antibiotics into families which was good for me to learn.

Unfortunately, since I spent most of the week in the office, there aren't many interesting stories to tell you. However, on Saturday I helped Brenda (Tito's wife) cook two dinners for the team that just arrived from Houston. During this process I had quite the humbling, yet hilarious mistranslation experience.

I was talking to Brenda and I TRIED to ask, "Cuando vamos a hervir los fideos" which means "when are we going to boil the noodles." However, instead of fideos I said fondeos and Brenda just busted up laughing as soon as I said it. She was like doubled over for 10 minutes and told their nanny Amelia about it and she just died. Finally, Tito came home and Brenda told him. He obviously cracked up too. Apparently instead of asking when the noodles would be boiled, I asked, "When are we going to boil the butt cracks?" Wow. Talk about a misunderstanding.

No, my Spanish foibles don't stop there. Only two days later, Brenda was showing us pictures that her kids had drawn. They were precious pictures of the kids with Tito and nice little cards about how much they appreciated him as their dad. We were looking at these altogether and I tried to say to Brenda, "Those are treasures." Unfortunately, my faulty Spanish struck again, and struck hard. Instead of saying "those are treasures," I said the word troseros. Brenda looked at me with this shocked expression and started pounding her fist in her hand and jokingly said, "I should slap you for that." Tito laughed and informed me of the obvious fact that I did not say, "Those are treasures." Instead I again said, "Those are butt cracks."

Needless to say, that's not the most flattering thing to say about someone else's kids' works of art. Luckily, I have known the Palacios for long enough that I wasn't thrown out on MY butt crack and we could just chock it up as another funny mistake by a silly gringo.

Anyways, this week we are working in Palencia doing clinics and doing a VBS in the afternoon with kids. It is really fun to get a chance to play with the kids. They are so happy to play and are learning more about God.

I am definitely getting pretty homesick now, and I miss my friends and family and the States in general quite a bit. We really don't appreciate the freedoms we have in the States (especially if you have a car). Anyways, thanks again for all your prayers.

Please also pray for my family right now. One of my uncles is in the last stages of liver failure and my parents are with him now trying to make his departure to see God as comfortable as possible. Luckily, he is a strong believer and he knows what joys await him. Anyways, gotta take a shower and hit the hay.

Tenga cuidado con los fondios, (You guys can figure that one out by now... :)

Justin

A little break...and a birthday

Well, we finally have arrived back in Guatemala City after our long, hot, sweaty, and awesome adventure in San Miguelito and San Pedro la Cocona in Punta de Palma along the Gulf of Honduras. Last year, I went to this place and traveled an hour and a half along a dirt road in the back of a 4x4 in the rain of a legitimate jungle, only to take a trail of muddy tears to a village called Lampara, which looked like something out of Indiana Jones. This time, our trip was not nearly as long, and most of the people actually spoke Spanish which was really nice. I worked in intake again with two women from the new team from Eastpoint Church in Spokane. I really enjoyed this team and they were very cohesive with one another and really knew why they were there.

The children played on the soccer field (per usual) and I played a little bit with them on our set up day. They set up the ball for me, one kid politely hocked a loogey and the ball and stomped on it, and I was ready to go. Since I have always claimed myself to be an aquatic mammal and not a land mammal, I expected to completely miss the ball and fall flat on my back like Charlie Brown. Luckily, my foot actually connected and the ball went flying through the goal. I felt bad though cuz I almost clocked the kid playing goalie in the face.

Throughout this clinic we saw 75-80 patients per day and just did it in one fell swoop because it was too hot to try and do two separate sessions. We started at about 9 and finished at around 1:30 or so. The last day we measure the temp and it was 107 degrees in the sun and 114 degrees on top of the truck we were loading. It was tough work and I was sweating like a stuffed pig in the extreme heat and humidity, but it was really worth it. It was incredibly sad, however, to see some of the faces of some of the people. A lot of these people do not have more than $100 worth of possessions to their name, a statistic which is staggering to me.

Although I don't work in dental, I saw for myself that the dental situation in these remote villages is nearly non-existent. Some of these kids have probably never brushed their teeth before, and thanks to the advancement of modernization with junk food products such as Coke and other sweets, their teeth just rot. I was shocked when I was talking to one of the women and she had only one bottom tooth. All the rest had rotted out. Some children's teeth were blackened with cavities, and others were broken in half and merely shards. I have heard from the dentists that it is so sad because these people need a lot more work than they can give them. They have had to limit themselves to a policy of just one extraction or filling per person, due to the sheer time and volume of people we see. A lot of the patients need a whole mouth worth of fillings. Brian told me awhile back when he was working in dental that one older patient was having their tooth extracted and when the dentist pulled it out, it practically disintegrated and she had to go digging in the gums for the rest of the remnants of the root of the tooth. (Sorry for those who are grossed out easily). We seriously take something so simple as a bi-annual teeth cleaning and basic preventative dental education for granted.

