Presenting Paul's Special Gift

Today we presented Paul with the some of the guys in the Bible study group, a special gift from the administrator at Precious Moments School in Guatemala City.  The administrator had a picture painted of Guatemala's volcanoes with Gracias Paul Schmidt on the painting. She has been very appreciative of the support that he and his wife Nancy have given them in sponsoring a classroom for 3 years.

The school operates by donation only and it sometimes operates on a very small budget and it is faced with challenges with paying its teachers. The students are able to get an education and learn about Christ at this school. The money that it receives goes back into the school and helps in so many ways. The administrator started the school by opening up her home to homeless children about 10 years ago. Over time, the school has accepted many street children and has given them hope with an education, family, food and love. The school is flourishing with 180 students today. The Guatemala City Ministry helps the school by working with the children with some of their medical and dental needs on a yearly basis.

Thanks again Paul and Nancy for your love and gifts to this school in Guatemala City.

The Day of Rest and Relaxation

We had to say good bye to our new friends at the hostel, as we prepared to spend our final evening in Antigua.

As we traveled from our Guatemala City hostel, we traveled to Lake Amititlan to view the lake and the active Volcano Pacaya that was producing much smoke and a small lava flow from its opening. We learned that it has small eruptions regularly and can produce much black volcanic ash when it has major eruptions as far as the airport, which is about 50 miles away.

We visited a park that has some small scale replicas of the Tikal pyramid and other Mayan ruins. It also has miniature versions of Antigua shops to take pictures of that can give a tourist a little flavor of Guatemala without having to travel too far.  It was a relaxing and beautiful park.

The next stop was the plantation to buy some fresh coffee beans and get a cup to try. This is a treat, if you like coffee, but maybe the non coffee drinkers prefer the chocolate varieties instead. The plantation is located right in Antigua and just a couple of miles from the hotel that we stayed in over night.

The afternoon was spent doing a little bargain shopping, we usually end up buying something that we really don't need, but we get such a good deal that its hard to resist. The store owners are always ready to, "Give you good price", if you are willing to negotiate.

The end of the evening was our final dinner with the team to celebrate our hard work, say thank you to our driver, brother, dentist, construction worker Davis (Superman).  He was truly a utility man this trip for us.

We thank everyone too that has been a part of our ministry this year either through prayer or monetary gifts as well.  We had a couple of dental clinics in Minneapolis that donated many dental supplies in which were used as part of the dental kits for the children.

God Bless!
Terry

Last Day of Ministry

Good Morning.

We spent the morning back at the Precious Moments School in Zona 13. We saw primarily 3rd and 4th grade students today. There was a total of 50 seen today and we were able to donate the rest of the dental kits to the dentists, Priscila and Andrea.  The dentists volunteered their time to work at this clinic and they worked with approximately 170 patients over the 2 day period.  Many of the students had to have tooth extractions and in one case, a student needed up to 10 teeth extracted.  They were only able to extract 5, as the dentists fingers were getting sore from the patient biting them during the extraction process.

The needs were many with these students, as many of their parents don't participate much in the childs life. The students are children from parents that are involved with drugs or alcoholism, unemployed, unskilled and may not be able to read or write themselves.  Many of the students would have ended up on the street in gangs, if they did not have a place to go and a chance to get an education. The school has helped in the community by providing these children a "free" education through donations made to the school, so it can pay its administrators, teachers, supplies and rent for teaching their 180 students.  Some of the students never had birth records, as they were born at home and the parents didn't seek out the paperwork and paying the government to register the birth of their child. As the child grows up, they have a disadvantage, as they can't get accepted into a higher level of learning nor can they get a real good paying job, as they have no identity with the country.  The Precious Moments School has part of their program that when a student gets through their school. (Appx. 6th grade) they have not only earned some education, but are given citizenship to their country.  The school takes care of formalizing their students citizenship paperwork, so they can have a chance at advancing their education and bettering their families position.  The school is Christian based and the students are taught Christianity along with their normal reading, writing and arithmetic. The team has supported this school through a medical clinic last year and hopes to remain an encourager and can have a sustained ministry to help this school.  When we send a team to them, we share the love of Christ with them and get a chance to interact with the children and they can see Christians from the US in a different light, than they may be perceived on television. "It is more blessed to give than to receive". (Acts 20:35)

After leaving the school, we had a little break in the afternoon to visit a National Park in Guatemala City. The park had a topographical map of the country that detailed Guatemala's landscape and showed the elevations of every landmark of the country. It also included the boarders of neighboring countries to give a perspective of where everything was located in this part of Central America.

