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Aleyda: a baby lost

April 30, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Beatriz and her baby, Aleyda

Beatriz and her baby, Aleyda

I (Chrisi) had the opportunity to meet a young single mom a few weeks ago who had just lost her 8 month old baby girl to malnutrition and sickness.

Beatriz arrived at ASLESI with her daughter Aleyda  a few months ago and was admitted into the ASELSI Milk Program. Baby Aleyda was 6 months old and only weighed 7 and a half pounds when they first arrived.

During the first month in our program, where she was given formula, cereal and vitamins, she gained a entire pound — adding 13% to her body weight.

Before the young mom Beatriz had an opportunity to return to the ASELSI Clinic a second time to receive her formula and food for the next month, her daughter got sick and she brought her to the hospital. Where the doctors told Beatriz that Aleyda needed surgery.

I asked Beatriz what kind of surgery it was and, she told me that she did not know. She only knows that it was somewhere in her abdomen area because she was left with a scar there afterwards. While nearly unimaginable in the U.S., it is common here that people do not question doctors recommendations but just go along with whatever the doctor says. So Baby Aleyda had a surgery that her mom still doesn’t know what the doctors did.

Baby Aleyda stayed at the hospital for two weeks and the hospital staff told Beatriz that her baby was doing well and would be discharged soon.

Upon discharge, they informed Beatriz that they wanted to send Aleyda to a specialist in Guatemala City (some 3 hours away) to make sure that everything was normal with her heart. Little did Beatriz know that this ride to the specialist would be the last time she would get to spend with her little princess.

Beatriz tearfully explained to me that her little Aleyda, suddenly died in her arms while inside the ambulance.  Beatriz was totally surprised. She told me she didn’t see it coming. She knew her baby was small, but the hospital staff said that she was doing well. The trip to the city was just for an exam of her heart to make sure everything was normal. It was just for a checkup but Beatriz found herself having to say goodbye to her baby in the ambulance.

Beatrice, Center with her son Davis and her mother and brother.

Beatrice, Center with her son Davis and her mother and brother.

This 21-year-old mother is grieving, and I had the opportunity to grieve with her. I was so blessed to be able to hold her hand, to cry with her, to pray with her and to speak words of life into a situation where death seemed to be in control.

As I sat with her, Beatriz touched my little baby girl Jubilee who sat quietly in her carrier on my chest and said, “ You have your baby, but my little princess in gone.”

We do not know why Aleyda died. She was severely underweight, which is more common here than I had ever realized before I lived here. She had just had surgery and they must have had concerns about her heart to have sent her to see a specialist.  We do not have all the answers, but we do have the eternal answer, which is Jesus Christ.

This answer does not promise us life without loss, it does not promise us that things will always go our way, in fact it often leads us to places where we do not want to go. What it does promise is that we will always have Him with us to walk those roads . Those places where we thought we’d never want to go or could go, seem so little when walking with the one who gave it all for us. The road that Jesus Christ took was much harder than any road we may have to take one day. Our salvation was a costlier road than we may ever know. Yes indeed we have a faithful friend forever!!!

Those are the roads we walk here in Guatemala. Roads that take us to people in heartache, sickness, need and hurts that are deeper than I could have ever imagined. Yet, it is on these roads that we see Jesus using us to be his loving arms that we can wrap around someone and remind them that true hope is found in Christ. Roads that lead us to build long-term relationships with people.

Hudson & Davis playing in a fruit tree.

Hudson & Davis playing in a fruit tree.

When we talked further with Beatriz, we realized that the road she lives on is just around the block from our home!

Michael, Hudson, Jubilee and I visited Beatriz last week  and were able to give her a photo of Aleyda that had been taken at the ASELSI clinic. This is the only printed photo that she has of Aleyda.  Beatriz also has a 3 and a half year old son named Davis. Hudson loves playing with him and we have already had them over at our house to let the boys play. This friendship between the two boys allowed me to begin a relationship and pray with her! We are excited about the new friends that God is placing in our lives here in the highlands of Chichicastenango and how He is letting our paths cross as we walk these dusty roads that lead us and our neighbors closer to Him.

Filed Under: Baby, Missionary, Stories Tagged With: , , ,

The Children Who Wave

December 24, 2012 by 3 Comments
Alongside the highway, children stay warm near fires as they wave at passing cars hoping for a Christmas gift.

Alongside the highway, children stay warm near fires as they wave at passing cars hoping for a Christmas gift.

