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.

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.

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.

When we visited her, we took a basket of food and household items for which she was very grateful. One of her sons still lives with her but he isn’t able to help her very much and most of her time she spends trying to stay comfortable from her physical pains that keep her from working any more.

While we visited Petronila we prayed with her and a team member from Missouri shared about how God has helped him walk through the tough times in his life.

Petronila showed us the blankets that ASELSI gave her to help keep her warm this winter and expressed how grateful she was for the gifts and food. She said that through the example that she has seen through ASELSI and this team she knows that God does care about her.
A local pastor who was with us and she asked him about when his small groups in the community. It’s very exciting to see how God is working on the hearts of people in the communities here and drawing them to Himself.

After the home visit, some of the team members expressed interest in helping get a new roof for Petronila’s house.

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.

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 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!

Juan* grew up outside of Chichicastenango. His parents owned several milk cows and goats. As a boy Juan’s job along with his five brothers and two sisters was to milk the cows, sell the milk to neighbors and scavenge enough food for the cattle to fill their bellies for the night. Each day Juan did this fearing that if he didn’t get enough milk, his mother would beat him or that if the cows were still hungry at night, he would have to wander the dark fields looking for more food to give the hungry cows at 10 o’clock that night.

Juan said he was almost always barefoot. He almost never received money from his parents for a toy or some candy treat. It was a childhood of fear and little love. Once he was given a pair of rubber boots and these were one of his prized possessions. Now it is some 30 years later, and he remembers those rubber boots with a special smile.

When Juan was about six years old, his father became a pastor of a small country church. Sadly, while his father was teaching the people in the church about the Word of God, little changed in the home. Juan said that as he entered his teen years he received almost no advice on what it means to be a man of God or things he should stay away from.

At one point Juan had accepted Christ, but as he describes it now, it was only with his lips not his heart. Juan said he had been sick and someone asked if he wanted to become a Christian so he agreed to this and prayed but he did not allow God to change his heart.

ALCOHOL AND GIRLFRIENDS

As Juan passed 16 years of age, he was soon carousing with friends, seeing five different girlfriends and getting drunk with other young men. Once he and some friends were walking the street drunk when they got into a fight with another man. After they beat the man up, they knew that his friends would chase them so he ran to his father’s church where a meeting was taking place. Soon, their pursuers caught them in the church and tied up Juan and his friends. After giving them a beating, they untied them and threw them into a well to sober them up.

Still Juan didn’t change his way of living. He played soccer as much as he could, and he was well known as being a great player in the stadium in Chichi. He continued to drink and run around. He said that he and his friends would sneak through the cemetery and steal liquor that people left for their ancestor’s spirits during the Day of the Dead.

At about 18 years old, Juan and a young lady named, Olivia,* committed fornication together. A few months later Olivia told Juan she was pregnant.

Juan didn’t know what to do so he left town without telling anyone. Soon he found himself working for a man near the coast still wondering what he should do. All this time, his family didn’t know where he was or why he left. Eventually, the girl’s father visited Juan’s dad and explained that his daughter was pregnant and that Juan was the father.  Things started to make sense, but Juan’s dad still didn’t know where he had gone.

One day, Juan’ dad met a man in the market of Chichicastenango who knew that Juan was working at the coast. Juan soon was standing face to face with his father who traveled all the way to the coast to confront his son.

ANOTHER BAD DECISION

At first, Juan said he left just to find work, but his father told him he knew there was more to it and that he needed to come home.  Finally, Juan agreed to return, but in his mind he decided that he would try to abort the baby to keep from having this “problem” in his life.

When he arrived in his home town, Juan talked with the girl and they agreed to visit a doctor to get an abortion even though they are not only wrong, but also illegal in Guatemala.

At the doctor’s office, the woman doctor talked with the young couple and explained why they shouldn’t get an abortion. Since it is illegal for a woman to get an abortion in Guatemala except if her life is threatened, the doctor explained how Juan could end up in prison if they went through with this. Flustered but determined, Juan and Olivia left the doctors office determined to try another way.