Another thing which shocked me about this round of clinics was the amount of children that came in and the ages of their mothers. Almost all of the people I saw come through intake were women with at least 4 sick children in tow and usually one having a little snack from his mother right in front of my face :/ Brooke, one of the women who helped me in intake, noticed how strong these women are in the face of such adversity. They have to deal with such difficult life situations and do not seem to be phased by the immensity of their situation.

At first, in San Miguelito I was confused with my patient lists. Five kids would show up with their mom, and several of them had different last names from their mother and from each other. I didn't realize until I asked one of them, that the reason they all have different last names is because they have different fathers. Of course, in most cases, the father was nowhere to be found with his sick children. One time, a woman came with her children of all different last names, and then a few patients later a man of the same last name as one of the kids showed up, separate from his children. Apparently, it is common for the women to be empregnated by several different men...and it doesn't seem like they observe the concept of alimony checks. Maybe they have a communal type system of help, but these women, for all the mouths to feed and love to provide, show a remarkable amount of resilience.

Another shocking thing was the young age of the mothers. There was one case that really took me aback. A women came in with five children and she was only 20 years old. When I asked her how old the oldest one was, she said 7. She has been having children almost every year since she was 13 years old! After awhile, I had to make it a habit to ask 13 year olds if they were pregnant, which was a sad thing to have to make part of my intake routine. Yet despite this seemingly hopeless situation to me, these mothers clearly loved her children and were there to get them help.

Personally, this past clinic was a very important one. Since I have been here, I have been having some trouble with my personal relationship with God and feeling close to Him. Since my last trip was so life-changing, I had placed the same expectations on this trip...waiting for some revelation from God or some epiphany of faith. For the most part, I haven't really had any until this past clinic where I was able to relax next to the beach in time off and could actually ask God for guidance.

One thing God led me to ponder about was the fact that while Jesus was on the cross, He was thinking about THESE people. This 20 year old mother of 5, this old man bent over 90 degrees from osteoporosis, this drunken man who is probably the father to 10 different children throughout the village. Regardless of your belief on predestination, as far as we know, Christ died for ALL of these people, no matter how black their teeth are, how promiscuous their sexual habits are, or how much they smell of human feces. He knew they would lead these seemingly impossible lives. While we stand in awe at how little material possessions these people have, how much more awful is the lack of hope and the pure love devoid from their lives.

Tito talked to me about his OB/GYN rotation in med school and how they would work at these clinics for the prostitutes in Guatemala. He said he saw and smelled some of the worst things he has ever experienced. But hearing that makes me think, as digusting and calloused as these people may be, we cannot just act like they don't exist. Sometimes such problems appear to be just abstract feature stories we hear about on 20/20, where the reporter merely seems like a story-teller recounting the tale of some fictional tragedy. But these problems are REAL. And these people cannot just change the channel to their lives.

Everybody has their own charities or methods of humanitarian efforts that they pursue, and as nice as it would be, we cannot all give money to every poor child we see flash across the screen. But doing this kind of work has made me realize that as much as we would like to live in a bubble of self-satisfaction and prosperity, we cannot ignore the plight of our fellow man.

If you don't already work with the homeless or have never been to a soup kitchen and have some extra time, why not give it a try. I'm not saying we need to sell all our things and become the next Mother Teresa....I HATE it when people shove charities down others' throats as if they know exactly how they should serve others. Every person is given their own social responsibility and that is between them and God. Plus, different seasons in life call for different service. But if you do have a chance or an extra night free, why not see a world very much different from your own and serve the people who you may not love, but Jesus died for to save.

I am actually kind of shocked that I am writing this because this message is totally a conviction to myself. Throughout this trip I have struggled with feelings of selfishness, ignoring the reality of these people's lives and exhibiting a lack of faith that prayer for these people will accomplish anything. Often I get so focused on my specific goal or task that I ignore the process it takes to get us there. Luckily, God has started to change my heart, but that would be my prayer request for now. For whatever reason, I have kind of had a crisis of faith throughout the trip, saying all the Christian things about prayer and love, but not really believing or feeling them.

