Today our half of the team served at a medical clinic we set up at another church only 30 minutes away from the ministry center. Sunshine, Garrett, Gavin (Garrett\'s friend traveling with us), and I were together, but Becca went with the other half of the team to serve again at Maná de Vida. She really loves working with the kids and was glad for her extra day at the school. 

The church was located down a narrow alley at the bottom of a moderately steep hill. This church was cinderblock and consisted of a worship area and a bathroom. The bathroom was attached to the church but located outside and did not have running water. As the first user I was surprised to walk through a large spider web when I entered - yikes! I later realized the two buckets full of discolored water placed outside the door were to provide water for flushing (I had wondered if I was supposed to wash my hands in them, so I\'m glad I didn\'t). Later in the day my teammate Darrin pointed out that the long, thin ditch that came out from under the bathroom area and wound through the visiting area outside the church was the means by which the bathroom waste ran down the hill. I really didn\'t like that the small bathroom locked from both the inside and the outside, but I overcame my claustraphobia when I needed to use it.

Sunshine worked in the pharmacy and dispensed medications for the patients, and Garrett and Gavin spent most of their time in the counseling stations where they prayed and shared their testimonies with patients who were awaiting medicine from the pharmacy. Since everyone gets at least vitamins (many Guatemalans are malnourished), everyone had a \"prescription\" to wait for. I did triage today, which I found very enjoyable. I got to interact with every patient who came in with the help of a translator. I took blood pressure, measured blood oxygen level, and heartbeat using a machine. I also took everyone\'s temperature and weighed the children. I recorded all of this on a notepad, plus their name, age, and primary reason for coming to the clinic. This helped the doctors see the patients more efficiently.  

This church did not have any kitchen facilities so they could not provide our lunch, but they had hot coffee and a special kind of long cookie for us. The cookie was meant to be dunked in the coffee. I\'m not much of a dunker, but one of the translators advised me to put the cookie in the coffee \"for a count of 10\" and then eat it. Wow, it was delicious! What a sweet blessing for our team. We simply brought cold cuts and peanut butter, etc. from the ministry center for our lunch.

We have been having team time each night and today we each shared our highlight so far from the week. Mine was a small moment but it felt spiritually significant. I had been thinking about the earthquake we experienced when we were here last summer, and was reminded of a Bible passage. In the story it said that there was an earthquake, but God was not in the earthquake. Then there was a storm, but God was not in the storm. God came in a still, small voice. Shortly after I thought of that Bible story (forgive me if I have erred in my retelling from memory) Dr. Hermann Alb played a song in our devotianal time called, \"Whisper.\" The song spoke of God whispering in our ear. In the busyness of life I sometimes forget to pause and listen, and it was a great reminder for me to spend time in quiet listening to God, as well as to recommit to a habit of praying and planned Bible reading. 

Our team blog for Day 5, by Ty Bryant:

Psalm 34:8 says, “Taste and see that the Lord is good, blessed is the one who takes refuge in Him.”  I’ve always loved that verse because of the senses it provokes.  When you taste something so good you can’t get away from it, you keep coming back to said item again and again.  Jesus is like that to those of us who have run headlong into His love and grace.  We have tasted, and we can’t get enough of Him.  I’m in Guatemala this week with my 12-year-old son and a team of amazing individuals, and I dare say all of us in some way or another have tasted once again how amazing, how compassionate, how longstanding and patient, and how gracious is our Lord Jesus.  I know I sure have.  From the young woman who brought her young toddler daughter into the medical clinic who was pregnant with her second child to the senior adult male who shared the brokenness he has experienced in the last 11 or 12 years via a failed marriage and accusations by his family that he said are untrue.  I was and am reminded that we are all the same.  We are all on a journey, and this journey has no guarantees except that “in this world we will have troubles,” but it doesn’t stop there.  It says to those who taste and trust in the One who is I Am…who brings us from death to life…who gave his own life to take our place in judgment…for those of us who taste that grace there is the second half of that verse.  Yes, there will be troubles along life’s road, some so hard that we feel we might break under their burden, but the promise for those of us who belong to him says, “…but be of good cheer for I (Jesus) have overcome the world.” 