Juan bought some pills and gave them to Olivia to abort the baby, but nothing happened and soon, it was very evident that a baby was on it’s way.

In a quiet legal ceremony, Juan and Olivia got married and their daughter was born. Thankfully, she was a healthy, beautiful baby. Even at this time, Juan had little change of heart or lifestyle. He still drank and when he met his old girlfriends in town they would asked him who was the woman he was with. He told them that she was his sister.

SICKNESS TO SALVATION

After some time, Juan became very sick. This soccer player who it seemed that nothing could stop him, was sick and in his bed for 15 days.

It was lying there on his back that he realized that he couldn’t keep going on like this. He felt that God was using this sickness to give him the chance to change his life. There in his bed, he turned his life over to God and decided to never take it back.

After that, Juan gradually got better and he spent all his spare time in the church serving in one way or another. He kept praying for a job, but stayed busy serving in the church. Eventually, he was asked to help with the youth group at his father’s church. As evidence of his life change continued to be obvious, his old friends asked why he didn’t drink with them or hang out with them any more.

God did answer Juan’s prayer for a job and he got a low wage job at a local ministry where he continues to serve and have income for his family. Olivia now sells things in the local market on Sundays and their family has grown to four children. Now, Juan is training up his oldest daughter and other children to avoid the same mistakes he made and raising them to follow Christ.

How amazing that God saved that little baby, Juan and his entire family and now Juan is training up a new generation of children who will follow Christ.

*Names have been changed to protect identity in this true story.

We’re excited to visit with as many of our friends, family members, and our church family as possible while we’re visiting the states!

We’ll be updating our schedule here as new Gatherings are scheduled so keep an eye out and we’ll keep you updated!

Tulsa

August 28, 6:30 p.m. — A Gathering* at Joel & Mitzi Ray’s home, 6219 S. 28th W Ave. Tulsa OK 74132

Kansas

9 Sept., 10 a.m. — Faith Christian Center, 2203 Deer Road  Garland, KS 66741

10 Sept., 6 p.m. — A Gathering* at Shead Farm, 2468 Cavalry Rd. Garland, KS 66741

11 Sept., 6:30 p.m. – A Gathering* at Mark & Haley Shead’s Home, 2067 Kansas Rd, Fort Scott, KS 66701

12 Sept., 6:30 pm. – A Gathering* at Shead Farm, 2468 Cavalry Rd. Garland, KS 66741

Michigan (WE ARRIVED IN MICHIGAN Sept. 14!)

• Sunday, 9/16, — Following the 11:30 service we’ll be at the Olive Tree Cafe if anyone wants to stop by and see us!
• Thursday, 9/20, 6 p.m. — At Aaron & Rachel VanOosterhout’s Home at 2272 Van Singel Lake Dr. SW, Byron Center
• Tuesday, 9/25, 6 p.m. — At the Gilleo’s Home,  6730 Estate Drive, Byron Center
• Sunday, 9/30, 11 a.m. — Iglesia Resureccion y Vida Central, 1001 Hermitage St SE Grand Rapids MI 49506

*Gatherings are great times to hear about what’s happening with us and in Guatemala over some refreshments. Join us for an informative evening to watch videos, hear stories about Guatemala and enjoy a time of fellowship together! We’d love to see you!

Sidewalk

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!

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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.”

Rosa and friends.

Rosa is 11 years old but she’s never been to school. Her father, Carlos, is a former drunk who accepted Christ and has turned his life over to following Christ as he works odd jobs to provide for his family of 7 children. Carlos and his wife, Juana, have another baby on the way.

Besides the difficulties of paying for school fees for their seven children,  Carlos and Juana face other obstacles when it comes to sending Rosa to school.

Rosa hasn’t gone to school because her left foot is turned almost backward. Walking is difficult for her and children can be cruel. After her parents saw how, even at church, children made fun of Rosa, they decided not to risk sending her to school to face worse.