Well this post is a lot longer than I expected, but blogs are supposed to be about self-expression and rambling, right? Thank you all so much for your support, and I can't wait to see many of you again. Oh, it was Brian's birthday yesterday and we went to TGI Friday's and he had to stand on a chair while everyone sang....public embarrassment which he absolutely hated....but I absolutely loved. :)

Verse for the day:

"Then Jesus said to his host, 'When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite our friends, your brothers or relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.'"
---Luke 14:12-14

Off to the Hot Place!

Hey everyone,

Hope everyone's fourth was full of fun and pyromania. This post is going to have to be short because we just finished a clinic again in Palencia yesterday and tomorrow we are going to leave at 5:50 am to head to our next clinic which we will have a 6 hour drive, 30 min boat ride, and 1 4x4 ride to "the hot place." I went on this same type clinic last year which was the one with the crazy mud and jungle type conditions with monsoon rain. It might be raining, it might be hot, it might be humid. You never know. What we do know is we will be doing clinics for three days at the hot place and possibly painting as well. The clinics in Palencia went well; I re-earned my spot at intake because I picked up the pace a little bit, but I don't know what I will be doing for this next one. My Spanish is still improving and I have learned such new words as "oozing," "secreting," "open sores," "udders," and other very useful conversation pieces.

Just a fun and amazing little fact. At our second clinic in Concepcion when we went back for three days we had a pastor's training and a VBS. During that time, several hundred kids came to the VBS, and around 700 people came for medical, dental, or vision treatment. PRAISE GOD! A lot of people heard the Gospel as well, and we hope that our work there made an impact on them to understand the love of God. 700 people is a whole lot of people for only 3 days under an organization comprised of only 5 people on the staff payroll. It is amazing what God can allow us to accomplish down here.

Personally, I have been having a lot of convicting revelations recently about various weaknesses in my life. It has been difficult, but I think they are very important lessons for me to learn, and ways for me to learn more about the necessity of an ever closer relationship with God.

Anyways, please pray for us as we go on this next adventure. The clinics to these places are the more tiring ones, but these people will not get any medical or dental care if we don't go there. Thanks again for all the continuing prayers. While I love this country and these people, I'm definitely starting to miss my peeps in the states! God bless and remember to scrub behind your ears.

Tenga cuidado de los ubres, (Be careful of the udders),

Justin

(I'm trying to practice my new Spanish vocabulary)

Happy Independence Day!

Hello everyone,

Well it's been yet another long while since my last post. A lot has happened since I posted last. We finished our clinics in Palencia, the school the Tito and La Mision is now in charge of keeping running. The team from Wenatchee who helped get that school up and running was so happy to see all the new buildings that have been built within the past several months. It's amazing how that school went to being a ghost town like 4 years ago, to doubling it's class size and filling all the rooms with children. I'm sure it was so amazing for them to see the transformation. All the children who go to the school are supported by sponsors from the states as are all the teachers.

I worked as a translator again for Dr. Weber Jr. and it was a good time. A lot of work and thinking each day, but it was really good and gave me some invaluable medical experience. It was sad to see the Wenatchee team head back to the states, but it was great to be able to work again with such a wonderful group of people.

Next, a team from Pacific Northwest University (a DO school in Yakima) came with Dr. Robyn (the dean of students), Dr. Snyder (an ER doc), Teresa (a dental hygienist), and a group of several first year DO students. It has been really fun getting to know them and hear about their first year in medical school. I must admit after seeing a lot of them use their skeletomuscular manipulation skills on many of the patients and even to those within our same team, I am getting more and more convinced to become a DO. While it is not the best route for more competitive specialties like neurosurgery, for family practice, third-world medicine, and more patient care focused fields, Dr. Snyder said I "would do myself a favor" if I pursued DO instead of MD. One of the students, even with her only one year of school, was able to use her manipulation skills on one of the patients at our recent clinic, and after her back cracked she looked up at her and said "GRACIAS!"

On Monday we traveled back to the clinic at the mountainous valley city of Concepcion. This time I worked in Intake collecting patient data. Then the next few days I worked in the pharmacy. There were some interesting cases and we had a lovely woman who was able to pray with the people and give them these little hygiene packs with a verse inside which she explained. Also, a large team from Texas was with us from Stone Briar Church in Dallas which is the church for 6000 people and is under the pastorship of Chuck Swindoll. They were a very nice and fun group and since we had 50 people in our whole team, we were able to have a VBS for all the kids in the city. I wasn't out there but they said that like 500 kids showed up, but when they handed out toys, it was like a mad house and they had to run away cuz the kids were so desperate for the toys.

