Christmas reminders of hope

Corinthians 13New International Version (NIV)

13 If I speak in the tongues[a] of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast,[b] but do not have love, I gain nothing.

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

Because I don’t think we read this enough.

November 28, 2016

We temporarily lost our sanity.

We decided to take the kids to see a movie.

So today, we took 12 children with special needs, an additional 3 fulp kids, and 10 adults into Guatemala city, into a loud and into a crowded mall. We took three vehicles, 6 car seats (two children rode secured in their wheelchairs), 10 wheelchairs strapping some on the roof, and others tightly packed into the truck.

One van leaked a lot of oil, and one child leaked a lot of vomit. Somewhere around 4 or 5 kids cried during the drive, and one squealed like a banshee. Bottles were fed in a movie theater. Children were carried into and onto toilets, while others waited in line for the bathrooms’ fold out changing tables. Strangers smiled and pat some heads. Others just stared.

Our kids looked at the great displays at the mall, and enjoyed the elevators and escalators. Even Yenni tried the escalator, and after an initial discomfort after nearly doing the splits, she smiled and enjoyed herself.

The movie theatre had no handicap spots for wheelchairs, so our children had to be lifted one by one into the chairs. Once the advertisements began, everyone was in awe at the enormous television they saw. Incredibly, none of the kids had to leave the theatre! Yenni was on the edge of her seat nearly the entire time. Some kids slept, but most stayed attentive the entire time.

By the time we got home it was a quick unload of kids, wheelchairs, and diaper bags, fast supper, meds, diapers, and off to bed after a really long day.

December 13, 2016

Today another little coffin was buried. This one was for Selvin, a six year old by who lived with his family in La Gomera. Selvin had a congenital defect called Pectus Excavatum, which means essentially that his ribs grew inward leaving a massive inward dip on his abdomen. This is a problem because when his ribs grew in so much there was not very much space left for his heart, lungs, and other organs. For Selvin, this meant very frequent upper respiratory infections, and other pulmonary issues. When we last visited on Thursday, the 8th, his family told us that he was in the ICU with pneumonia, and was awaiting a blood transfusion.

We also learned Thursday that doña Concepcion, the mother of Maria who also lives in La Gomera, had died 15 days earlier. Just 5 days after our previous visit. She had diabetes and very high blood sugars, topping my meter’s range. She had been taken to the hospital for her high blood sugar because the family had run out of insulin, and a few days later she died in the ICU.

And then we have had some real scares with our Edy this week.

Sometimes this really stinks.

We’ve lost so so many people, and children.

I’m so glad it’s Christmas time. There is no better reminder that Christ came into this broken and dying world to seek and save those who are lost. Today Selvin hurts not more. Praise God! The Christmas story is an incredible reminder of what a great hope we have. But it was only through His death that we really gained life. God uses the most inconceivable things to draw near His children. So surrounded by death in this world, we hold tight to the hope that is life through the death of Christ.

December 15, 2016

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas! I’ll just share some photos of the festivities!!

26,500

We have a really neat view from our roof of volcanos Acatenango, and the active Fuego. During the day you can see the smoke, and at night you can see the fire. But early in the morning, and at dusk, you can sometimes see both!

November 7, 2016
Yesterday perhaps the greatest tragedy of our time occurred.

Over 26,500 children are left dead.

Parents and grandparents and brothers and sisters morn.

Tiny coffins can be found on the streets.

That is 7 times more deaths than the greatest terrorist attack in modern history.

But it didn’t frontline the media. It probably didn’t even get a footnote. But even it it had, nothing would be done to stop from happening again tomorrow. But these children didn’t die in car bombs, or a terrorist attack that was failed to be stopped in time.

They died on our watch.

Over 26,500 children died yesterday of preventable causes related to their poverty.

It’s sickening.

It’s sickening because it will happen again today, and tomorrow, and the next day and we are not outraged about it.

We ignore it.

How can we call ourselves Christians serving God, or for those who aren’t, Humanitarians helping the world, when we continue to ignore these deaths every single day?

Any parent who has lost a child has lost more than just the life they have loved every day since their child was born. They have lost also the hopes and dreams of a future they would have with their child in the years to come.

The problem is that these are not our children; not our loss. “These things just happen over there”.

It’s time to stop ignoring this tragedy. We are bombarded with emotion photos of poor children in the commercials, and we have become desensitized to them. That’s the real tragedy. Just like caregiver role strain can run down a caregiver until they nearly burn out, we have experienced compassion fatigue in which “we have become detached and indifferent to the constant and repeated images of poverty and adversity that bombard us”. It’s time that we pulled our head out of the sand and looked again at those faces. It’s time that we remember those who are forgotten.

I know I get on my soapbox about this topic, so here are my sources so you can see where my numbers come from, and so you can further explore.

Global Issues, http://www.globalissues.org/article/715/today-over-26,500-children-died-around-the-world.

Stearns, Richard. The Hole in Our Gospel: What Does God Expect of Us?: The Answers That Changed My Life and Might Just Change the World. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010. Print.

October 28, 2016 (Yes, I know I wrote this before that last section, but I like to end on a positive note!) It’s been awhile since my last update, so I have a number of small stories to share.

