Guatemala Eyeglass Mission - Team 2323
As each day goes by this trip is getting a little more real. Things come into my mind, like, did I forget to pack anything, do I have my passport, are we going to have any flight problems, what about customs, and the like. Many of these things are out of our control, so we'll put this in God's hands and pray for peaceful resolutions to any problems or setbacks that we may encounter. I am very anxious to meet everyone that I'll be serving with, and I'm sure everyone else is as well.
This is my sixth trip to Guatemala, but my first since 2019. Covid certainly put a damper on things here and abroad, but it appears that everyday life is back to normal for the most part. What doesn't change though, are the needs of people around the world. In John 12:8, Jesus said, "You will always have the poor among you, but you won't always have me". Also, we may wonder, how am I serving Christ? I am reminded of this passage from the parable of "The Sheep and the Goats" where Jesus says "Truly I tell you, whatever you did for the least of these my brothers, you did for Me". Let us all go out and serve others wherever you may find yourselves. You will often find that you don't have to go very far. Let us all do this without selfish motives, but in humility, counting others more significant than ourselves. God's blessings to you.
Travel Day - July 21st
Just a quick update. I’m doing this from my cell phone, as my carry-on bag with my iPad had to get checked in. It’s 12:40 Central time, and we or sitting in the Houston airport on a layover. We met up with Susan from New Jersey, and we are waiting for Cassandra and Jan on their flight from Chicago. Three of our team members from Georgia flew straight through to Guatemala City so they should be there waiting for us when we arrive. So far things have gone quite smoothly. Keep on praying and God bless.
First "snackcident" in the Houston Airport.
Most of the glazing from my cinnamon roll
ended up on the floor. I think that Mark had
his doubts about me posting this.
July 22nd -Traveling to Gualan
Last evening, we arrived safely in Guatemala City without incident. This morning at breakfast we got to meet Roy and his wife Kathryn, and Hannah, who are from Atlanta. I always enjoy meeting and serving with people from other areas of our country. We have people from Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, New Jersey, and Georgia. It is awesome to know that wherever you go, whether it be in your hometown, or in other parts of the world, you find people serving the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen!
Today, we will be traveling to the city of Gualan, where we will be serving the people of their community by fitting them with eyeglasses. Anyone who uses glasses knows how difficult it can be to go without them even for a short while. Now imagine having to go from day to day needing glasses, but not having the means to obtain any. Children need glasses so they can read and learn in school, adults need glasses so they can perform their jobs well, and the elderly need glasses so they can go about their day-to-day lives safely. These are the kinds of people that we are blessed to be serving in this part of the world. When we serve others, we do it in love, kindness, compassion, patience, humility, and gentleness. Remember, these are things that all of us can, and should be doing wherever we go. God‘s richest blessings to you this day!
One of the views from our eyeglass clinic in the city of Gualan, Guatemala.
Pastor Luis's motorcycle. You see a lot of motorcycles
in Guatemala, as the car traffic can be very congested.
It never ceases to amaze me that we don't see any
accidents, as traffic is bumper to bumper, and door
handle to door handle. Drivers cut off other drivers,
motorcycles drive between cars. I would not do well
here when it comes to driving.
July 22nd - Evening
We arrived safely in Gualan this afternoon after about a 5-hour bus ride, which included a rest stop and lunch. After lunch we got to our hotel, got unpacked, and proceeded to get settled in. After dinner and a very nice devotion from Susan, we reviewed our plans for tomorrow. These plans included going to church at La Resurrection Lutheran Church, clinic set-up, and a test run of the clinic. The weather forecast for tomorrow shows a high of 91 degrees, and possible thunderstorms tomorrow afternoon. Hopefully this doesn’t put too much of a damper on our plans for tomorrow, but with God’s help we will get through it. It’s about time to turn in, so I’ll chat at you tomorrow. Blessings to you! 🙏
Hotel Miravalle in Gualan, Guatemala. This is
where we stayed while serving the people of Gualan.
July 23rd - Clinic Opening!
