October happenings

This has been a very busy month in the homes and in the ministry!

Earlier in the month, we hosted a medical teamcome from the states and held three medical clinics in remote villages. All three were in the department of Esquintla, and one was at one of the villages which had been cut off by lava flows in Fuego's eruption back in June. Many people here had similar health concerns related to contaminated drinking water and complications from the ash. Rout 14 has been open now for a few hours each day as they are still repairing the damage from the pyroclastic flows. But even with this open, El Celan can only be reached by driving through a few rivers. There was some concern that we could be trapped up there after the day's rain, but we were able to get out in the evening to return home. Between the three clinics, we were able to see a few hundred people in El Celan, Las Palmas, and the dump in Esquintla.

Medical clinic in El Celan

I always have mixed feelings about medical clinics because for as many people as we can help, there are so many more whose health problems stem from lack or resources or malnutrition. Really, on a scale as large as malnutrition is in Guatemala, there is little we can do to help. We can give vitamins and teach families that their children to eat healthier and more, but if they cannot afford the food, in a while the vitamins will run out and they will still have no food.

The gravity of this was driven home for me by one family in particular. A mother brought her 3 boys in, and one by one it was clear that they were each malnourished, mom included, and their health concerns were all directly related to poor nutrition over time. While talking with them, we learned that their situation was very serious and they had no food in the house. A team member gave the mom some money and we walked her to her home so the next time our ministry visited families in the community, we could visit them as well. The mom broke down and shared that that morning she had woken up and none had eaten. She had the equivalent to 1 us dollar to feed the entire family of 5 that day. She herself was malnourished, and described symptoms of major anxiety attacks. She felt like a failure of a mother being unable to provide for her children. Her husband also could not look up as they shared further into their situation and more personal details. We spent time with them, and prayed with them to encourage them. But the reality is, I was talking about the hope we have in Christ in the most hopeless of situations. On some level those words felt empty against the magnitude of their fears. Their children were starving as they watched. But as we prayed, this mother showed us their family bible and shared that they read it together every day.

Medical clinic in Las Palmas

My heart breaks for this family. I have cried many tears for them in the last few weeks. But there are so many more like them. Guatemala has been in a drought and many families that lived in poverty before are now dying. This nation needs our prayer. They are filled with desperately hard working, loving parents who are loosing their families and their lives through preventable deaths related to poverty and now the drought. 2.2 million people in Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras are starving. I can't even comprehend this number so my mind goes numb to it. But this family, I have sat with them and cried with them and they are real to me. For them, my heart breaks and I can begin to understand this crisis.

Also this month, the directors of the ministry, along with their 4 youngest returned to the U.S. For a short visit with family, and speaking engagements in PA and NY. For the youngest 3, this was their first return visit in 7 years. Wanda and the kids visited for a week and a half in which time the interns in the main grouphome looked after the kids here. Many people throughout the ministry stepped up during this time to help keep things across the ministry running smoothly. In the main home, our family felt small with only 20 people in the house. We had smaller suppers, and all fit at one table a few nights. Our kids and ourselves greatly missed the other part of our family however, and not a day passed when several of the kids asked dozens of times when they were coming back! Some of our boys struggled the most however without an adult male in the house, and the remnants of an early life of abuse and abandonment started to show their face in behaviors surfacing. Their minds are set at ease however as all are now home again! 

We are facing the repercussions of a law passed in Guatemala to try and return all children possible who were removed from their homes and are living in the system back to their families. The clear issue here being that they were removed for important reasons! As our kids have hearings, we now realize some could leave for a hearing and not return to our home. We love these kids, so to hear the situations they came out of, and to know they may be sent right back is terrifying. One of our boys will however likely be returning to his mother in a month. We disagree, and our hearts hurt that he will no longer be in our home, but also at the situation he will be returning to. It is challenging to welcome his mother into this home to teach her how to care for her son knowing his story and history with her, and seeing his responses in all of it.

Finally, many kids and a few adults in both homes are sick with respiratory issues, diarrhea, and lowgrade fevers.  Some are spiking high fevers as well and a few have vomited.  This is a struggle for many reasons, and some of our kids are very fragile.  Please pray for the health of our kiddos!