Needle In A Haystack...On A Volcano In Guatemala (Guest Post By Lauren Pupchik)

I want to share the story of a 15 year old boy from the village of Santa Maria de Jesus, a town of 25,000 indigenous Mayan Indians. He came in to the dental clinic on Saturday held at our girls school, Proximos Pasos with an impacted wisdom tooth. Dr Todd, a dentist from NJ who was a part of the team from my sister's home church, worked on his tooth and gave him antibiotics for his severe infection, but he didn’t have everything he needed such as a scalpel to finish. We returned on Wednesday to do the lice wash with the girls at the school. Dr Todd and Pastor Gary ended up joining us even though it wasn’t on the schedule. Dr. Todd wanted to look for the boy who God had put on his heart and finish his dental work now that he had the all important scalpel. The only problem was that we had no idea where he lived, or what his name was. Did I mention that each little house in Santa Maria basically looks the same with a mixture of corrugated metal and corn stalks for walls. We decided to pray for this boy and ask God to lead us to him where he may be. Now I know Bill has made mention of my direct line to God here in Guatemala, and I’ll tell you that the reason I believe things happen when I pray is because I know that my only option is trusting my heavenly father to take care of me and lead me each day. We came together in faith asking God for a miracle. 10 minutes after we prayed, out of “no where” one of the girls at school tugged on my shirt and told me that her brother didn’t go and work in the fields planting corn today because he had a hole in his mouth. I felt God prompting me to pursue this and asked if the girl could take me to her house. I called for Dr. Todd and Pastor Gary to join me. I asked them if they were ready to see a miracle. The little girl led us on a winding adventure down narrow village roads with more twists and turns than I imagined possible. She led us to her front door and prayed in my head once more that this would be the boy’s house. A weary Mayan woman came to the door and eyed us with caution. I told her we were from Proximos Pasos school and that we were looking for a boy….”It’s HIM…It’s really HIM!!!!” Dr Todd yelled as soon as he saw a young man’s head peer out from behind his mother. His mouth was extremely swollen and he looked miserable but a twinkle in his eye said he was glad to see us. His mother invited us into the one room house with the smoke of an open fire swirling throughout the room and only one bed for her and her 11 children. The mother began to cry as she told us that she and her sister had been praying all weekend that God would send the Dentist back to their village to help her son and that God would take care of them. After hearing of her faith, Todd, Gary and I were all wiping away tears as we witnessed this miracle in the making. God heard the cry of a faithful woman and orchestrated an answer by moving each one of us to action. We all joined hands and prayed for the family while thanking God for leading us right to their humble front door. We took the boy, who we found out was named Rolando and his little brother back to the school with us. Dr Todd preformed a surgery right on the third floor patio of the school relieving a lot of pain and eliminating the buildup of infection that was present. Without an X-Ray to make sure that the entire tooth had been removed, Dr Todd had to use his judgment and do the best he could with such limited resources. God had yet another miracle in store for us. He led us to a local dental technicians’ office where they let us use additional anesthesia and suction to make sure the surgery was complete. Dr. Todd offered to pay the man for the use of his office but he would not accept money since we had come to help the people of his village. Our buddy Rolando will be sore for the next few days, but he will good as new after a week’s rest. I saw firsthand the way God cares for his children on that day. In a village of 25,000 people, God led a dentist to the exact house of a family praying for dental care. What a mighty God we serve!

To follow Lauren's missionary adventures, stop by her own personal blog at:

www.laurenpupchik.blogspot.com

Last Day Photos

Now as many of you know, I missed the events of the team's last full day in Guatemala thanks to some freakish stomach virus of sorts that both Jackson and I had.

The team did one final day of dental work, one last day of worship with the kids, and one final day pouring the foundation for the new addition to the school. The photos above capture some of the images of the day.

The team got to pray over and dedicate the new addition to the school with the staff and students.

Afterwards, the team had a closing banquet in Antigua. (I have more pictures to post of Antigua later.) The evening was very inspirational with people sharing testimonies from their week and reflecting on the work that the Lord has done here.

