Luis Otoniel Bran

In a week (last week) where 3 celebrities died, I found myself growing more and more frustrated. While I don't know enough about any of the celebs to comment on their life, I can say that it makes me nuts to hear people go on and on about their deaths. As one friend wrote, "Anyone else find it ironic that folks are all concerned with how Michael Jackson died, but so few of them really cared about how he lived?" Is one person's death more important than another persons? 17-18 people are murdered every day here in Guatemala (murdered, not just died from things like a heart attack) according to the WHO. Guatemala...a country that has roughly the same number of square miles as the state of Virginia and almost double the population (per Wikipedia).

Below is a blog entry written by Ginny Holmes about a young man named Luis that was murdered Sunday, June 21st. Since that day, approx. 136-144 more may have been murdered. I've written additional comments at the end of Ginny's blog.

If you've been checking my wall on Facebook lately you would have read about an all too common occurance here in Guatemala. Luis Otoniel Bran, who was 19, was shot and killed two days ago, along with two other boys aged 13 and 22. As is often the case, we don't have many details. It is thought that there was a fourth boy who was taken by the shooters. Needless to say, there is no one left to tell us exactly what happened.

Luis was an exceptionally tall teenager by Guatemalan standards, and as Rachel said yesterday, he always smiled like the picture you see. He came to the ministry each day after school to help in the kitchen carrying bucketloads of dishes for the cooks, cleaning and working in the carpentry shop. Graduation from high school was in sight, leading Luis to possible employment as a mechanic. The word 'gentle' comes to mind when I think of this tall, but quiet young man.

The people of Guatemala are shaking their fists at the government and police for the escalating violence in this country. Drug trafficking, extortion, poverty, gangs...all lead to violent crimes, which all too often are against innocent victims who are simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. The government says it is working on changing this situation, but it's pretty hard to do when the police and lawmakers are corrupt and less than 3% of the over 6000 homicides per year are ever brought to justice. Villages throughout Guatemala are beginning to take the law into their own hands with vigilante groups seizing suspected wrong-doers and killing them on the spot. Unfortunately, with the level of corruption in the government and law enforcement, there is little chance of the situation improving any time soon.

Sounds pretty hopeless, doesn't it? But no matter where you live, your hope can't be placed in the government, in law enforcement, or in any human, for that matter. Reading the newspaper or hearing from someone we know that yet another relative or friend was murdered could make us never want to get out of bed in the morning. But we can't live in fear that something might happen to us sometime. I mean, is God in control of every single thing that happens in this universe or not?? If we really believe that, then we need to trust His eternal love and sovereign will. What happened to Luis and his two friends is tragic and seems to be senseless. Why so young? Why such a nice kid? But nothing is out of God's sight. He knew this was going to happen and He is even now surrounding Luis' family and friends with His loving arms of comfort and strength. We pray that everyone who was touched by this horrible event will draw closer to the only true hope which is found in the Lord who never changes, always loves, and has given us the absolute assurance of eternal life with Him through His Son, Jesus Christ.


And Luis? Why he is forever in the arms of his God and Savior! Can't get any better than that!!


I appreciate Ginny allowing me to post her blog here.
The details of his death are unclear, but I guess the details aren't overly important and won't change the fact that Luis and at least 2 other friends were chased and gunned down (killed). We'd heard rumor that a 4th boy was also involved, and today we were told he's in the hospital. Today we went to visit with Luis' mother and the parents of one of the other boys (only 13 yr old!) Luis' mom was obviously hurting, but her faith was so strong! She has not lost faith or hope in her God and His sovereignty. I could only hope that I would be that strong in such a circumstance.

My understanding is that Luis is his mother's only son. Perhaps his mom was looking forward to the day when Luis would marry and bring his bride to live with them in their simple home, as is the tradition in this culture. Perhaps she was looking forward to grandchildren. Perhaps she was hoping Luis would find a good job and be able to care for her as she grows older. Ginny mentioned to me that when she hears a siren, she now thinks of Luis. I wondered if Luis' mom and the other families are haunted by sirens. During our visit, I heard the loud pops of fireworks (the kind we hear multiple times every day and night....the kind that stay on the ground and make lots of noise...eerily similar to gunshots). And I wonder if she heard the gunshots that killed her son. And I wonder if she thinks of her son every time she hears gunshots or fireworks....multiple times every day. My heart breaks for her and the people of Guatemala.