If you’re ever in Guatemala shortly before Christmas there is a phenomenon that you might not even realize is happening as you drive the PanAmerican Highway (CA-1) through the mountains. Children are found sitting along the highway waving at the cars that go by.

Chrisi is telling the children who wave about the best Christmas gift ever--Jesus! We also gave gifts of rice and beans.

Chrisi is telling the children who wave about the best Christmas gift ever–Jesus! We also gave gifts of rice and beans.

While that seems less than remarkable at first mention, the fact that there are not just a few random children waving at the cars that go by but hundreds and hundreds of them. Some are in small groups of two or five, others are sitting by themselves waving at the passing cars. Others are in groups of 20 or more huddling around blazing fires and turning to wave. In December of 2012, in just under a mile of driving down the curvy mountain roads between Los Encuentros and Tecpan, I counted over 100 children and mothers along the roadside.

After seeing these children who wave last year and again this year, I asked around and the best I could find out is that at some point someone stopped and gave gifts out to some of the kids on the roadside. Apparently, word got around and the legend of the waving children began.

As we planned a trip to the city, Chrisi and I decided that we wanted to do something for these kids. Chrisi picked up 30 pounds of rice and beans in one-pound bags to have them ready for the trip. We also gathered some Christian tracts to share with them.

So, as we started down the mountain, we saw the first group of kids waving at us and we pulled over to their delight. It was a small group, but they rallied around the side of the car as we shared the best Gift ever — Jesus Christ. We asked why they were waving and even had our friend, Juana, ask them in K’iche’ but they didn’t answer. After sharing with them about Christ, we gave them each a bag of rice or beans and a tract and then headed on our way.

The children who wave along the CA-1 highway in Guatemala are lined up to receive a gift.

The children who wave along the CA-1 highway in Guatemala are lined up to receive a gift.

The next group was larger and we shared the Gospel with them and then had them line up to keep things in order. By the end of the line, we had only one bag of rice left. This we gave out to several mothers holding their babies along with some bread and tracts that we had left.

After those three stops we kept moving as we didn’t have any of the rice or beans left nor did we have nearly enough for the groups we saw crowed along the road side.

What an exciting way to make our way to the city: Giving out Christmas food and the Gospel! Next year we need about several hundred pounds of beans and rice when we try this again!

Filed Under: Featured, Guatemala, Missionary, Travel

Building a School for Special Needs

July 14, 2012 by Leave a Comment

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Sidewalk
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Pouring the wheelchair accessible sidewalk to connect the clinic and the school buildings!

A team of 21 hard workers from Be The Change Volunteers joined ASELSI to help open the Jesus’ Little Lambs School for special needs students on the outskirts of Chichicastenango, Guatemala.
I had the privilege of coordinating the team from the Guatemalan side of things and getting to see so many projects completed while the team was here.
The team:

  • hand dug about 100 yards of trenches and installed rain and waste water piping
  • installed rain gutters
  • Installed drainage boxes to prevent flooding
  • built a retaining wall
  • painted the interior of the school
  • made and installed curtains
  • built a fence
  • worked with the special needs students to plant an interactive flower garden in the school yard
  • poured concrete to prevent erosion around the school
  • poured cement for a wheelchair accessible walkway to connect the clinic and therapy building with the school
  • made three large tables to be used in the classrooms

While this team was unique in that the team members were not from a church and came from several different states, they worked together with willing hearts to get the school ready for classes.

By the time they left, they had moved the classroom from a small storage room into one of the large classrooms with fresh paint on the walls. The kids and teachers were delighted to hold their first lessons in the new school building just a few days after the team left!

Besides the work project on the school, the team also visited homes and delivered much needed food supplies, served 60 meals to men and shoe shine boys in the center of town, and taught English in a local Guatemalan middle school.

After all the experiences the team shared here in Chichicastenango, one of the team members who is not a Christian said that the experience made them re-think their beliefs…
“I was not religious/spiritual before the trip,” they wrote. “I believe in a God but not necessarily a religion. After seeing how powerful prayer is to  some, I may rethink my  beliefs.”

Our prayer is that this team member and others will not become “religious” but know real relationship with Christ and continue reaching out to help others!

Filed Under: Stories, Teams Tagged With: , , , ,

Teaching in the Milk Program

April 28, 2012 by Leave a Comment

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I feel so blessed to be a part of the ASELSI Milk Program.

If I didn’t actually see first hand the lives of the mothers and babies here, I don’t think I’d believe it. While we’re only a three hour’s flight away from the United States, this is truly a different world.

