2nd Day in San Marcos

We had a longer clinic today because we started earlier than on Saturday. When we arrived at San Marcos there were about thirty people-- men, women, and children-- waiting for us. We did a quick setup and rearranging of the examination tables for more efficient movement between stations, said a group prayer, and opened the clinic.

We distributed two hundred and three pairs of glasses today. There were many remarkable stories that we shared tonight before dinner. Most of them centered around how grateful, open, patient, and joyful the people of San Marcos were. Even though several of those we examined had serious eye problems that were beyond our capabilities they were so grateful for what we could provide.

One elderly lady received a cane to help her with walking. When she came into the clinic she was walking with the assistance of her daughter-in-law. After getting the cane, she started practicing walking with it, and soon was walking with much more ease and confidence.

The people we served showed us so much gratitude for every thing we did. I handed out little beaded leather necklaces and wristbands that tied into a presentation of the Gospel of salvation through faith in Christ by describing how the different colors represent God the Father-transparent; the saving blood of Christ--red; the new life in Christ--green, etc... Each person also got a printout of the description of the colors and what they represent. Along with the descriptions were scripture readings that tied into the colors' themes. Blue stood for the waters of Baptism. The reading was from Galatians 3:26-27:

           "for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ." (ESV) 

Pastor Ada told us that seven families today requested  to be baptized. What an amazing evidence of the power of the Word of God. The farewells at the end of the day were very emotional, with lots of tears and embraces and wishing God's blessings on each other. Persida Gudiel, a powerful leader in the church in San Marcos, (who also gave a very evangelical Gospel presentation to those waiting to be seen) expressed the thanks of her church for our coming to serve them in this mission trip.

One of our team members from Michigan, Karen Zehnder had a birthday today. At lunch, our hosts provided a birthday celebration that the whole team attended, with two beautiful cakes, a card, balloons, and firecrackers. We sang her happy birthday and had a great time.

We left presents of blankets, an audio player that presents the Gospel in Spanish for all those who helped us, from cooking our meals, translating for us, helping in so many different ways. Persida's husband, Juan Ramon, Alex, Cristina, Luis, Angelita, Marcosa, Patti, Dulce, Lidia, Maria, and others were recognized and thanked.

Tomorrow we will be in Chajabal, where many of the people will not be Spanish speakers. We have an assistant, Pablo, who knows Mayan languages who will be very helpful to us. We have an early start, so I will end this post now. I am uploading photos of today's clinic that I will add as soon as they are uploaded.

This week we will also have guest bloggers, so look for tomorrow's post. Buenas noches, hermanos y hermanas en Cristo.  Good night, brothers and sisters in Christ.