San Marcos - First Service Day

Today's blog entry is brought to you courtesy of the medical team. Not to worry - everyone had a great day today, ending with a service at the San Marcos church who is hosting us that included singing worship songs, a couple sermons, mime, rap and interpretive dance. Oh yes, and it ended with cake and hot tea (since today is El Dia de el Padres - Father's Day - in Guatemala). The other teams will be the focus of upcoming blog entries. Here is what the medical team had to offer....

Today the medical team worked as a well oiled machine(Well, almost)! 170 patients were seen in 7 hours. The need was great as the script list was long. (I) or Sarah W. labeled close to 200 prescriptions today and my fingers are bloody (just kidding mom.). We were at a church and when we got there we were happy to see the clinic was already all set up for us with a welcome sign written in English. When the pace was slower (which was rare) we played soccer with the kids outside. At one point a herd of sheep walked by and we were fascinated. Our communication and tactics have improved dramatically but it got tense when the meds would run out and we needed to compensate. The lunch was perfect homemade soup and tamales which warmed us up since it was chilly up here in the hills. The local people had their winter jackets on. Tonight I volunteered to give my faith story . I hope that Gods presence in my story influences the people here at the church. (editor’s note: Sara did give her faith story at the church service and did wonderfully. Several of the local church members came up to her afterwards to encourage her with how her story had affected them.)

Sarah W


Hi everyone! Guatemala has been a great experience so far. Today we worked at a church way up in the mountains - we were actually in the clouds! I worked in prayer and teaching all day. The pastor’s wife talked to the people about God, and then I taught the people about hygiene. We then all prayed together, and then the people went to collect their prescriptions. Prayer and teaching is really fun! The kids here are so cute, it’s so hard to leave them every day and go home. The food has also been amazing here, and I have not yet gotten sick. I miss you mom and dad!

Love,
Becca


Hola! Earlier today we went into the mountains and set up a clinic in a church. It was awesome! I was playing soccer in a cloud and sheep were walking right next to me, It was the craziest thing ever! I’m having an amazing time and It’s going by really fast.

Love Drew Bohleeeeeeeeeen


Hello all,
Today was a little bit harder than the previous days. Lots of meds needed to go out in pharmacy today, and we got very backed up. Sometimes we had a stack of almost 30 people’s sheets with meds that needed to be given out. I got to do teaching today, which stretched my Spanish a little, but was very cool. One lady was so grateful, she gave me a hug. So far Guatemala has been amazing. It’s such a beautiful country and the people are so friendly and giving.

Sending lots of love,
Mary


Today we drove into the clouds and set up a clinic in a small church. We had a lot of fun. I played hide and seek with a small boy and played soccer on our down time.

Tyler


Up until today, about all I could say to the kids we play with is, “No abolo mucho espanol.” (I don’t speak much Spanish. But today at one of the schools we visited, I was finally able to hold a ten minute conversation with a bunch of kids in Spanish. I’m practically fluent now! (By the way, my 12 years of French have soooo not paid off. I‘m desperately wishing I had been in Spanish for all these years.)

Love, Aimee


Bonjour, hola, hello,
Aujord’hui j’ai assiste a la infermier et j’ai vu des escargots dans les yeux. Yo darmatar el bosque en el nube. I also played soccer with some children. Uno tableta el dia por 35 dias. On a passer beacuoup de temps sur l’autobus avec mes amis. Now I’m in a r3staurant. Miss you family.

Amor, aime, love,
Sam