February 2007
The concrete steps were steep and staggered. The rather
widely spaced steps led through an attic type opening into
the hotel’s three rooms. One bathroom and one shower
serviced the three rooms. The rooms had only beds in them.
There were nineteen of us on the short term dental/medical/ministry
team. There were not enough beds for all of us. The second
hotel – where half of the team was to stay, had closed
even though a deposit had been made on the rooms.
Having
left before 6:00 A.M. from Lanquin and having arrived after
6:00 P.M. in Santa Clara had us looking forward to a good
night’s sleep. When the obvious had to be accepted
– that there was not enough room in the one open hotel
that had rooms and even if there had been enough room in
the hotel, it would have been iffy dangerous for some of
us more senior team members to carry stuff up and down the
steep, staggered steps, it was decided that the next best
option was to go on for another half an hour to San Juan.
A core missionary characteristic of always having a flexible
mindset was put into practice.
|
 |
Going
on meant going down a winding stretch of road that has
seventeen switchbacks – a road that will cause
the hands of anyone having vertigo to begin to sweat
thinking about the steep drop offs edging the road.
The reward for getting to San Juan was a comfortable
hotel, hot showers and a great view of Lake Atitlan.
The downside was to have to go back up the switchbacks
the next morning to Santa Clara for scheduled dental
and medical clinics and for planned kids activities.
The photo to the left is of Jack with a young dental
patient, with his favorite Spanish translator and with
Murray – Jack’s pet stuffed donkey whose
job was to make sure that Jack did everything right.
|
|
We enjoyed being back in Guatemala. It was a trip that we
had been looking forward to making since our 2006 trip. We
enjoyed being able to spend twelve days with Don and Connie.
We enjoyed having my sister and her husband on this year’s
team again. We enjoyed the growing friendship that we have
had over the past three years together with Tim and Amy and
with Jack and Sandi. We enjoyed being able to spend time with
some ‘old’ Guatemalan friends and former co-workers
– Betty, Jaime, Hector and Patty.
Our trip did not end when the Guatemala 2007 short term dental/medical
ministry team returned to the U.S.; we stayed for another
five days to be available to AIM’s World Race Squad
A. We were able to spend time with three of the four –
six member teams that make up Squad A. The young guys and
gals on these teams were an inspiration to us. We gave the
three teams several options to choose from where they could
travel to – to have ministry.
|
One
of the teams chose to go to Puerto Barrios – where
they were welcomed by Patty’s mother. The other
two teams decided that they wanted to go to Lake Atitlan.
We went with them to the lake. When we got to the lake,
we decided to take the team that had decided to stay
in Panajachel with us to San Juan in the same boat –
which we are getting into in the photo on the right,
as the team that had decided to stay in San Juan. The
team that is in San Juan now is helping out at the same
school – which has about 200 students, where we
had dental and medical clinics about a week earlier.
They are staying in the same hotel where we stayed.
|
|
|
|
Thank you very much for your prayers. We are very grateful
that our time in Guatemala went as well as it did. Thank you
for praying for Hector and Patty. Hector has begun his doctorate
studies. The same day that we left Guatemala for the U.S.,
Hector was leaving for Lanquin to teach a PEB module. We really
are amazed/awed by God’s grace in and through you and
through what you have done and are doing for us. We are very
grateful for your desire to and for your commitment to partner
with us through what God is leading us to do through AIM.
Sincerely,
Gary
and Nancy
More
trip info on our blog
|
|