The Mayans we serve among rarely drink clean water. They have to boil or filter the polluted water they have. Even their tap water has bacteria in it.  Many of them don’t boil the water long enough or even at all. Sick babies with diarrhea are common place.  Many times, the money to buy a filter that would cost less than US$200 just isn’t available for these families who usually make about $7 a day.

At the Milk Program, where we supply families with milk,formula, vitamins and cereal to help keep their undernourished children healthy, we are only able to supply about 1/3 of the formula that the children actually need for a month. The rest of the month’s supply of food is the responsibility of the families. This means that in most cases the children never get the amount of food they really need.

Currently there are 135 children in the milk program where I help by evaluating babies, helping keep track of kids that continue to fail to thrive, and by teaching hygiene techniques to the mothers. I also evaluate babies who are severely malnourished and I send them to the hospital with ASELSI covering all costs of transportation and the consultation. Sadly, however, sometimes the moms never show up to bring their babies to the hospital.

One mother who recently didn’t show up to go to the hospital with her severely malnourished and dying baby said her husband told her that she couldn’t go. She regularly came each month for her free milk, but her baby was not showing any improvements. She then told the nurses that she just simply didn’t have the time to take care of him because this was her eleventh baby. Many times these babies die because the parents don’t have the money to feed them formula and when the family sees them not thriving they become seen as a “burden.”

Sometimes mothers who already have many hungry children give their babies away to a family who is able to better provide for them. We know that there is a definite physical need to be met here in Guatemala, but more than this we see such a spiritual need for Christ as well. We give the mothers and children Bible lessons, lessons on hygiene and etc.  while they are waiting for their milk and we pray with and over the families. It is such a joy to see these women come to their Heavenly Father in prayer and hope that he brings no matter their current situations!

Matthew 10:42 (NIV)

“And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones who is my disciple, truly I tell you, that person will certainly not lose their reward.”

 

 

Filed Under: resources

Conference 2012

April 23, 2012 by Leave a Comment

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ASELSI‘s annual Leadership Conference was a rousing success.

Over 400 pastors and church leaders from five different countries (mainly alumni of ASELSI’s Bible training programs) were part of this two-day event that focused on preparing attendees for spiritual warfare.

ASELSI founder John Harvey emphasized that Christians are in a spiritual battle and not only recognizing this but taking action is vital.

“Every year we invite all our students to come to Chichicastenango, (Guatemala) to hear teaching they normally wouldn’t hear from great teachers who have been proven throughout the years.” Harvey said.

The diversity of cultures, languages and denominations who attend is quite varied. Harvey said this is something that he really enjoys seeing as many Christians of different backgrounds join together to grow, learn and take what they learn back to their communities.

During the conference, a lively worship band led the crowd in songs and many responded for prayer following the main speaking sessions.

When the crowds began arriving early Friday morning, the ASELSI campus was decorated to look like an encampment preparing for battle. The stage was set to look like the bulwarks for a great castle complete with towers, banners, shields and armor.

Workshops with speakers from various countries kept the message on target. Teachings focused on spiritual battle for family, church, youth and more.

“My heart’s desire is to raise the level of awareness that we are in a battle,” Harvey said. “We are indeed soldiers. We have the authority, and we need to use that authority in every area of our lives.”

The 400 attendees came to Chichicastenango from across Guatemala, Mexico, the U.S., Venezuela, and Ecuador.

Filipe Rivera and his family traveled two and a half hours by bus to come to the conference from the town of Nebaj.

“The conference is a great blessing for us. The times we’ve come here have been edifying for our lives.” Rivera said. “(The teachings from ASELSI) are useful for using with the (church) congregation.”

ASELSI (ASSOCIATION OF EQUIPPING THE SAINTS INTERNATIONAL) has extension training centers in the five nations represented where students are learning to study the Bible and apply what they learn in their homes and ministries. Students can go from a basic elementary level all the way through a high school level. in 2013 ASELSI plans to open college level courses.

Filed Under: Featured, Missionary, Stories Tagged With: , , , ,

Good Report!

March 30, 2012 by Leave a Comment

 

Over the last month of ministry we’ve ministered with teams from the United States in many ways: clinics, construction, evangelism outreaches, school programs, and more! During a home visit a family of nine accepted Christ, at a hospital visit, five people gave their lives to the Lord, and at a feeding program one man turned his troubled life over to Jesus!
This isn’t about us, but about the Holy Spirit who is drawing people to Christ! Praise the Lord for ready hearts!