In the villages, we have met a number of new families. One such boy is 13 year old Wilmer. (I have no picture of him because he simply does not stop moving!) He has downs syndrome, and is nearly blind from an astigmatism. The plight of he and his mother is quite serious however. Five years ago, his father died forcing them to move into town to be closer to support. An older woman was helping them until last year she died as well. Wilmer has four older siblings who have all moved out leaving just Wilmer and his mother in a one room house without electricity, running water, or a bathroom. The entrance to their home is a 30-40 foot drop from the road bridged by a flimsy wooden ramp with very poor supports. We I walked down, the wood bowed under my weight, and the last several feet my shoes slid down because of the steep incline. But God does incredible things. Within 20 minutes of Daryl sharing the need of this family on facebook, he had a sponsor for monthly food and medicine, and also money donated to create a safe entrance to this home.

Here are a few photos from some of the kids we visit every month, and their siblings. Included are photos of preparation for a soup kitchen for the kids in the Esquintla dump.

This is one of our kids that we visit monthly being pushed back and forth by her younger brother. There are the only two in the house because their mother works and cannot easily traverse the mountainous region with her daughter’s wheelchair or stroller. It is not uncommon for children at young ages to be left home alone, or to care for younger siblings.

Here are two very chunky babies we've gotten to watch grow while visiting Dorcas, one of our sponsored children.

 

Also, just a glimpse of the fog we faced up in the mountains this last month.

And a quick view of Antigua’s indoor meat and produce market. We do not get our meat or produce here, but it is a good look at the indoor market on a day with few people.

 

In our home, we have two waves of sickness pass through this month. First a stomach virus with vomiting and diarrhea which affected 10 of our 12 children, and half of the adults. For most this was limited to frequent trips to the bathroom and diaper changes, but for a few, vomiting led to extra showers among the girls. The second wave of sickness was an upper respiratory infection that affected all but one of the adults, and most of the kids as well. For the most part, this just involves trying to explain to Yenni that she does not actually need a tissue every two minutes, and a LOT of extra hand washing, but for Ruavis and Edy, this is a lot scarier. Between the medications, antibiotic regimen, percussion, and nebulizer treatments however, even these two are doing much better. Although, for some of us, mild symptoms still linger.

Often missed in my description of the kids in the group home is mention of the Fulp’s three youngest adopted children. Josh John and Kimmie are three incredible preteen/teens. They are very smart, and caring. They love and care for their “younger siblings” in the home, and are truly incredible kids. A few weeks ago, while we were overwhelmed with some situation or another, Josh and John took all the group home kids into the playroom after supper and played with them until it was time for the bedtime routine. They played hard at first, but then began playing quieter games, and ended in a story time in which they translated an english book into Spanish as they read to the kids. This warms my heart because these kids are so much help and do so much more than others their age. And they volunteer for things like feeding bottles, brushing teeth, and just playing with the little ones. They are such a blessing in this home.

November 1st is a famous holiday in many Central American countries: the day of the dead. In Guatemala I am told that it is actually called the day of the saints. This is a big deal, and a huge part of the culture. The catholic families spend some time repainting the above ground crypts in graveyards, and leaving flower wreaths. Then, on the day of the saints, they go together to the grave sites and picnic in the graveyard. For weeks leading up to this day, you can find children running and buying supplies to build kites from the tiendas. And on November first, the entire valley is full of kites. There is a great field nearby where thousands gather to fly massive kites, some over 10 feet in diameter. Now, these events are a little too much for us as transportation is especially challenging with so many wheelchairs. So instead, we were invited to the Beyer’s house for a cook out, and a day of outdoor fun. This was such a blessing to the family. All of the kids loved it.

 

 

Also this month, we had a brief visit from a good friend Emily White, who served in the home last summer for 5 weeks. It was an exciting week because this was during the world series. I have learned that in the Fulp household, baseball is a big deal. And when the family team has been cheered for for a lifetime without winning, making it to the world series is a massive event. Each game night, we all gathered together to watch with friends, or the kids spread across the room. Every run scored, the adults would cheer, and then the kids would raise up their hands to give and receive high fives, and would start clapping because of the excitement they drew from the adults. And when the cubs won, I’m pretty sure the cheers resounded across this country.

 

And finally, I would like to share that I will be returning again to the States in January to finish my bachelors degree in nursing. The last several semesters have been quite challenging as I have been taking classes online through Wright State University in Ohio. Unfortunately, there are two classes that I have to take in person on campus in January. I plan on returning to Hope for Home here in Guatemala as soon as this semester finishes. I do not particularly look forward to leaving, especially for so long. A lot can happen here in that amount of time. I have put a lot of thought, and prayer into this however, and from the time I moved to Guatemala until now I still feel that it is important to finish this work I had committed to before I left. When I became a nurse with my associates degree, it was so that I could work hard and pay for my BSN, which will soon become a necessity for nurses through the state of Ohio. The timing is also very fortunate as both of my brothers are expecting baby girls during that time, so I will get to meet them when they are born!

During that time I would be happy to meet with anyone who wants to know more about the ministry, or share with any group.

I hope this update has found you all well! Thank you again for your prayers and support! ~Katie~ --after His heart--