Today was a great day! After breakfast we gathered on the bus and went to church at La Resurreccion Lutheran Church and heard Pastor Luis preach. He was very gracious and mentioned that we were with MOST Ministries, serving the people of Gualan. After church he introduced us to his lovely wife Nancy, and his three sons, one of whom wishes to be a pastor himself.
After church was finished, we spent the next couple of hours setting up our clinic, and by early afternoon we were seeing our first “patients”. Eric Estrada came through the clinic, and I will say that he has aged very well (LOL)…. well, I’m half right, Eric Estrada did come through the clinic, but it wasn’t the one that those of my generation know from CHiPs.
Sometimes you get a patient, that no matter what you try, you just can’t quite find the right prescription for them. If this happens, then they may have an underlying issue that we are unaware of and cannot treat. You feel very badly that you couldn’t help them, but you just do the best that you can, and leave it in God’s hands.
Today we saw a total of 61 people. For the first day it appeared that everyone did very well at their respective stations. With each passing day, we will all become more efficient in our respective duties and should be able to serve more people. I have to give a lot of credit to our translators; they are doing a very good job. Without them we wouldn’t be able to run this clinic. Roxann is doing a very good job leading our team, and Lance delivered a very thought-provoking devotion. He explained how it’s better to make a difference than make a point. In making a point you are thinking of yourself, in making a difference you are thinking of someone else. It certainly made me think. It’s getting late and it’s time for bed. See you tomorrow!
La Resurreccion Lutheran School in Gualan.
La Resurreccion Lutheran Church in Gualan.
July 24th - First Full Day
First off, I’d like to apologize for the lack of pictures. On my iPad, the browser isn’t supported by Blogger, so I’m using my cell phone, and I’m having issues with the formatting.
It’s quite hot here in Gualan, due in part to the low elevation. Each day is in the low 90’s and very humid. Another issue that we are dealing with, is the city is running very low on water. It has gotten to the point of water being shut off in our rooms at night. On these mission trips you know beforehand that you may have to deal with inconveniences that we are not used to back home. We cannot drink the tap water here, we cannot use tap water for brushing our teeth, and we cannot even have ice in our drinks. For those who’ve lived here for some time, it isn’t a problem since their bodies have become acclimated to it.
After breakfast and devotion, we went over to La Resurreccion Lutheran Church to set up the clinic for today. When we arrived, there were people already waiting for us. The set up went pretty quickly, since we were mostly set up from the day before. Please let me explain the different stations of the clinic. In registration (Kathryn and Susan) personal information is taken, and they are also checked out for certain eye conditions. At the testing station (Cassandra and Mark) their eyes are tested for both reading and distance. At the dispensing station (Hannah), glasses are pulled according to the people's test results. At my station (Dean and Lance), we have them try on the glasses to see which ones are best for them. At the next station (Jan and Roy), the frames are adjusted so they fit them well. And the last station is for evangelism, where we see if the people attend a church or are interested in attending a church, and then hand out Gideon Bibles.
We get people as young as 9 years old, up to people in their 70’s or 80’s. We tend not to check school age children (5-6 or younger), since their eyes are still developing. We see so many people who are so grateful just to have their vision improved, even if it’s just a little bit. One elderly man was brought in by his daughter, and she was crying when all we could provide was a cane for him. Another man in a wheelchair started crying when his vision was improved to the point that he could see shapes. I had one little girl, whose mom we helped, give me a hug after we found glasses that worked for her. Witnessing these things makes this work worthwhile.
What we take for granted in America, can bring these people to tears. It upsets me when I see people in America complaining about how bad things are. These people are grateful for a simple pair of glasses, when back home people are upset when they don’t have the latest iPhone. Seeing these things should certainly make you think about how blessed and fortunate we are in America. We need to give thanks to God for each and every blessing, no matter how small, that He freely gives to us each and every day!
"Cheat sheets" that I used to communicate with the people of Gualan that came through our clinic. My Spanish is "No Muy buena" (not very good).
July 25 - Day number 3
Day number 3 started off with breakfast at 7:30, followed by devotions from Kathryn. We left the hotel at 8:15, and when we arrived, there were people already waiting for us at La Resurreccion Lutheran Church.
