It’s Nearly Time. . .

for the Mission Team to head out to Guatemala. The action packers and suitcases for the ministry projects are packed and waiting to be loaded on the bus, and the team is getting excited to start on their adventure. And what a team it is!

The Building Team (Kathy Hess, Allan Kubisiak, Dan Paulsen and Tim Engelien) will be building high efficiency wood burning stoves. Many people in Sumpango do all their cooking over an open fire inside their tiny homes with no ventilation system. This causes very severe, long lasting health issues.

The Children’s Team (Kelsey Peterson, Christine Sullivan, Suzi Bergeron and Rick Merdan) will be bringing a VBS style program to children in two different orphanages. They will also be helping with general upkeep of the buildings in between playing games and having fun.

The Women’s Team (Chris Scribner, Anita Olson, Sandy Schreier and Andrea Kubisiak) have worked on a wonderful Nutrition program that will be presented to the women and children of Sumpango. This is a pioneer project and I know Dr. Oscar Paredes is very excited for them to arrive.

Pastor Kent will be leading the way, providing pastoral care while making sure everyone stays out of trouble while having fun. Mary Merdan is the Mother Hen of the group, making sure everyone stays healthy and safe.

But these 14 people are not the only members of Grace going on this trip. Each and everyone of you are on this trip with them. If it was not for your continued support and involvement, these mission trips would not be possible. “Thank you” just doesn’t begin to cover it.

If you would like to see the Mission Team off, please join them at Grace, this Saturday, January 28th at 5:00 pm. And if you are feeling really adventurous, you can come welcome them back home Sunday, February 5th around 4:00 am. (Please contact Stacy in office so she can arrange a wake up call for you.)

Just the Facts

There were so many intangibles, but I wanted to list some of the facts about what happened on this trip. 

1. Over 300 patients seen by the medical team.
2. Over 100 sets of teeth cleaned.
3. Over 100 dental procedures accomplished.
4. ~100 children ministered to on Monday.
5. ~130 children ministered to on Tuesday.
6. ~320 children ministered to on Wednesday.
7. ~25 children ministered to on Thursday morning.
8. 60 children ministered to on Thursday afternoon at the orphanage.
9. ~250 pictures printed out to give to adults, children, & entire families.
10. ~12 women taught crafts to sell at the market or to use at home.
11. ~10 families from Sumpango directly involved in helping during the week.
12. 3 homes used to provide space for the ministries.
13. 7 interpreters involved throughout the week.
14. 1 chicken dance performed by the team and the people of Sumpango.

Tim

Tim’s thoughts upon return

Our team got back to Rapids this morning at 5:00am. This trip to Guatamala was one of the most incredible experiences of my life. I thank God for giving me the opportunity to go and serve there. The people of Sumpango and all of Guatamala are such wonderful people. The people of the dump community have very little, but have an inner pride that I have never seen before in people in this situation. We did some very good things for these people, but what they gave me was totally unexpected and wonderful. The relationships that I gained with these families, the team from Rapids, Dr. Peredes, the incredible interpreters, Jeff from Mission Impact, and Pablo at the hotel will be cherished forever.
We spent about 5 hours on Thursday at an orphanage for HIV children. For 2 hours they played so hard that every bone and muscle in my body was exhausted from running, hugging, and giving piggyback rides. These children are taken care of very well, but 14 nuns around the clock for 60 children can only do so much. It was fun to give them some of the close attention that they desire and deserve.
May God bless you and your family and please be very thankful for what you have. It is very easy to forget how good we have it. When things aren’t going your way, remember the slogan that we used all week, “….. and that is just the way we like it.”
Tim E.

We are thanking God the medications were released and distributed yesterday! It is another sunny day in Sumpango and this afternoon will be spent at a local orphanage. As the sun sets this evening so will the sadness that comes as we prepare to leave the beautiful people in this community. We thank you all for your constant prayers and support…this has been a truly amazing experience that we look forward to sharing with you when we return!

Children eagerly listen to Robyn!

Cultural exchange is a nice icebreaker!

Moooove over we're coming through!

Young mother on the way to market!

Learning something new!

Still no medications…

Sorry, I forgot to add to my last posting that we still do not have any medications! Jeff from Mission Impact has been working MANY hours trying to get them released from the airport and still no closer.  Hopefully tomorrow!  It is difficult to see the need of so many people … the medications would be so helpful.  Yet, even though the people know that they must wait, they are gracious and patient people and are so happy with anything we do for them.  God is surely to answer their prayers (and ours!)… keep praying.  

Mary

PS – Rick and Amanda… I am bringing back some more coffee for you:) Alicia and I will pass… Love you all!

Another wonderful day in Guatemala!

Hello from Hotel Sumpango! We have had two full, hard, fun days in clinic ~ We have seen many patients… beautiful children, women and men. We have been blessed by a new bunch of interpretors which has made our job mucho easier! One of them saw a message on facebook and so called to offer her services! She and the others are great! The team is doing a great job… clinic, dental, photo, women’s and children’s ministry have all been successful in sharing God’s love! Grace can be very proud of the work that all have been doing. We were asked about how much it has cost for us to be here… we told them that all of our church members have contributed to make this possible and that there are many in WR that extend their (& God’s) love to these people through us. Mucho gracious to all of you! God Bless you! Mary

Hello on Monday!

We have been having trouble finding a good place to get on the internet, so we apologize for the lack of blogs.  I’ll try to catch you all up.

The flight was uneventful and we all got here safe.  All our plans to get the medicine through customs easily went well until we actually did it.  Customs held five of our medicine containers.  Dr. Price and Jeff from Mission Impact spent the entire Saturday trying to find out how to get them out.  They hired people to make it happen, but as of Monday afternoon, still no medicine.  But, hey!!!!  It will take more than that to hold us back.

Dr. Peredes gave us a tour of Sumpango on Saturday and showed us where the teams would be set up.  Most of us are working out of peoples homes.  Dr. Peredes in working on a long term program to help these people from the dump community to help themselves.  If they are willing to help each other and be advocates, they will get help also.  He is an amazing man and it is wonderful to be helping him with his vision!

On Sunday morning we all attended a church service at Principe De Paz.  They had asked Pastor Kent earlier to say a few words.  When we got there, they told him that they would like to have him talk for 40 minutes.  I caught him before he hit the floor.  He told them that his congregation would not ever allow that:).  He did give the sermon and he did a wonderful job.  They sang many songs and one of them was Alabarae (sp?).  We needed many supplies, so Pastor Kent and I went to town while the rest went to the market in Sumpango.

I am surrounded by kids that want to use this computer so I will finish later.  These are absolutely wonderful people and we are doing very well.

Tim Engelien

Mission Team

The Mission Team is now ready and on the way to provide needed services.

The Grace Mission Team

We made it to the airport.

Ginny says Pastor Kent is really annoying. We have not found anyone to dispute that except him. Here we sit at 1am. The plane leaves at 2am. We will post again when we find a place to get on the internet in Guatamala.

Pictures and Video

As available Pictures and Video will be added to this Blog. Be sure to check back to see what has been made available. We want you to see what is happening as we prepare and when we are on our Mission Trip.