During one of our visits, Oscar shared a similar story of 3 brothers that were killed at one time. And it dawned on me once again that our ministry workers have seen and lived through so much. Each one could render countless stories of similar tragedy. It really does bring me to my knees in prayer. It brings me to a renewed sense of urgency that we would all know and share Christ. I think Ginny said it best, " We pray that everyone who was touched by this horrible event will draw closer to the only true hope which is found in the Lord who never changes, always loves, and has given us the absolute assurance of eternal life with Him through His Son, Jesus Christ." Amen

Swine Flu and other factoids

On June15th, the Guatemalan government announced that all schools would be closing until July 1st due to the increased concern about Swine Flu. Buena Vista, a community that we serve every week, closed a few days earlier because of a several confirmed cases in a nearby town. If I understand correctly, the schools typically have a 1 week break in June, so the break was simply extended.

Unfortunately, the kids in our scholarship program were sent home with the same amount of homework that they would have had if they were in school. Obviously, the glaring problem is that in many cases the children weren't in class to learn the main concepts. So I guess it's a good thing that we have "reinforcement" (tutoring) on Mondays and Fridays which are led by Oscar and Ruth.

According to the June 29th report from the WHO (World Health Organization), 254 people in Guatemala have been confirmed to have Swine Flu and 2 have died. Over the weekend, I received an email from my missionary friend Britney in El Salvador. Their schools are now being closed as well due to the Swine Flu. Today's WHO report shows that El Sal has 226 positive cases but no deaths thus far.

For comparison's sake, the same report shows the USA to have 227,717 confirmed cases and 127 dead. Guatemala has roughly the same # of square miles as Virginia (my home) and almost double the population. According to the Virginia Health Dept. report for June 29th, Virginia has 249 confirmed cases. Of course, Guatemala doesn't even remotely have the same medical access or quality of care...so numbers don't tell the whole story. Per Wikipedia, the median income for Virginians is $59,562, and median income for Guatemalans is between $2,800 and $4,800.

NIT! Finally!

We've finally got our NIT!
A NIT is a series of numbers assigned by the government that basically acts as a tax free ID #, and generally shows that the government has officially reviewed our paperwork and recognized us as a ministry here in Guatemala. Now we can transfer items such as vehicles out of individuals' names, and transfer them into the name of the ministry.
I know this probably doesn't mean much to you, but it means a WHOLE lot to us. Kevin, Sandra, and others on our Guatemalan team have been working on this since last January, and we've very thankful to God for this part of the puzzle to come together.

Visit from a friend

Russ and I met on a missions trip to Guatemala in 1997. We're both members of West End Assembly of God in Richmond Virginia. Since then, Russ has visited Guatemala many ties, including this week. This time, however, he came in a day early to visit me and see the new ministry God has planted here. It was a short visit, only one day, but I was great to see my good friend from back home. One of the things we did was visit Rosa (the diabetic Guatemalan I've mentioned several times)...see the pic. Russ dedicated one of his suitcases on my behalf so that he could bring down donated medicines and other supplies. At the time, we had no idea of just how useful or how quickly some of the supplies would come in handy. I've already mentioned in an earlier blog about how God used a pair of reading glasses to help fill an immediate need in a person...see the blog titled "Falling Flat on My Face" Plus, it seems that I was chewed on by some insects (fleas?), and the itch medicine he brought with him helped me to keep me from going nuts as I itched and scratched throught the night (20 bites on one leg between my knee and toes). Additionally, he was a link in a really cool sequence of things that God did to provide a miracle for Carlos, a paraplegic. Look for more details in a blog that I hope to write soon.

Thanks to those of you who donated medical items and muchas gracias Russ for the visit and helping hand.

