Guatemala

The first part of August I was able to take a trip to Guatemala. It was beautiful! The people were very friendly and most spoke English which was very good for me. (My Spanish still stinks!) I went there to meet up with a group from True North Church. They are partnering with a church in Guatemala. So that's where we spent most of our time. The church has started a new church out in a much poorer community and they also provide a health clinic there as well. That was one of the purposes for this trip. The team came to assist with a health clinic. The clinic was for 3 days. Two of them were at the church in the small town, but one day we went on the road to a refugee village and saw patients there as well. That was pretty cool. It reminded me some of the precario but the houses were definitely in better shape and not so many people crowded into one small area. I have a few pictures, not many because I am terrible at taking pictures. I'm usually busy doing other things. So anyway here are a few and some of them are of here too. I will have more of just Guatemala later. The team is compiling a CD with everyone's photos so as soon as I get that I will post it.
http://joyncostarica.shutterfly.com/action/?a=8AYtnLly1buGIn

Ladies Bible Study

First I want to update everyone on Arlene. She had another God moment when she went to get the medication she needed. First of all the medication is very expensive. She knew that, so she borrowed money to get it. (I'm sure with a ridiculous amount of interest) She found out that 80% of the money was for the clinic and %20 was for the actual medication. When she got there the people at the clinic told her that she didn't owe them anything just to pay for the pills. She had that much money of her own so she was able to take the borrowed money back right away and avoid the interest. God is amazing! Oh yeah and the medication is already working. She is feeling much better. The depression is gone and she has had much more energy.

The second thing is our ladies surprise me every week. This past week they made me stand in awe of how far they have come. When they came to bible study the each had a bag of something. One person had a bag of rice, one beans, one sugar, and the list goes on. That in itself was not so unusual, but then they put all their things together. That was something new. I finally had to ask, my curiosity got the better of me. They told me that there was a lady in the precario who has been very sick and is very poor and hasn't had any food, so they decided to take some to her and to pray for her. OK, maybe it doesn't sound like a big deal to you but to me it was HUGE! Here's why. At some point in timewe have had to deliver food to every one of the ladies because they haven't had any food. So I am very surprised that they didn't just tell us so we could take food to her. They didn't even ask us for anything, no money, no food, nothing. We were invited to go and deliver the food and to pray for her. They said they all had been blessed and they just wanted to pass it on. They had to have lots of faith to give away food. They had to know that they would be provided for when the time came that it was them without anything. They have all been there too. They all were so excited that they decided to do it again the next week. This time I was invited to participate. I was not able to because of my trip to Guatemala. They told me not to worry about it, that I could do it with them the next time. They have grown so much. I am so proud of them!