Vamos y Hacemos Discipulos! (Lets go and make Disciples!)

My parents before they left Canilla in the Cessna.

This morning as I write, the morning sky is dark and the room filled with the unusual sound of pounding rain that is roaring down the roof and spilling off the gutters. This rain is a welcome change to the dry weather over the last several months. With signs of changing weather this week it is a reminder that our time here in Guatemala is nearing the end.

The last several weeks have been filled with more visitors. Our most exciting visitors were my parents. It was their first time here, and it was great for them to see what God has been doing in Canilla. It was also especially refreshing for Shea and I, along with our kids, to have family here. My parent's steadfast encouragement, leadership, and support have been a huge blessing not just this week, but over the years. It was a great visit and we were lucky they were able to come.

Our Spanish worship night.

This week we also had 3 more visitors from Iowa who were here helping out with the agricultural side of the ministry. It was great getting to know the Bjelica family and see them use their gifts for the Lord. They were able served widows in this area through a goat project.

There were also 8 pre-medical students from ACU (Abilene Christian University), Shea and I's alma mater. It has been fun to see these clinics and hospital through their eyes. It was the first of such trip for most of them. Much like Shea and I's first visit to Guatemala as pre-med students 17 years ago the significant cultural, and language barriers along with harsh reality of poverty were evident on their faces. I have high hopes that many of their lives will be positively impacted by this short trip, as Shea and I were impacted at that same stage in our lives.

One of the highpoints of the week for me was having the opportunity to preach a short sermon at our Spanish worship service. This is a group that has been led by Dr Luis Aquino for the last several years. We have a mixture of our Guatemalan construction crew and families, with our hospital nurses and staff, and even some patients from the community. Over the last 2 years, they spend one night a week worshiping together usually followed by Luis giving a short message. He has intentionally spent the last year focusing on the simplicity of the Gospel and the power of the blood of Christ.

I was privileged to talk with them about my greatest passion. Our obedience to Christ's Great Commission. Matthew 28:18-20 states: "Then Jesus came to them and said, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age"

These last spoken words of Christ are simple, powerful, and challenging. He saved his most important teaching for his last moments on earth. For those of us who have accepted Christ our job is now to make disciples! Wherever you live in the world, or whatever career you have, there are people in your sphere of influence. Our job is simply to leverage these relationships for the Kingdom of God. Whether construction worker, teacher, lawyer, accountant, nurse, or stay at home mom, everyone of us has people we come into contact with that need to know the simple truth of God's love and Christ's sacrifice.

Making disciples does not require some deep theological understanding or years of biblical training. It simply requires you to build relationships, and through those relationships you tell your story of where God has taken you, and where He is taking you now.

This is the reason we are building Hospital Adonai. This is the reason Shea and I practice medicine both in the United States and Guatemala. Join us on this grand adventure.

Lets go and make disciples! Vamos y Hacemos Discipulos!

My mom and the kids enjoying one of their

many games.

My dad and the boys on a hike.

The sunset view over Canilla

Kiera is getting some "Nanna" time.

Kiera was trying to stow away on Nanna and Grandpa's plane.

We're Thankful in Canilla!

My girls found a stray puppy....but no we didn't keep him.

2 Volcanoes at sunrise at Lake Atitlan

The familiar sounds of the rock crusher chewing up large stones and spitting out smaller ones is quickly being replaced by the sounds of wood saws carefully cutting and shaping warped raw wood into sturdy cabinets. We have continued to transition from concrete pours and block lay to finish work with the hospital nearing completion. As the construction nears completion with every passing day, the administrative checklist seems to grow. Our medical team here and in the US continue to feel the pressure of addressing many questions..... where there seems to be no obvious answers.

This week Shea and I were fortunate to take a trip to another mission hospital 4 hours away near Lake Atitlan. This particular hospital is about 10 years further along in this process then we are currently. Meeting with them was incredibly enlightening, as we think about next steps. The only unfortunate repercussion of this visit is it adds to the list of things that need to be accomplished before we reach our goal of being a fully operational hospital. Our list includes a plethora of equipment, medications, and hospital personnel needs, not to mention the cash to pay for all of it.

Our North American mentality (rightly or wrongly), says that we need to push hard, and fast to accomplish our goals. Through this project, we have learned that waiting on the Lord's timing is of most importance. It's important to have a plan, and work towards it, but without God's timing the road is often more difficult. In the midst of waiting, its easy to become to discouraged by insurmountable needs and answerless questions.

