Thursday, January 30, 2014

Time To Eat Some Bread!

The kids enjoying a taste of home with some fresh chocolate chip cookies!

Reid found this scrap wood he thought made great weapons!
Things in Guatemala are going well! So far our young family is adjusting nicely to life in Guatemala. There have been different obstacles, opportunities, and adventures for our family here. As always, the kids have enjoyed learning, exploring, and adapting to their new environment.  We’ve all enjoyed seeing the beautiful and picturesque landscape on walks, taking care of the medical needs of the local people, and awkwardly trying to learn a language which is still quite foreign to us. It has been a great time for our family to silence much of noise that is often present and distracting back home.


A vampire bat I caught at one of the remote clinic sights, the kids thought this was fun!
For Shea and I the medicine is always fun and challenging in different ways, as we leave the friendly confines of more predictable North American medicine. We’ve enjoyed taking care of the impoverished Quiche Indians in several of their remote villages.  We thoroughly enjoy medicine in its purest since. There is no billing, coding, dictation, or EMR; there are no large stacks of paperwork at the end of the day, and no Medicare rules that continue changing. Obviously, there are unique challenges that arise, but it is a great change of pace to only focus on taking care of the patient’s needs.
Kiera eating her first meal!(Hopefully she'll sleep now)

One of the blessings of being in Guatemala is some of the community we have developed with the long-term missionaries here. Every Tuesday night we come together for a time of worship and bible study. It has really been a great time to connect with these families and it drives our focus back to what is most important. We all have a tendency to get swept away with “the job” and the busyness of life, but it’s refreshing to come together with other believers and seek power from the ultimate source. Just the other day we were talking about the importance of time with the Lord. We all went around the room and shared different ways we like to spend our “quiet times”. It was really encouraging to hear of all the ways people connected with the Lord. Just in our group for the last week we had around 10 different approaches to spending daily time with the Lord. Anywhere from early mornings, to late nights, to writing your thoughts, different approaches to reading scripture, different ways of praying, singing, personal communion, and utilization of accountability. It was great to hear all of the varieties of ways people spend time with the Lord.

The key to all of this rambling is not to say there is a right way or best way to spend time with the Lord. The key point is that we have to be spending regular daily time with our Lord, if we really want Him to influence our lives and transform our hearts. We just have to do it! It is easier to sleep in a little later, work a little extra, watch a game, or whatever the excuse of the day is for you (I know I’ve got plenty). Without regular time in the Word and with our Lord we will never truly have the spiritual growth we need. Matthew 4:4 says: “Jesus answered, it is written: Man does not live on bread along but on every word that comes from the mouth of God” Without this spiritual bread we will not grow, and without growth we will never transform the world around us, and make the disciples that Christ so clearly commands. (Matthew 28:18-20).

So with that thought it’s time to get in the Word, and go make disciples!

Wednesday, January 15, 2014

 
HERE WE GO AGAIN!
 
We're excited to be on the move again! Its been a while since I last blogged. In fact its been over 2 years. We've since added 2 kids, and traveled to 7 countries. We as a family, and my partners(www.docsforhope.org) have been busy working to find a country where we can work to develop a hospital. Fortunately, after much prayer and many miles traveled, the Lord has lead us to a plush valley nestled beneath pine forests in the rural Guatemalan city of Canilla. It is in this community we are planning to build a hospital that could serve up to 1 million people with little or no access to proper healthcare.

The journey to get to this point is worthy of dozens of blogs. For now, all I can say is the Lord has guided our steps, and brought us to this place for a exciting work that continues to unfold. We will be leaving shortly, and will be spending 7 weeks in Canilla as we work toward the logistical challenge of developing a hospital in a rural setting. There is still much work ahead of us, but with the help of our partnering organizations AIM www.adonaiinternationalministries.org and PAPA www.papamissions.org we hope to have this hospital open for business in early 2015.

The frequent questions my family is often asked are: "why do you risk your kids safety to work in other countries? or isn't there enough people with physical needs in our country? or it's nice of you to use medicine to take care of the poor, but does it really help in the long run?." My simple answer is the Gospel of Christ compels us risk all to follow Him. When we make a decision to follow Christ, we can't possibly sit on the spiritual sidelines of life, but the simple truth of His sacrificial death obliges us to bring all we have to offer to the foot of His cross. Paul says in Philippians 1:20-21:  It is eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If you had asked the apostle Paul to tell you the reason we exist on this earth as Christians, I think this verse is the answer he would have given. We are created to glorify Christ and bring others to a relationship with Him. This culminates with our joy on earth, and eternal life in His presence.

Ultimately our medicine and surgery will fail everyone, as physical death comes for us all in the end. Our desire is to use medicine as a vehicle to share the good news of Jesus Christ both in Canilla, Guatemala and New Hampton, Iowa. This good news is the most valuable treasure that can ever be given (Matthew 13:44), and this is the reason we will continue to travel with our family. We look forward to bringing you all with us on our journey.

"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot loose"
Jim Elliot