Imagine this

Imagine this...
Two "Easy-Up" tents on a concrete slab, one for the adults Bible study and one for the simultaneous childrens ministry. (An Easy Up tent is the kind of canopy covering that I've often seen at outdoor craft shows, usually blue nylon tops, about 10'x10'). Part way through the ministry time it starts to rain pretty hard. The people sitting near the edges of the tent are getting wet. The adults don't miss a beat, they just move off their plastic stools so that they can huddle close together in the center and Manuel continues with his teaching. The rain starts falling even harder than before. What are you going to do? There's nowhere to go. People come to our program on foot; they're certainly not going to walk in the pouring rain to return to their homes which may not be too close. I don't think many of the folks own a rain jacket or umbrella. So, it was decided to move the tent under a nearby tree which offered some protection from the rain. But how exactly does one move a tent with about 20 women under it? Four of our leaders each took a corner leg and slowly walked the tent to under the tree while the scrunched up ladies in the center took itsy-bitsy quick steps to shuffle along as the tent moved. Don't know why this struck me as a little funny....but it did. Then, under the protection of the tree, most were able to again settle on their wet stools and quickly refocus on the teaching, which never really stopped. I may be wrong, but I think in the USA we would've probably gotten in our cars and gone home as soon as the rain started....or we wouldn't have even gone to the study in the first place if we thought it might rain and we might get wet.

And what about the kids? The kids got off the concrete and they also huddled tight together under the center of the tent. Their tent was originally set up so that it was at least partially under a tree. But how in the world are they going to finish their Bible story or do their craft? Simple, Ruth was huddled with the kids, and she simply raised the Bible story book high enough so that they could all see the pictures as she read. Then, at craft time, the kids aligned themselves so that they were all looking at the next person's back and then used that person's back as the surface for coloring their Bible story picture. No problem :)

How about that!

When I grow up.....

I was having a wonderful conversation with Oscar, one of our Guatemalan missionaries, and I was asking him what he wanted to be "when he grew up". If money and education were no concern, what would you want to do with your life? This was the question I presented to Oscar. After hearing his reply, I took the next natural step, reflected inwardly on my own life and suddenly realized something that stopped me in the tracks. WOW! I am doing exactly what I've always wanted to do! How many people ever get to say that?

Ever since I was 15 years old and had the fantastic opportunity of spending the summer in the shadow of a missionary nurse and teacher, I knew I wanted to be a full time missionary. Does this mean that I always wanted to be in Guatemala or that I will spend the rest of my useful years in any one particular country? No. Does this mean that life is always a bunch of roses? Of course not. But I had always hoped and prayed that the Lord would allow me to serve him as His missionary in Latin America where I enjoy the people, culture, and language. And here I am, at this very moment in time, living out my dream! And it strikes me that not everyone gets to live out their dream; and for that I am extremely humbled and grateful to God Almighty and for those He has put in my life to make this possible. As one good friend recently said, it's a wonderful and beautiful thing when our will and God's are the same.

Yay God!

Having a van is SO nice! Just to make sure I (we) really appreciated this gift from God that was sent through His people to us, we had to do without our wonderful van last week while we had some basic maintenance work done on the van. Of course, one of those days it rained like crazy all the way back from Buena Vista and due to the traffic and the rain, it took us 2.5 hr to get home. If I had just been standing outside in the rain it would’ve been miserable enough, but to be bumped around in the back of the pick-up truck with rain striking me like millions of tiny needles and being chilled to the bone by the wind rushing at me….well, let’s just say that I am WAY thankful for the van which is now back in our possession. Thank you God!

And by the way, I think I misunderstood some information and therefore accidentally passed on some incorrect details. There was indeed a person in a recent team who gave us a very generous donation. However, the donation was not designated for the van or any other particular need. Additionally, there are several other generous and wonderfully kind people who specifically gave money to help us buy this van. So, it’s a rare win-win situation where we were able to purchase the van and have the resources to purchase other necessities for the ministry. We do so much appreciate every one of you!

Falling flat on your face

We’ve probably all heard the expression, “falling flat on your face.” Well, now I’ve seen this expression in action.

Last night, one of the folks here in our ministry house was going upstairs with a mug of hot chocolate in her hands and somehow tripped, causing her to fall flat on her face on the concrete stairs. I felt so bad for her! She has various cut areas on her face, mostly from her glasses, but nothing too serious. She also sustained what I’d consider to be a mild concussion, but seems to be recovering pretty well. With Band-Aids on her face, impressively swollen eye and cheek (will turn beautiful shades over the next week I’m sure), she looks like a prize winning champion boxer….but you should see the other guy!