I have found it important on this project specifically, and in life in general, that as we wait for clear answers from God it is always important to have an attitude of thankfulness, and gratefulness for what God has already done. It's not that God needs the praise, but it's we who need the reminders. Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 "Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus"

Our List (although not exhaustive) of things to be thankful for this year for Hospital Adonai include:

1. The recent hiring of our first 4 official hospital nurses.

2. Several new workers hired for hospital cleaning, grounds management, and a new cook.

3. The hiring of a hospital secretary

4. A functioning C-arm, and numerous donated and well functioning hospital beds

5. 2 older sets of OR lights that are working great

6. 2 anesthesia machines

7. 2 small autoclaves

8. An X-ray machine still in the crates, but hopefully functional

9. 1 new lab machine to help with our chemistry panels

10. One of our employees who has recently finished basic lab tech training

11. Four 40ft containers filled with medical and construction equipment, and one on the way

12. The successful move of clinics to the hospital building

13. Several successful hospital admissions and 3 new babies born in our hospital.

God is Good!

Reid and Kiera laying in our ER beds

Our lab room....keeping the dust off.

Our observation room

Our delivery room

One of our cribs in the pediatric room.

Our HVAC system for our Operating rooms

Our backup generator next to one of the guest houses.

Four 40ft containers still half filled with equipment

Our courtyard.....grass is finally growing

Our kitchen and some staff enjoying a snack break.

Our first surgical patient ...ready to go

Our nearly completed 2nd story over the OR

New Life comes to Hospital Adonai!

Our first baby, a baby boy....yet to be named

Our second baby born, but first baby girl...named Juana

After 3 years of project planning, prepping ground, pouring concrete, and prayer, new life has finally arrived to Hospital Adonai. Our end goal has always been glorifying God by providing excellent maternal-child care. This starts with high quality obstetrics to a people group with an abnormally high maternal-infant mortality rate.

Despite the fact that we are not officially open for hospital services, two babies have been delivered in our hospital over the last week. We hadn't planned for these deliveries, but God simply brought in laboring moms whom we felt, we should help. There remains several "small" details that haven't been completed yet...like a functioning OR, adequate medications for C-sections, or trained Guatemalan nurses. But those of us who were here, felt we had a sufficient facility, personnel, and supplies to give care to these patients in need.

It was incredibly exciting to be apart of these deliveries, especially considering the hundreds of people who have worked and prayed for these moments over the last several years. Hopefully, this is only the beginning of many new lives that will be held by their mothers for the first time within our hospital walls.

We know that within hospital walls there will be suffering, pain, and often loss, but the joy of a new soul entering this world far outweighs all of the latter. There remains many obstacles on our path, but with this last week we were able to see the years of hard work paying off in that thing which is most important......Life!

The writer of Psalms says in Psalms 139:13-16 "For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mothers womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be."

 The process of birth is an incredibly hard, painful, and messy process. Thankfully, the end result and joy of new life makes those hours of suffering only a small wrinkle in the timeline of a brain. We are so thankful for new life at Hospital Adonai, and we know that every single soul matters to our Lord!

Shea and I after the second delivery

The kids celebrating Beau's 9th birthday!

Kiera and Reid following an Indian lady

Shea and trying to figure out how our C-arm works.

Our Iowan Invasion!

Team Iowa outside of our Village clinic in Chiminisijuan.

We have just finished a wonderful week with our friends from New Hampton, Iowa. What was initially supposed to be a vision trip for our pastor Cory and his wife Amy, evolved into an unlikely group of six over the last several months. We were blessed to have Cory Orr, Riley Uglum, Dani Wiegmann, Marcy Rochford, Matt Edson, and Diane Lee. This was a group, we joked, that would have never "hung out" a year ago. Although, over the last several weeks, and even more so in the Guatemalan week, God bonded them quite closely together. Essentially, they were here with no specific agenda other then seeing what God is doing and seeing how Iowans may be able to assist with this project in the future. Riley, an optometrist, did bring over 500 glasses and portable eye equipment, and Marcy came to teach 2 neonatal resuscitation classes but all of them were simply here with an open agenda and willing to serve wherever needed.

Eating at a true Guatemalan restaurant. 

You would not know by watching this group in action, that it was a first of such mission trips for the majority of them. Any fears of foreign travel, language or cultural barriers, and even food variety did not seem to phase this group. Shea and I were pleasantly surprised to see their heart for service, and obedience to a calling on full display. Each and everyone of them served and contributed in ways that were different and challenging from their stateside routines. They did it all with winsome smiles, hearts full of joy, and compassion to the people served.

Riley quickly realized that his eye equipment and glasses were quite popular. From the first day it was evident that he would not be able to handle the patient load alone. Quickly, our team jumped into service and usually 4-5 of them would take turns helping with eye exams, glass fittings, and patient documentation. It was wonderful to see the 5 others with no optometry experience become a well oiled optometry machine.