Filed Under: Missionary, Stories, Teams Tagged With: , , , , ,

Brenda’s Silence

March 24, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Brenda meets with Dr. Roberts

Seven-year-old Brenda rarely speaks. When she does, she uses very few words like “mama” and perhaps a couple other words including her name.

I met Brenda and her mom at a clinic held by a team of Texans at the ASELSI Father’s Heart Clinic a couple weeks ago. As an interpreter for the pediatrician, I helped investigate the back stories of patients and then communicate the correct treatment. Many patients had headaches and pains related not to a physical cause but to the stress of their life situations — financial distress, abandonment, hard labor, and more. It was a reminder that more than medicine is needed here. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Featured, Missionary, Stories Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Shiny Shoes and Clean Hearts

February 19, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Distributing tickets for the event

Distributing tickets for the event
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There are dozens of shoe shiners in Chichicastenango. Starting as young as five years old, these youngsters prowl the streets looking for leather shoes to turn into shiny proof of their work.

“Shoe shine?” they ask  in earnest. “Son muy sucio.”  (They are very dirty.)

These poorly dressed youngsters can be seen carrying their little wooden shoe shine boxes in their blackened hands in search of one more customer. For three quetzales (about 40 cents U.S.) they will wax your shoes and buff them to a brilliant sheen. Really. Many of these boys do a fine job. If you don’t let them shine your shoes, they may follow you for a block asking for money for a tamale, some toy in a nearby store, or simply for a quetzal to help increase their take by the end of the day.

In February 2012, a Christian group from Saginaw, Michigan visited Chichicastenango to help with several projects at ASELSI. One of the projects was an outreach for the shoeshine boys.

ASELSI rented out the local municipal theater and the team gave the kids an afternoon of fun and games. This was an opportunity these boys do not often have — a chance to be children. After winning prizes of shoe wax, toys, toothbrushes, and more during games of hot potato. The boys enjoyed coloring, crafts, and dodgeball. After the games, the boys listened to a lively presentation of the Gospel and all 25 of them responded to accept Christ!

This is a great step for these boys to start a relationship with Christ, but now a followup and discipleship program needs to be developed! Please pray for an ongoing opportunity for these young boys to grow in their relationship with Christ.

Filed Under: Missionary, Stories, Teams Tagged With: , , , ,

Chichi Feeding Program

January 20, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Praying with shoeshine boys

Praying with shoeshine boys
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In Chichi boys as young as 5 years old prowl the streets carrying what look like little black toolboxes. Their hands are filthy and most of their ragged clothes are a close match. These boys are the shoeshine boys looking for anyone with  leather shoes to shine for as low as two quetzales (about 26 U.S. cents) and as high as they can get foreigners to pay.

Another common site in Chichi are the carriers of heavy things. These men may be as old as well into their 80s, but they are men with strong backs and hard lives hired to carry heavy burdens for shop owners and individuals.

For these boys and men, ASELSI puts on a special feeding outreach in the local central park. Usually this involves sending out a small team to pass out tickets and then returning to the town park with 30 to 60 hamburgers, chips, a drink and some cookies.

Before the sack lunches are passed out, we have some fun songs and then someone shares a testimony of how God changed their life. After a brief presentation of the Gospel we’ll pray for anyone who wants to accept Christ or just needs prayer.

Then it’s lunch time and all the individuals with tickets line up and receive their lunches. The most exciting part of these outreaches is seeing the guys respond to Christ. The hardest part is having to tell those without tickets that we don’t have any more meals to give away.

 

Filed Under: Featured, Missionary, Stories, Teams

Hope and a Heartrending Home Visit

January 18, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Carrying the food tub.

Carrying the food tub.
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While hosting the first ASELSI team of 2012, we left the main road and went out to visit a family with a large tub filled with food for them. As we wound down hairpin curves, our little white Toyota van bumped over hardened ruts and finally descended to the smooth sand beside the Motagua River near the family home in the area of Xepocol.

After picking our way along the rocky bank, we walked by a ruined bridge that had been destroyed in the 2010 flood that ripped through this valley as a result of tropical storm Agatha. We stepped on rounded stones and crossed  a makeshift log bridge over the gently flowing water, it was hard to imagine the torrent that must have been this river just two years ago.

The house We followed the river up stream until we saw a small group of children high on a bluff above us looking down and jabbering excitedly as we worked our way up a ravine to the top of the bluff. These kids were some of the eight children we had come to visit. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Missionary, Stories, Teams
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