Yesterday at Chajabal and Today's Visits

Panoramic view of valley of Quetzaltenango, Xela Ju, where we stayed for two days.

Technical difficulties prevented me from blogging yesterday evening, so today's post will cover Tuesday and Wednesday,

We had a second day of clinic at Chajabal on Tuesday. There were many more people who came to see us, probably because of word of mouth, 131 in total were examined. There were many children who came with their parents. We had a classroom for VBS with reading of stories from the Bible and coloring pages with Bible stories. Sue Schultz had a large classroom of children when I took this photo. I estimate that there were at least 20 children. Sue asked one of the students to read the story to the students. Sue told her that she was a very good "maestra." Maybe that will plant a seed in this girl's mind that she could be a teacher someday. Who knows? Well, actually, God knows. 

Brittany Garcia had a very good rapport with the children. She read books with several of the little ones.

We had a young doctor with us, Dr. Pablo Alejandro, who assisted us greatly for the last three days. We saw several people who had serious medical conditions: diabetes, infections, (one little baby had a severe ear infection) Pablo was able to prescribe medications for some of them and give them advice on their conditions. The big problem with treating many of these conditions is that the people are so poor that they cannot afford regular checkups or prescriptions. This sad fact affected many of us. We got to see firsthand the effects of a fallen world. But we also got to see how the light of our Lord Jesus Christ can give hope to even to those most suffering in this world that there is a loving Father in heaven who wants us to trust in His promise of eternal, joyful life to those who believe that His Son died for their sins. 

Today we took a rest from the clinics and left Xela (Quetzaltengo) to visit the Inter-American School fifteen minutes from our hotel. Michael McNabb, the director of the school, gave us a tour.

The school is about fifty years old. It was started for the children of missionaries in Guatemala in the Xela region. Today, over 80% of the students are Guatemalan. The school continues to provide an excellent, Christ-centered education from Kindergarten through high school. All of the courses are taught in English. Many of the graduates get scholarships to colleges in the United States.

The photo below is of our group on the school grounds with a beautiful view of the valley below and the large volcano in the distance.

After our school visit we travelled to the coffee plantation La Tranquilidad, owned by Martin and Diane Brodbeck. Martin gave us a tour of his nine acre coffee fields. We got to eat fresh coffee beans (sweet), and roasted beans (delicioso!) 

The Brodbecks also made a wonderful lunch for us with a tamale dish that is usually cooked for special celebrations. The Brodbecks were wonderful hosts.

After dinner we travelled to the Eagle's Nest near Solola, where we began this week. We had dinner by Lake Atitlan and did some shopping. We ended the day with devotions and a meeting. 

Every morning we have devotions and end every day with devotions and a debriefing meeting to talk about our thoughts on the events of the day. 

Tomorrow we have our last clinic day.