That is what I was able to share with the young mom who felt hopeless and lost.  She shared and I shared.  Different paths, but the same need.  We both need to taste the goodness of Jesus.  After hearing her story and sharing some of mine, this young mom chose to pray and received Christ right there in the middle of make shift medical clinic set up in the church of a poor village…because Jesus is there.  The old gray-haired man, who came in with pain in his shoulder and back, who was probably close to 70, shared his heartbreak, but how Jesus had met him in the middle of that heartbreak years earlier, and how he is now a leader in the church in spite of his broken home and strained family relationships.  He had tasted and continues to taste the goodness of the Savior, and we were able to pray for Jesus to heal him not only of his physical ailments, but of his emotional and relational scars.  Who knows how the lives of these individuals and their families will turn out, but I know sitting in a hot, dusty room in the middle of country in Guatemala, we were all able to taste together the goodness of the Lord and we are better for it. 

Today four team members could not make it out to serve, but everyone in my family felt well. Please pray for everyone to be restored to full health!

Our half of the team traveled to set up a mobile medical clinic today. Fourteen of us assisted the four doctors and one pharmacist with various aspects of the clinic. I organized and led the team at the clinic today. We were able to see about 82 patients, pray with and for them, and provide medicine for them. 

The area where we set up the clinic was in a small church about an hour away from our home base. The church had an area for services, plus one bathroom and a kitchen facility. Two walls were cinderblock and one was corragated metal. As far as I could tell it only had 3 walls! Ferral dogs wandered in and out throughout the day, looking sadly thin and some with visible sores. 

The mission of Medical Missions Ministries is \"mobilizing the church to influence.\" One meaning behind this is that the local church hosts the medical clinics so they can invite new people to come and seek medical care, thus connecting them to the church. Dr. Hermann Alb sat near me at dinner tonight and told me that their best practice is also to have follow up using a church volunteer as a local health advocate to do follow up visits regarding health issues identified in the clinics. While this would never comply with the confidentiality policies in the US, it shows the church cares for the overall community and the individuals in it. 

It was a privilege to serve in the name of Jesus today. I was proud of Sunshine, Garrett & Becca who spent their day praying for patients and telling them the good news of the gospel, and also sharing their own personal testimonies. Sunshine and Becca teamed up with their friends Gabby and Kari, while Garrett flew solo (they all had translators.)

Thank you for all your prayer and emotional support! If you feel led to send us a scripture or prayer we\'d love that!

Our team blog from Day 4, by Neale Hightower:

Tuesday, July 24th

As I write this, we have just finished our debrief time with the team at the end of our 4th day of the trip. This is my second time in Guatemala, and I continue to be amazed with how God works in the simple things, and the faith of the people we meet. When we were at Maná de Vida yesterday, one of the interpreters asked me what Americans thought of Guatemala. I told him I couldn’t speak for all Americans, but that last time I was blown away at the beauty of the country and the warmth & hospitality of the people. Since we’ve been here my impressions are only reinforced.

This morning I was very encouraged when everyone on the team was able to go out and serve - no one was ill enough to need to stay home. Praise God! Thank you for praying for us.

We start each day with devotions/Bible teachings each morning that are 1 - 2 hours long. Please pray that each member of our team, as well as our teacher Dr. Hermann Alb, would be encouraged and draw closer to God as a result of these teachings. Also pray that our commitment to learn more about God and grow in our relationship with Him would continue over time once we return home.

Please continue to pray for team health as some folks are still somewhat under the weather.

Today I spent much of my day working on child sponsorship. My understanding is that Maná de Vida, the school we are focusing on in an impoverished area of Guatemala, covers about 25% of it\'s budget with donations from child sponsorship from the USA. Our team leader, D\'Ann Renner, as well as Sherri Bull (not on this trip) lead out the child sponsorship efforts. From what I have observed of Maná de Vida on my 4 visits, I truly believe the ministry is transforming the community of Escuintla and giving many children the message of hope in the gospel of Jesus Christ - as well as practical hope for their future through education and training. I have personally be sponsoring a child at Maná for over 9 years and I believe it is more than a worthwhile investment - so it was a joy to work on it today. We hope to raise awareness of the child sponsorship opportunity through social media and I made about 10 posts related to this today. It\'s a start! Please pray the efforts be fruitful. To check out these posts, see our page on Facebook called Guatemala Mission Trip - Medical Missions Ministry and Maná de Vida. If you sponsor a child you can come with me to serve next year and meet him or her!

