Wednesday

Wednesday was a bit of an unusual day. The woman we had been praying would show up for surgery in Chichi was a no-show. We did have other plans, though. Our friend Regina has brought us several patients in the past - some cleft lips, some microtias, even a spina bifida. Well, she called last week to tell us, rather proudly, that she found two more.

That was the nail in the coffin. We told her to bring those kids by and that, also, we'd like to meet with the local comite (think: town council) to see if we could maybe do a screening right there on site. It's not really Regina's responsibility to bring all of these kids to a place where they can be helped.

So she brought the kids to us on Wednesday morning (pics one and two), as well as the previous cleft lip/palate (from last week) so we could check on his weight. He had gained nearly a pound in that week and looks immensely better!!! (pic three).

Then we all loaded up in the truck (pic four) and headed out to Chujuyup. Three members of the local comite were there to meet us and were SO friendly. We explained that we are here as missionaries, to help the people and to demonstrate God's love for them. We told them that Regina has been so faithful in bringing us patients, but we don't believe that's her responsibility. It's our responsibility, along with the local officials, to help out. They agreed.

So we set up a date about a month from now to go out and see some patients. We told the comite that they have the perogative to give out 40 numbers. They know who has the most need and we'll see how that process works. If we need to revise it, we can. But if we don't work with them to get a certain number of numbers handed out, we'll have 1,000 patients and we're not really set up for that. Additionally, we're hoping to bring an evangelist with us - one who speaks Spanish and K'iche - to explain a little better to the people who come WHY we're there and maybe locate a local pastor we can also coordinate with.

So we'll see how that goes. Unfortunately, Annie and Beth will be gone, but we're expecting another student to be here during that month, which should help, too.

Lastly, there's a pic here of some of the construction work that's going on at the house. The guys dug some trenches to prepare for the fence that will surround the new addition. They're now starting to lay rebar and pour concrete.