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