Guatemala Team Blog, July 21-28

Monday, July 23

By Kris Higgins 

This is my first trip to Guatemala. It’s our second day of our “mission” work here. I didn’t know what to expect. I heard stories of past trips, etc. but experiencing it is incredible. It’s hard to know where to begin, because each day has been so full. Yesterday, we were at Maná de Vida, the Christian school for children who cannot afford to go to school. We were welcomed by a parade of children with balloons, singing and treating us like we were celebrities. We then joined them in their worship service in the courtyard…and the singing. I’ve heard children sing in different languages on TV , but there is nothing like hearing the voices of about 100 kids sing worship songs in Spanish, live, literally praising God. Some of them had their eyes closed and hands raised. After that amazing experience, we were brought up front in a line and each child came by and hugged us. I’ve never said, ”Hola!” So much in my life! I really wish I knew more Spanish or at least practiced more phrases before I came. The smiles, the hugs, the warm embrace and acceptance of the children was humbling and beautiful. They LOVE hugs. They LOVE the cameras and getting their pictures taken. They are open hearted and tender. They are well behaved and thankful. They have very little, but they are content.  I worked in the kitchen helping to prepare lunch with another team member and our interpreter, then helped to serve the lunch to the children. What a joy that was! We handed them tootsie pops as a treat. Their eyes lit up. Simple. Smiles. Hugs. Lollipops. No sermons. No big words. Just a whole lot of love.

Today, we went back to Maná de Vida and went into a community where, Lord willing, the new permanent campus of Maná de Vida will be built in the next few years.  I haven’t ever seen this kind of poverty. We were delivering clothes to the people there.  Kids from the school came and helped set up the tables, place the bags of clothes out and we passed them out. They lined up and came by the droves to get clothing for themselves and their children. Two women in particular were very open and hugged me openly. There was something special in their eyes. As we talked through an interpreter, we realized that we were sisters in Christ. One woman started to cry and thanked us for helping them. Of course, I started to cry also. What did I do? I just came to pass out clothes one day out of my year. She welcomed us to her home any time. It was a simple square concrete home in the middle of the trees. What a precious woman. The other woman asked me to pray for her that she would get a job. She also wanted a Bible so she could read it. She wanted me to have her name so I would remember to pray for her.  So the interpreter wrote it down. I prayed, first asking God, “What do I say? It’s just me…I have so much. She needs so much.”  But, the Lord reminded me that He is God over both of us. We both live under the same sky. We both need Him.  We both can’t “do” life without Him. He loves us both equally.  I told her that she can see Jesus in the sky and the trees and He will hear her prayer. He is her provider. We can know Him, know He exists, through what he has made…and hopefully we will get her a Bible so she can read His words and find even more knowledge and comfort.

I end with this… Praise God that He is over all. He sees it all. He knows it all and He cares about it all.  From one end of the earth to the other, God is holding it all together. He is orchestrating His love and His will in the lives of people all over the earth. This is amazing to me and comforting. We are all His. From the little child that loved to be tickled, to the nursing mother, to this suburban housewife, and to the toothless grandmother, The Lord loves us all and is watching over all of us, bidding us come to Him alone for life.  “The Lord is slow to anger and quick to love…The Lord has compassion on ALL He has made… Psalm 145.”

Yesterday about 20% of our team became ill with gastrointestinal issues, including Sunshine. She and another team member were not up to serving today, but everyone else rallied and one half of the team went to serve in medical clinics. Our half of the team went to Maná de Vida, which is a school in an impoverished area of Guatemala. Later in the day today one additional person felt unwell, but everyone else had improved. Please continue to pray for our team\'s health, and that we would be effective in ministry this week.