Cassandra wanted to try working at the dispensing, so I moved to the testing table. This was the first time that I’ve worked at the testing table, and I found that I prefer it to the dispensing table. The pace in the morning was a little slower, which I preferred, as it allowed me to learn the testing procedure better. In the morning we saw about 60 people.
Roxann and Marco had a meeting with MOST Ministries to confirm some new plans, as there will be a youth gathering at La Resurreccion. We learned that we would spend the last day-and-half at the Lutheran church in Los Limones. Pastor Luis’s s son is going to be installed there later this year.
Once we got started in the afternoon, the pace picked up very noticeably. Within a couple hours I learned the difficulties of diagnosing some of the patients. Mark saw this firsthand, with an elderly patient who had glasses with a prescription that was about a -10. This man could not even tell that there were charts on the wall that were only ten feet away. He tried our strongest pair, a -15, and could barely see across the four-foot table that he was sitting at. Up until now, he used to cling to walls on buildings to get around, so we gave him a white cane and taught him how to use it. He caught on quickly, seemed quite happy.
The doors to the clinic were closed about two hours before we saw our last patient. I’ve found that these people are very, very patient, and will wait for several hours without complaint. We can certainly learn a lot from these people when it comes to patience. After lunch we saw about 100 patients, compared to the 60 patients we saw before lunch. The total number of patients was about 163. It was a very long, but very good day!
Since we are moving to Los Limones, we had to pick up and put away the entire clinic and take it back to our hotel. While I am looking forward to Los Limones, I will miss the people and children at La Resurreccion, and I pray that God’s presence remains strong in their hearts. I have found that the hardest part of these trips is saying goodbye to these wonderful people.
Upon returning from the clinic, we went back to our rooms, turned on the A/C and went to the pool for a short dip before dinner. After a nice dinner and desert, and devotion from Roy, I returned to our room and hit the bed. It was a long, tiring, but fulfilling day. God’s blessings to all of you.
July 26 - First day in Los Limones
We got up a little earlier today since we were going to a new location, and we had to completely set up the clinic. Hannah did her morning devotion over the bus’s PA this morning. Los Limones is about 20-minute drive, made a little longer since we had to stop and ask for directions about three or four times. Neither the driver, nor the host, nor Google maps knew where Los Limones was. Being in a rural location made the drive about 10 minutes longer, but we made it without further incident.
The church building was larger than the one in Gualan and had more natural lighting from the large windows that were open to the outside. There were no bathrooms on site, so a couple trips were made back to the school in Gualan to use the bathrooms there.
We had one patient named Elida, ask when we will be back, but unfortunately we don’t know these things. She actually lives in Gualan and plans on going to church there. Maria Luisa, a sweet 91-year-old woman with only one eye was very grateful despite the fact that we could only get her to see clearly to about six feet. She was able to share her faith with others during her short visit. We think that there are a higher percentage of believers in this region of the world than back in America. In America people are falling away from the faith because they are rich in material things and they put God lower on their list of priorities. Here, the people are poorer in material things, but richer in faith because they have to rely on God to provide for their material needs.
An adorable little girl named Fernanda came in with her mother and a cute little dog named Mateo following them. With her mother’s permission, we did get a picture of her with Hannah, and her little dog. An important point to remember is, if a picture of a child is to be taken, we must receive the parents' permission, and it cannot be posted anywhere on-line. Human trafficking is a huge problem, and we cannot risk photos of children getting on the internet, where they can be further distributed. It’s an ugly truth, but it is the sad reality.
We served 48 people before lunch, which consisted of beef roast, vegetables, and rice. The same woman has catered our lunch every day, and has done an amazing job keeping us fed. We noticed a large scar on her left arm. Come to find out, she received it an attempted stabbing, and she tried to intervene. She is a very kind and a very brave woman.
We ended up serving 88 people for the day. Since the building isn’t completely secure, we had to pick the clinic and move it into another building. When we got back to Gualan, we took a short walk around the community, escorted by or host Marco. When taking a walk around the area, we ALWAYS stay in a group, and stay with our escort.
Back at our hotel, we were able to take a nice dip in the pool before dinner, and a devotion from Dan. Before turning in for the night we were able to get in a few games of euchre, which is always fun.