Thank you to everyone for your prayers and support for the team from GCCC!

As a side note, Jackson and I are doing fine now. We come home tomorrow. Please pray for safety and non-cranky kids!

Also, there will be a few final blogs and pictures posted. One of which is the promised guest blog from Lauren about the miraculous story involving Dr. Gottlieb and Pastor Gary on a journey to find a sick boy.

You don't want to miss that one!

Faith, Lice Washes & Growth: Attempt # 2 (Updated with Pictures!)

Also, you should know that I wrote this whole long and insightful blog just now and it somehow didn't save so now I have to start again.

First, an update for all you Brett fans. He now has 2 nicknames. In addition to the monicker of "hairball" he has also been labeled "Ketchup" for his need to carry a bottle of ketchup around with him while travelling.

At Proximos Pasos yesterday a new stud arrived in town. His name is Jackson. Though only 2, he captured the hearts of the school girls. Sure during his many "fight sessions" with Marcus, Noah and any innocent bystander, he was again labeled in spanish as "angry." Sure he cried a lot as the time for his nap came and went. The girls of the school, however, were impressed with his strength. He cries alot, they would say in their spanish, but he is also strong. He can protect us. He is our boyfriend.

Aw, Jackson, already an international superstar.

Noah, meanwhile enhanced his international star power by sharing his bakugan toys with the kids of the village and dazzling them with his soccer skills in an impromptu game. No doubt they thought David Beckhem had arrived!

Reagan struggled through her appearance. By the end, she was able to open up to the girls and play with them. She also was able to learn a new worship song thanks to Gina.

It was indeed a day of growth.

The construction team toiled over at the other school. We were told that the girls at the school there were hitting on Justin. Also, that they continued to get a lot of work done on the project via wheelbarrows full of concrete and a series of intricate wooden planks with ditches below them. Sounds like a Survivor challenge to me!

The painting ladies were without paint for most of the day, so they made lunch for the others, and assisted Wally in his class. Apparently, Wally was using a power point presentation for his class. It struck me as funny that he can do that here, but in Washington Township, I still have to use an overhead projector for my class.

Our main task at Proximos Pasos was the lice wash. We performed the lice wash for all 105 girls at the school. It took pretty much the whole school day for them.

Lice is a big problem in their village because most houses only have running water about 1-2 hours a day, so they only bathe about once a month.

Now, contrary to what you might think, a lice wash is not all just fun and games. Sure, most people crave the feeling of little scalp-dwelling insects crawling around on them. Sure, most people enjoy running a comb through hair infested with lice.

It isn't my thing though. My thing is a nice nutritious meal and a good book. (Who am I kidding? It's a burger, fries and my television set!)

The girls would not hesitate to lower their heads for us to shampoo with the lice wash and then stood there solid as a rock as we combed through their hair (sometimes being quite hard on them!) The absolute trust they had in us was stunning.

The English teacher in me of course is always on the prowl for symbolism. Their unwavering trust in us seemed a fitting representation for how we should feel towards God.

Anyway, the little Santa Maria beauties had to let their lice wash "sizzle" in their hair for 30 minutes or so, and then it was off to rinse and get a regular shampooing.

Being part of this experience definitely stretched us beyond our comfort zones and humbled us. It was a great chance to be the "hands and feet of Christ."

Meanwhile, we also learned about faith. Last summer while down here, I was struck at the seeming "direct line to God" that Lauren has. Time after time things would come up, Lauren would pray about it and literally minutes later it was done.

Yesterday continued that trend. Lauren was taking pictures of herself and some of the girls from the school for a prayer card. It was a good day to do it because you could see the top of the volano (a lot of times the tops are covered in clouds). Because of the placement of the sun, however, Lauren couldn't get a good picture that included the volcano because the sun was directly in her eyes. She prayed that God would send a cloud to cover the sun. Fast forward about a minute and the sun was safely tucked behind the clouds.

I told Pastor Gary about it and suggested we get together and pray. He and Dr. Gottlieb were looking for a kid who they had worked on in the dental clinic. He had a bad infection and they were hoping to follow-up with him, but didn't know who he was or where he lived.

