Days 1-4 in Guatemala

¡Hola!
We have now arrived at a location with wifi, and a lot has happened since I've posted last, so find a comfortable seat because this is going to be a long one!


Day 1:
We all arrived at the airport at 4:00am and arrived in Guatemala at around 12:30pm. We then met our amazing  host and guide at the airport. We were blessed by getting through customs rather fast when we arrived! We then met our bus driver, loaded up the bus, and left Guatemala City to go to our first location. When we arrived at the church where we would be hosting our clinic, we walked into the sanctuary where patients were already waiting for us to arrive. We greeted the people and met our other hosts, a pastor and his wife (who is an incredibly talented cook, by the way!)  We began to set up the clinic and the pharmacy after meeting our sweet and talented interpreters! Immediately after we felt ready, we began seeing patients. Everyone on our team was a very important link in our chain, that day especially. Everyone from the doctors to the translators to the pharmacy workers and the child entertainers had a very successful and eventful first day. We ended that day with an amazing meal and evening devotions.


Day 2:
We woke up bright and early to partake in breakfast, coffee, and devotions at 8:00am. We shortly began clinic after finishing up our devotion. Before we ate yet another tasty meal, we took a walk around the neighborhood where the church is located. We visited a very kind lady at her home where she was making her delicious homemade tortillas. We returned to the church, ate lunch, and continued clinic. Coloring pictures with crayons was the top hit for the day with the children!  Once clinic was finished, some of our team members taught our interpreters how to make paper airplanes, and before we knew it, they were standing on a balcony on the second story of the church flying their paper airplanes and seeing who's would fly the farthest.  After a fun filled day, we had time to relax and debrief before we ate dinner that night. We then closed with an evening devotions and went to sleep.

Day 3:
We woke up early again and continued clinic. This being Sunday, we attended the church service and also were blessed with the opportunity to sing to the songs  "Here I Am, Lord" and "Thy Word" while accompanied by a team member who played the ukulele for us, and has been our entire trip! We sang "Here I Am, Lord" in English, but we sang the chorus of "Thy Word" in Español! After church we spent our free time playing ping pong, playing piano, singing, playing and teaching ukulele, receiving massages, and talking with our translators before we said goodbye to them. We ate dinner outside, saw a shooting star amongst the beautiful scenery of the lake behind the church, and closed with a devotion. The Bible passage for the devotion was from Psalm 100, which was also one of the readings shared in church earlier that day! At the close of the day, we tallied the number of patients we saw and we concluded with 243 patients that day!

Day 4: (today)
We left our first location at 8:00 this morning and headed to our second location. We spent most of the day on a bus traveling to where we will soon be setting up our clinic once again. We stopped at Walmart and then stopped again for lunch and enjoyed ice cream as dessert! We then continued on our way to finally arrive at the hotel around 2:30 in the afternoon. After a long day of traveling, it was such a blessing to be able to spend time together while relaxing in the pool at our hotel. After swimming we headed to the hotel restaurant for a delicious meal followed by devotions and singing songs once again!

This trip has been such an amazing and humbling experience. I feel that we are not only a blessing to the people, but the people are a blessing to us. Our guide who is from Guatemala said something today that stood out to me. She said, "MOST stands for Mission Opportunities Short Term, but they are not short term blessings. Your service and work with the people of Guatemala is a long term blessing. Mission Opportunities Short Term, for long term blessings."

¡Buenos noches!