Overall, our theme for the week was walking in obedience. Simply put: being obedient to what God has asked of you. For most of us, most of the time, walking in obedience is usually being obedient in the routine and mundane tasks of life. For instance, in Guatemala: house construction, dishes, preparing meals, fixing medical equipment, watching kids, and sizing glasses are all ways I saw obedience with joy on full display this week. At some point in life most of us may have an opportunity to be obedient in what might be considered a monumental task for our Lord. For the most part, we are all asked to be obedient in the mundane things of life. Such as, caring for your children, cleaning your house, serving others at work, serving the poor in your community,  and teaching children's church to toddlers with a 30 second attention span.

Obedience in its purest form is described by Christ in John 13:34-35 "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.

Team Iowa came with love!

Overflow seating at our crowded restaurant

Our Guatemala pet cat Timon.

Cory and Riley overlooking a Canyon

Streaming just in time for 4th quarter of a great Superbowl

The kids looking on at San Andres clinic

Marcy and Shea teaching our Guatemalan nurses.

The Importance of Vision!

Beau climbing by the water

Uncle Matt was with us for the week doing dentistry!

The importance of vision has taken on quite a new perspective for our family over the last several weeks. Many of you have already heard, but Shea lost almost complete vision in her left eye several weeks ago. She ended up having something called Pan-uveitis. It is essentially an inflammatory condition where your body inappropriately makes white blood cells that cause significant swelling inside of the eye. It has provided our family with an unexpected curve ball, and Shea with a lot of stress. Thankfully, with the advice of my Ophthalmology friend Cedric, an eye doctor in Guatemala City, and a lot of prayer she is finally starting to make out shapes again with this eye. We hope she'll make a full recovery over the next several more weeks, and are really grateful for all of the prayers.

Having someone you love loose sight, has not only impressed upon me the gratitude for my own physical vision, but also the importance of spiritual sight. The spiritual analogy of sight is an obvious one, and you don't need a masters in divinity to understand the correlation with sight as it pertains to the spiritual world. Both Jesus, and his disciples often used this analogy of physical vision when giving us insight into spiritual blindness. Jesus physically healed the blind multiple times in scripture. Often after these physical healings he would use that as an oppurtunity to teach about spiritual blindness and the importance of seeing, and understanding our sin, and need for a savior.

Dr Luis preaching outside one of our village clinics.

In several instances the book of John quotes Christ. In John 3:3 "Jesus answered and said to him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God" In John 9:39 "And Jesus said, "For judgment I came into this world, so that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may become blind."

I know for my friends and I, the moment we truly understood the gospel was like seeing for the first time. Understanding the magnitude of my sin waited against the perfection of  God, and knowing that He sent his son for my substitution, and complete forgiveness of sins is mind blowing. Because of this I can truly see,
and I'm so thankful for it!

Gracie pretending to be a dog....why not?

Of course the kids found a mud pit to play in.

More hospital pictures coming soon.

Back in Canilla!

Our Arizona family minus Shea manning the camera

Our Kansas family with my Parents and all 16 grand kids

Our temperatures have risen significantly, and the persistent dust lingers in, and on all of my kids clothing. This signifies our complete transition from northeastern Iowa, to Kansas, to Arizona, and now Guatemala. We're excited to be back to work in Canilla, Guatemala. This year has brought plenty of changes both to the landscape of Hospital Adonai, and my children's clothe sizes.

The kids enjoying shorts and time outdoors in Guatemala!

We are glad to start our new year here and eagerly await the challenges ahead. The construction progress is incredibly encouraging and we were happy to hear about the success of treating our first inpatient at the end of 2016. There remains much work ahead. Organizing containers of donated equipment, working on future staffing, and establishing hospital structures all remain formidable obstacles. Nonetheless, the goal of a fully functioning hospital is much closer to the horizon. As obstacles arise our Lord always gives the solutions we need, and His truth can always be trusted.

She working on an infant warmer in the hospital!

I was reminded recently, that in 2016, a new word was coined in the Websters dictionary. It was actually the 2016 word of the year. The word is post-truth. Such an interesting word that means: relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion then appeals to the emotion and personal belief. Simply stated: There is no real truth. As I've watched our culture change over the years this word should really come as no surprise. It saddens me that our "modern" culture is now lead by our momentary feelings and no longer by the Creator of Truth. In other words: if something feels right at that time then it has to be right. Unfortunately, even people of faith find this path dissatisfying and even heartbreaking in the long run.

As we enter 2017, we can all be encouraged to know that we can serve the God who is the Truth. He sent Jesus Christ to defeat sin. There will always be struggles and difficulties in life, but with complete reliance on Jesus Christ and His Truth we have reassurance, and assurance of salvation. In scripture John writes in John 14:6 :

"Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. "