This has been an interesting aspect to missions which I am learning more and more. As much as we want to give these people everything we have or every donation we got to every sad child we see on the street, you have to be so careful. You have to teach them how to interact and share with the rest of their community. If you merely throw toys at them, they only learn to hold out their hands and say "Gimme," which is not a mindset you want to spread around the country.

At times when I am caught in the rapid business aspect of the clinic of trying to get the job done, I forget about the reason why we are here: to help the people's need of healthcare and use it as an avenue for spiritual care and sharing the Gospel. Dr. Snyder gave an awesome lecture on spiritual healthcare and the importance of it for overall health. I was reminded of the importance of spiritual care when I noticed Dr. Oswaldo on his knees holding the hand of a young woman and praying so fervently for her. I found out later the story. She was fourteen and was having some stomach and nausea issues. Then they found out that she was pregnant. She was pretty upset and the man was not going to be part of her life. I know that this situation would be difficult to deal with in the states, but I couldn't imagine it in such a poor community. A baby having a baby. Another woman told us that she had a son who was 2 years old. She was 50! Then we were wondering how many kids she already had. I gave an educated guess of 12 kids....and I was right.

This trip was pretty fun and the group of us five gringo interns (Annie, Kevin, Brian, Ellen, and myself) were able to bond a lot. Primarily through our various bathroom escapades and stomach issues. :) Brian and I went shopping in Panajachel and basically spent our life savings. Actually, that's a lie, since the exchange rate was so good, we don't have to spend that much. Mix that with my continually polished bartering skills and you've got a shopping paradise.

One thing you can keep in prayer is that I have been perpetually sick for the past week and a half with a cough. I lost my voice for awhile and was up one night coughing. It got to the point where I had to use a nebulizer. I felt like I was back in my old chubby-cheeked asthma days. Then I smelled the wonderful scent of chewable Amoxicillin tablets and Augmentin liquid and boy did it throw me back to my sickly days as a child. I realize that's pretty sad, but most of my childhood memories surround medications and steroidal pills like Prednisone which blew up my cheeks like a balloon and converted me into a devil child. :) But I slept 10 and a half hours last night which was really great and Tito is going to give me some new really good medicine.

Anyways, we are about to eat this absolutely bomb soup called Tlalpeno with avocados and other amazing Guatemalan things (though it is a Mexican recipe). I have been cutting a lot of vegetables for Brenda lately. I realize more and more how much I love doing menial tasks like cutting vegetables and washing the dishes. I hope that gives me some points with the Misses in the future. :) Anyways, hope everyone's fourth of july is going well and when you are close to blowing up your hands with fireworks...think of me. (I know my dad is :)

Verse for the day:
"Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? " --James 2:5

Trips like this and I'm sure with every missions trip it forces you to think: what if God decided to have me born into one of these poor families in Guatemala? What if I had 9 brothers and sisters and we all got perpetually sick from the smoke in our house, parasites in our water, and the hopeless prospect of never being able to escape this depressing estate? What if I was born a woman into an extremely patriarchal society, or into a country where they would sell me into prostitution? But no, God chose to place me in a home with a loving family, plenty of opportunities for the future, relatively no financial worries and burdens, and a knowledge of Christ and His saving grace. But the majority of the world doesn't have this.

So what do I do? What do I do with this position that I was born into? Just having a glimpse of these people shows me the responsibility that we as Americans have to each other and the rest of the world. God didn't place us in affluence to just sit back, look at our worldly, emotional, and spiritual possessions with a smile on our face with sweet satisfaction. Yes, we should praise God for what He has given us, but I believe this verse and so many others echo the responsibility to share the Gospel and use our resources to DO something. Rolando was telling the team that their mission to the people of Guatemala is three-fold. The team who comes and works, the team who supports financially, and the team who prays. It has been great to meet many people from the states who don't just want to sit on their pile of accomplishments and blessings, but want to DO something about it. I know many people think changing the world is just a pipe dream for bleeding-heart idealists, but this trip has shown me I don't need to settle for this pessimissm. The world CAN be changed. We just have to recognize the blessings we have and the inherent responsibility which follows to our fellow mankind.

Well time to sign off. I will probably post photos tomorrow. I think we might be going to climb an active volcano tomorrow which should be fun. (I know Mom and Dad are probably freaking out at the prospect of this). Well happy Fourth of July again everyone. I'm gonna go watch Madagascar with the kids! God bless!