Settling in to San Pedro

It’s Monday night in San Pedro, Guatemala beside Lake Atitlan. We haven’t had access to internet before now, so we are trying to make some elaborate wireless connection here at our little hotel. The team is doing well and thoroughly enjoying the graciousness of the people and beauty of the land. We arrived on Sat. and went to the church building to get everyone situated. Tito, the doctor we work with here, and Rolando, his assistant, gave an orientation to the ministry here and what we would be doing to help them with the medical/dental clinics and other outreaches. Daniel, our “adopted Guatemalan” son who lived with one of our teammates’ family last year in Houston, came with his mother to reunite with his Houston friends on the team. It was a great reunion! His brother, sister-in-law, and niece also came for a wonderful time of catching up. Daniel will be a part of our team both this week and next week in Palencia, and it is a joy to have him with us once again.

Sunday was such a special time of worship! It is always a highlight to worship with our brothers and sisters in other countries, and this was another wonderful time of praise and worship, prayer, and sharing. Ken and Grace led some special songs, which the church seemed to really enjoy. The team remarked that night that they truly, truly felt love from those at the church. They were also struck by the passion of their praise and prayer and genuine embracing of one another and all of us. In the afternoon, we went to America Latina School to organize all the supplies and equipment we would need for the clinics, loaded the vans, and made preparations for our trek to San Pedro. We had some tremendous cloud bursts throughout the day, and we prayed for clear weather for our journey, which could be greatly complicated by bad weather.

This morning we awoke to clear, beautiful skies…answered prayer! We started our all day journey through some of the most beautiful countryside you could imagine. The lush green of the trees, crops, and mountains showcased the beauty of this country. As we got closer to the lake, ascending higher into the mountains, we found ourselves above the clouds as they draped over the mountain tops and drifted into the valleys. We stopped for lunch at what looked like a Swiss chalet which served delicious food. It looked a bit like Colorado and smelled like good old Texas BBQ! Quite a combo! At last, we caught a view of Lake Atitlan. It was gray and hazy, but to see this huge lake surrounded by volcanic peaks was quite a sight. After unloading supplies at the church where we’ll work and setting up the clinic areas and places for VBS and women’s ministry, we had another wonderful dinner prepared by a Christian family who has a little café near the hotel. We have been joined by three dentists, another doctor, and a young pastor and a Bible teacher from America Latina school. We are so excited to join these wonderful servants to reach out to the people of San Pedro. We have learned that Guatemala has the lowest ration of doctors to population in Central America. This town of 60,000 has only 2 doctors, and this seems typical for the country. Dr. Tito has a real burden for the people living in outlying areas such as this; there is a critical need for medical care as well as the Good News of Jesus. We are constantly being thanked and blessed for coming here, even before we have had a chance to “do” anything. It is quite humbling. So we truly covet prayer for everyone we will encounter at the clinics, VBS, men’s ministry outreach tomorrow night, the VBS and women’s ministry, and the people we meet in town. Our desire is that the love and hope of Jesus will flow through us to all we meet and they will know we are here because of His love for them.
Diane for the team