Today I experienced an unexpected turn of events. I had been asked to teach a personal hygiene class to multiple grade levels at Maná de Vida - primarily about handwashing and dental health/teeth brushing. I was told there were toothbrushes and toothpaste available for me to distribute to each student. Well, when we arrived the toothbrushes could not be located but we found some emergency kits that had been donated earlier this summer when Volcán de Fuego errupted and many Guatemalans were displaced from their homes. Because there were menstrual health products and toilet paper in the kits it was decided I should teach only the girls and in addition to handwashing and dental health, I should cover the additional topics of bathroom and menstrual hygiene! These impromptu additions added a challenging element to my day. The third, fourth, and fifth grade girls seemed to already be familiar with all the topics covered, but the second grade girls definitely learned a lot. Please pray that they would practice the healthy habits we discussed, and that any new information they learned would be part of their healthy development. The best part about teaching the class was starting out talking about how God created each one of them individually, including their bodies. Taking care of their bodies, which the Bible calls temples of the Holy Spirit, is honoring to God. When I stated that I believe that God created each of them, many of the girls responded, \"Thank you!\" They were so precious.   

Here is the blog written by D\'Ann Renner, our team leader, about Day 2 (yesterday):

Today, Sunday, was a day of worship. First, we went to Vida Real Antigua. Vida Real has over 30 sites, and is the parent church and spiritual head for both Maná de Vida and Medical Missions Ministry.

The service was in Spanish but the worship transcended language as we praised the God and Father of us all. Words didn’t matter, because the Holy Spirit interpreted for us. At the end, the home pastor, via a translator, thanked us for the offering of our time and talents to serve their country. The service ended with us taking the Lord’s Supper with them, the first time I’ve experienced communion in Guatemala.

Afterwards, we worshipped over lunch in one of the most beautiful spots in Guatemala. The mountains, the flowers, the birds- all pointed to the creativity, beauty and majesty of our Lord.

Tomorrow we start serving. Stay tuned!

Good afternoon, 

Prayer requests for Day 1:

That our team grow together as brothers and sisters in Christ.

Two members of our team did not feel well. Please pray they would fully recover.

Please take a moment now to pray for these requests.

Garrett wrote the team blog for our travel day. Here it is:

Today was a big day, we started off the trip strong with a large thunder storm, a fallen tree, and a double delayed flight; The spiritual warfare was already becoming evident! However, we all made it safely and in good spirits to the airport’s international terminal. We met up at Entrance Two and greeted each other warmly. Although it was early we were all still very excited to get going on the work we were going to do in Guatemala.

Then, prepared and ready to go, we waited 45 minutes to get all of the boarding passes situated before heading over to security. The line for security was relatively short as we sped through it. Some of us (including me) got searched, but we all made it through with all of our carry-on bags and personal items secure. We then decided to go throughout Concourse F in search of food to eat before our flight. We dispersed to various food locations and eventually met up at the terminal where we learned that our flight had been delayed for another hour and a half. However, through all of this we kept up our spirits, through a turbulent flight and several startling extra-loud announcements, we stayed upbeat and ready for what God would soon allow us to do on our trip.

We then retrieved our luggage and went through Guatemalan customs. Once through, we found our vehicles and made our way to the compound. We brought our bags in and began to get acquainted with the place we will be staying for the next week. We then found our rooms and started to unpack our things. We ate lunch from McDonald’s and discovered several of the activities available at the compound such as ping-pong, foosball, and lounging in the common area between rooms or on the upper porch (if you’re a kid or young adult).

We gathered and played a game to get to know each other where we went around in a circle saying our names, favorite food, and one interesting fact. To me at least it seemed that an abnormally large number of individuals on our team like sushi for some reason?? We had our first kitchen cooked meal as a team and enjoyed the rest of the night.

Overall, we got to know each other and grew together as a team on day one. Although we didn’t do much on day one, we got closer to our friends and made new ones; we have now prepared ourselves to go out and serve together not as individuals, but as a team that can grow spiritually and make a change together.