Tomorrow we will run our clinic for half a day before we have to pack up and return back to Guatemala City.
Thank you and God bless!
Patients waiting for us at the
church at Los Limones.
Beautiful view from outside the clinic in the
farming community of Los Limones.
July 27 - Final Day of Clinic
My apologies for the late update.
It was an earlier than usual start to the day, as we had to pack up all of our luggage since we would be heading back to Guatemala City after clinic. Clinic would only be a few hours this day due to the long bus ride. There was no need to ask for directions today. We did have to unpack and set up the clinic, since we didn’t feel that it was safe to leave it set up from the day before.
It turned out to be a pretty slow day, so we were able to spend more time with each visitor and give each one of them a Spanish Bible. Our little friend Fernanda showed up at the clinic again, this time accompanied by her grandfather who also was in need of glasses. There was a 15-year-old boy who stopped by the clinic just to get his eyes checked, and it turned out that they were quite good. Unfortunately, he was never taught how to read. This is a farming community, and many children do not attend school since they are needed to work in the fields. Fortunately, there are youth activities at this church, and he seemed to be interested in attending those. After the closing of the clinic, the pastor held a short ceremony with our team and all of the interpreters.
On the way back to Guatemala City stopped back at the hotel in Gualan for a bathroom break and to pick up some box lunches prepared by the staff. We left the Gualan hotel at about 1130, and about an hour or so into the ride we made a stop for a bathroom break and some sweet treats at Saritas. The traffic coming into Guatemala City got really heavy since it was about the same time people were getting out of work, but we made it safely back to our hotel at about 4 PM. I never cease to be amazed that we don’t see any car accidents, as traffic is stop and go, bumper to bumper, and door handle to door handle. Motorcycles are going in between cars, and cars and motorcycles are weaving from lane to lane and cutting people off.
Our dinner was at the hotel menu,and was very good. Roxann then gave devotion, followed by a short meeting. A couple people went shopping at a local mall, and then went to San Martin to pick up some snacks. The rest of us went back to our rooms to prepare for a good night's sleep.
Thank you.
Our team of interpreters. Without them we would
not have been able to run our clinics. Their work
was invaluable.
The church in the farming community of Los Limones
where we held the last two days of our clinic.
July 28th - Tour Day
Yaaayyy, we got to sleep in!
We had a buffet style breakfast, followed by devotion from Cassandra. We then went on a tour of different parts of Guatemala City and saw one of the oldest churches in the city, a Catholic Church that is still active. Our escort Marco checked to see if we could go inside, but unfortunately, we could not. We then went on a tour of the palace in the municipal center of the city. Passports were needed, along with going through a scanner. To our surprise we were told that we could freely take pictures. It was a very beautiful building that was constructed with architecture from around the world. From there we went to lunch at La Estancia. Service was excellent, and everyone said that their food was very good. I had baby back ribs and they were excellent.
We went and saw an area where there was a relief map of the entire country built into the ground, and was about 250 feet by 250 feet, very cool. We went to a local market where there are numerous shops selling anything from shirts and hats to arts and crafts. The workers attending thes small shops (10 feet x 10 feet) are very eager to get your attention so you can buy something from them.
Since we had a late lunch we decided to skip dinner and instead have a short meeting and devotion. After that some of us went to San Martin had some ice cream, and others did some shopping at the local mall. I did pick up some snacks for the long flight home. We returned to the hotel, and then shortly thereafter turned in for the night.
Since I was doing all this on my iPhone, I was not able to upload pictures. When I return home, I will get on my computer and upload pictures for all of you to see.
Thank you very much for following!
Palace in the municipal center of Guatemala City
for the nation's leaders.
Our tour guide of the palace, and our host Marco.
Marco did an outstanding job as our host. He was
punctual, knowledgeable, kept us stocked with
drinking water, and also served as an interpreter at our clinic.
The flag of Guatemala inside of the palace.
I would like to extend many thanks to our team. Team leader Roxann, her husband Dennis, Mark, Lance, Dan, Jan (Illinois), Susan (New Jersey), Cassandra (Wisconsin), and Roy, Kathryn, and Hannah (Georgia). It was a pleasure to meet you, and work with all of you. God bless all of you!