We prayed. God answered. (More on that story when Lauren guest blogs later on!)

It struck me that maybe Lauren doesn't have a direct line to God. Maybe she just doesn't answer the call waiting while talking to Him.

Consider Abraham. He was considered righteous because of his faith, and is called the "father of faith." Yet, even this great pillar of faith demonstrated the very human desire to take things into our own hands and attempt to solve them. He and Sarah knew God was going to bless them with a son. They chose not to wait for his promise. They acted. Enter the Isaac and Ishmael grudge match.

I'm not suggesting that Abraham lacked faith. I am also not suggesting that if we don't have a prayer answered it is because of our lack of faith. I am simply saying that maybe God does answer a lot more prayer than we realize because we are too quick to take matters in our own hands, or two pre-occupied to notice his reply.

Maybe missionary folks aren't some supernatural cell phone carrier to God. Maybe they just rely on Him more and themselves less. Maybe the nature of their lifestyle causes them to have to trust more profoundly.

Being down here in the shadow of the volcanos reminds me more clearly that God answers prayer. Today was just another example.

Along those lines, please pray for me and Jackson as we are not feeling well!

Sights of the Day: The Dental Team

The dental team served at Proximos Pasos Saturday and Monday, and began their work today at Vida y Esperanza. They are seeing students, staff, and some kids from the villages.

Dr. Gottlieb, Martha, Margaret, Becca, Pastor Gary and Arlene have been working hard all week. Jaci joined them on Sat and today when she isn't working with the worship team.

Getting to see my wife light up like she did the first night about working in the dental field again was spectacular. She is so happy to have the chance to serve in this capacity, and it is awesome to see how fulfilled she feels in taking on this task. The dental team will continue to work at this school for the rest of the week.

The worship team will be going to Proximos Pasos tomorrow for some worship, maybe a little teaching, and a lice wash for all 105 girls of the school!

Sights Of The Day: The Construction Team

I cannot say enough how hard this construction team is working. The above images are from today's work at the school.

Worship Team Gets Started!

A great bunch of people came together on Monday to minister to the 5th and 6th grade students of Vida y Esperanza. Volunteers from our own children's ministry (Jaci, Marcus, and Bill Brown) joined newcomers (Sara & Gina) and special guest Lauren as they led the kids in singing "Mighty To Save" and "Jesus Is My Superhero" in spanish.

The kids were very responsive to the songs and it was a blessing to see this group shine as they led them in worship. Afterwards, Lauren and I got up and told the story of Elijah and the prophets of Baal from 1 Kings. We took turns reading it, but I actually did read and speak in spanish. I made sure to apologize to the students for my "mal" spanish skills.

We got to impress on them the key points we make at our church with the kids. I need to make the wise choice. I can trust God no matter what. I should treat others the way I want to be treated.

It was really an honor to be able to share God's love with the kids. The team today is ministering to the 3rd and 4th grade classes. The team spent yesterday afternoon cutting out supplies for the follow-up activity that they were going to do with the kids. Sadly, due to a stomach issue, I am not part of the team today, but I hope to re-join them tomorrow at Proximos Pasos.

I cannot stress enough the way these kids have captured the hearts of our team. It truly is representative of how Christ feels towards us.

In the eyes of eternity, we amount to little in and of ourselves. Christ's heart is captured by each and every one of us.

As we seek to serve people that have virtually nothing, we are reminded of how needy each of us truly is.

In the shadow of vast volcanoes, you kind of get the idea of how small you really are. Which, for those of us who need to lose a few pounds, is really re-assuring!

The Hughes Kids Continue Their Adventure

Here are some photos of the kids at Vida y Esperanza School. Jackson was very comfortable in the kindergarten class room. He got that chair himself, and then found an empty spot at the table and joined the class. The kids at the school remembered Noah from last year, and were excited to meet his two little siblings!

The kids have really blessed Lauren by being here. They may not be able to contribute a lot, but they sure can brighten the spirits of their missionary aunt!