In the evening, we were invited back to Zona 6 to a 15 year old girls celebration and for me to share a testimonial with the street people that come to church each Thursday night to receive a free meal. The requirement for the street people is that they must be sober.  There were 2 different groupings in which the street people came for dinner and I was able to share the testimony.  The mans life in which I shared was well received, as they intently listened, as the story of this man fit their life style. He was arrested and given the choice of jail or drug treatment center for his drug and physical abusive behavior. Through this Christian based treatment center, he replaced his drug/alcohol addiction with a love for Christ and serving people. The man not only start getting his life back together through having a relationship with his daughter again, but he had the Word of Christ in his life and forgiveness for his past transgressions.

The 15 year old girl had a celebration that marked her special time in her life when she makes the transition from childhood to womanhood. Emiliso was the girl's name and the church made this event special for her, as she no longer had a home of her own and was brought into the church family to stay. The team was able to find a Bible for her as a gift and we underlined some of our favorite verses to help her with her spiritual maturity as well.

In a picture below the founder of the school has made a special gift for Paul Schmidt from Wooddale Church who has been gracious in supporting them. It was totally unexpected, but they wanted to give something to Paul.

It was a long day and a great ministry this year in Guatemala City.

Dios Bendiga
Terry

Third Day of Ministry

Danielle approved of the breakfast this morning with the pancakes with whip cream and chocolate syrup, orange juice and fruit.

We traveled to Zona 13 today, which is located near the airport to set up a dental clinic for the children at Precious Moments School.  The dentists performed more tooth extractions than fluoride treatments today, especially on the older children.  We had around 120 children and adults that came to the clinic today.  As the children waited for their exam, they played with the parachute or colored pictures.  As the children were leaving to go back to class they were given a dental kit and a balloon animal for their trip to the dentist.  One of the older children named Carlos was very interactive and animated, he was also extremely happy that he only received a fluoride treatment and not a tooth extraction.  One of the children that was around 7 years old needed 7 teeth extracted, as they were all infected and was causing him a lot of pain. 

Lunch consisted of Pollo Comparro, an equivalent of KFC in the states, but always a treat to get at least once on the ministry trips.

The afternoon was warm inside the clinic, so the doors needed to be opened to get some cool off.  Danielle was able to reconnect with one of her friends from last year.  The teachers and administrators had some dental work done as well.  The dental clinic helped the small children to learn to take care of their teeth and prevent any problems with their permanent teeth.

 

Donna and Brad brought many school supplies and donated them to the school.  Marta that main school administrator was grateful for the supplies and will put them to good use.

Second Day of Ministry

The morning started out with scrambled eggs, refried beans, fruit and coffee for breakfast.

We went to the church in Zona 6 and met with the pastor and his wife. We walked down to the open market and purchased the food that we needed to feed around 200 people.  Watermelons, potatoes, chicken and cucumbers were on the menu for the meal today. After we purchased the food, we went back to the church and we helped prepare and cook for 2 separate meal servings.  The children that went to school in the afternoon were the first ones to eat and then about an hour later the morning schools were released and we then fed the rest of them.

After the second meal, we needed to go to the school and talk to some 4^th and 5^th graders about staying drug free.  The children knew about some of the types of drugs already and enjoyed unwrapping the suckers with gloves and our blurry goggles. The children could relate to the testimony, as a few of their parents are alcoholics. The testimonial concluded with the young man that was an addict to drugs came to know the Lord and replaced his drug addiction for a love for Christ.

There was one last blessing we were able to provide for the family. The team blessed the family that got the new roof with 2 new full size beds. The pastor’s wife came and talked with the family and they were grateful for the new beds and for God. The mother in this household has a very rough past of being sold to a drug dealer by her father. She had 2 kids from that arrangement and lived in a very hostile environment. She did escape this environment without the children, only to find out that the house that took her in was for prostitution.  She managed to get away from this environment through someone that had pity on her and distracted the keepers, so she could run away.  She now is married and has 2 children. The children started going to the church for meals after school and that’s when she decided to learn more about Christ.  She accepted Jesus into her life and for the past 2 years, she spends as much time, everyday, at volunteering at the church to help with the meals. The family is very poor, but through this church, the children get at least one large meal a day.

Our day concluded at the Renuevo Church for a prayer service, Guatemalan style. It was a unique experience to listen to all the music in Spanish and occasionally a song that had a recognizable tune, we could sing in English. There was an interpreter present that was able to tell us what the pastor was saying in Spanish. We met some interesting people in the congregation that spoke very good English.

Thanks again for your prayers today.

Dios Bendiga!