So, for now, Rosa helps with her siblings and around the house as much as she can. Since she’s never been to school, she only speaks K’iché, the Mayan language spoken in their home. She doesn’t speak Spanish–the language used for most business transactions and activities in town because most Mayan kids first learn to speak Spanish while in school.
We first met Rosa after we heard about her from her older sister.

Rosa with her family and Chrisi and Hudson in their kitchen

One evening we went to Juana and Carlos’ home to visit the family and see if we could help with Rosa’s situation. Their clean but sparsely furnished home once belonged to them, but was sold by Rosa’s dad during his drinking days. Now, the uncle who bought the property loans it back to them so they have a place to live. The adobe mud brick walls of their kitchen are undecorated and their stove top looks more like an outdoor griddle you’d see in a park in the United States than something for a home.

The family told us that they had gone to a public health clinic when Rosa was a baby to see what could be done for her foot, but once they found out about the cost of corrective surgery, they dropped the matter because there just was not enough money to go around. Much less enough to pay for a surgery.

That night we prayed over Rosa, and both Chrisi and I left that home knowing that somehow we would be part of answering that prayer.

Through connections at the Father’s Heart Clinic at ASELSI, we were able to get an appointment set up for young Rosa. The earliest appointment we could get with an orthopedic doctor was more than two months after our first meeting with Rosa, but that little appointment card represented a piece of hope for a little girl who wants to run, play, learn and grow like a normal child.

During those two months, the excitement grew for this little girl who is eager to walk normally and be able to attend school. Despite pain that causes her to call out during the night, Rosa had renewed hope that something could be done for her awkward foot.

Just two days ago, we saw Rosa at the medical clinic. Rosa and her mom had arrived at the clinic gate at about 6:30 a.m. to stand in line to see the doctor. At about 8 a.m. the gates opened and they made their way into a waiting room crammed with others waiting to see the doctors. That’s where Rosa was waiting when we saw her.

She has an infectious smile that makes you feel like a million bucks when you see the joy in this little girl’s face. When we came up to greet Rosa and her mom, little Rosa lit up the room with her smile and gave us big hugs.
To pass the time as they waited in the clinic, Juana worked on a needlework handicraft that will later earn her about US$3.40 for about 8 hours of work. After nearly six and a half hours of waiting, Rosa finally got to show her twisted foot to the doctor.

It was a short meeting, but one that got her one more step toward the foot she’s always wanted.

The doctor said correction of her foot would have been much easier when she was first born, but there is hope for corrective procedures on her foot if we act soon.

Since the sort of surgery involved in this situation is for a child, ASELSI requires for both parents to be in on the approval process. Too often fathers will not approve a planned surgery. So, after a brief explanation, Juana and Rosa were invited to come back next week with Carlos to discuss the process that she would go through for the correction.

While Rosa is excited about the prospect of having a normal foot, this is but one step forward in a process that could take months to get family approval, further examinations, surgery and rehabilitation therapy.

We’ve committed to help with this process and we’re hoping to team up with other outreaches that provide this sort of surgery. Thanks to the team at The Father’s Heart Clinic, we can see a growing light of hope for Rosa.
It is exciting to see how helping with Rosa’s situation is another way of showing a struggling family that Christ has not forgotten them and that despite the newness of their faith, God is working good out of their situations.

Please pray for the details to all come together for Rosa and for every financial need to be provided for this family. Pray for healing for Rosa’s foot and that her family and even her neighbors will see that the source of the help they are getting is not us, but Christ.

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Rosa and her foot in a cast.

UPDATE: Rosa had two surgeries on her foot in 2012 and is healing up nicely. She will be meeting with a physical therapist in October, 2012 to see about exercises to get the maximum use of her foot!

If you would like to help with Rosa specifically and other children in similar situations, consider giving a tax-deductible gift through the link below.

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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.

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!