In reality, we’re quick to acknowledge and thank God through all of this…it could have been so much worse. She was only an inch or two from contact with her jaw/teeth. She received no injury from her broken mug. There were lots of Christians immediately lifting her up to The Healer in prayer. As nurse, I was able to immediately provide medical care and check on her various times throughout the night and today. I was also able to consult a doctor friend in South Carolina within an hour of the fall and the doc was more than willing to talk me through the best way to proceed. On top of all of that, she and I have been amazed at how the Lord has really kept her from having terrible pain. Tylenol and rest seem to be doing the trick. Somehow her glasses didn't break, but seem to be bent just enough to keep her seeing very well thru the Progressive lenses. However, just one day before the fall a friend of mine from the USA came for a short visit. Among the other treasures, he also had 20+ pair of reading glasses donated by his Bible study group, friends, and others. And wouldn't you know that one of those pair seem to fit just fine and temporarily seem to be doing the trick. Aint God cool?!

It’s so good to know that in the midst of out humanness, like falling flat on our face, God is faithful to take care of us!

Will I ever learn?

Last week felt like 2 weeks...you know how that goes. On Friday evening I was thrilled to know that I had no specific responsibilities for Saturday, thus I could sleep in and work on my growing to-do list. So, I got up at 8am and, as planned, enjoyed a longer than usual relaxed time of enjoying the Lord as I prayed, read my Bible, etc. During this time I specifically asked the Lord to direct my day and let me be used by Him. Around 10am I was treated to a french toast breakfast made by a short term missionary statying here followed by an indepth conversation. Afterwards Manuel asked me to do something....when I finished it was a couple of hours later. Then so and so needed something, then this happend and that happened (none of them bad...just not planned). And then one of the diabetic ladies that I follow, Merly, came by a day early (I forgot I had agreed to change the day this week)....she even picked a few roses as a gift for me! And while there were several really cool things that happened, and I really enjoyed helping Manuel....it was just one of those days where everything took twice as long as it should. I'm sure you know the feeling. At the end of the day, I found myself grumbling, frustrated and almost angry at how I'd let the whole day slip away and accomplished essentially nothing on my to-do list.

Then....(I'll be you knew that a "then..." was coming).....I was praying this morning before going to church, and it hit me like a ton of bricks over the head. Didn't I specifically and intentionally pray yesterday asking the Lord to take congtrol of my day? Didn't I willingly give up my agenda to Him? And yet what was I doing last night? I was complaining that my agenda didn't get accomplished.

When will I ever learn?

Good job Julian!

In my opinion, all of our Guatemalan team is talented beyond belief. I've seen Oscar's paintings and drawings. And more recently I've seen pictures of some of the carpentry work that Julian has done...including a very nice dresser for his wife. They're all good at making something out of almost nothing.

Julian has recently taken on the challenge of making picture frames and journal covers that will hopefully be available for the teams to purchase. This will hopefull help us to pay our 5 Guatemalan team members. Each one in our eyes is a Guatemalan missionary since nobody can really speak into the heart and life of a Guatemalan like a Guatemalan. We encourage folks to become a monthly sponsor of one of our Guatemalan missionaries....kind of like the commercials that ask you to pay $30/month to support a needy child. Each of Guatemalans has sponsors, but not enough to support the amount of money that we pay them twice a month. So, we continue to look and pray for sponsors, and we hope that these handmade items will also be a boost. You're actually getting a first hand look at the very first picture fram Julian has made (it's showing off a photo of me and my sisters :)

OK, these photos below don't have anything to do with anything...at least not directly. I just like these photos that I took last Wed and thought I'd share them.

Galan de la noche

This country is full of color, particularly outside the city. But in our back yard, there is a beautiful and extraordinarily sweet smelling large flower called Galan de la noche. There's something very different about this flower...it only open at night (fully around 10pm or so). Mmmm...the fragrance wafts in the nearby windows.

Lillian (one of Manuel's girls) enjoys the flowers.

Notice that the flowers have long stems that come off the edge of the leaves.

The pic on the right is what the flowers look like during the day (when they're closed up).

Reinforcement

This is Said (Sah-eed), one of Manuel's son. He's quiet, fairly athletic, very sweet and a good student.

The guy is blue is Oscar. He's responsible for overseeing the educational activies w/i our ministry.

What a great idea! We'd call it tutoring, but they call it reinforcement. Every Mon and Friday afternoon (after school) the kids that are in our school sponsorship program come to our ministry to receive help with their school work and get some individual attention and love. You should try to explain how to "carry over" a number in Spanish! Example: 100 minus 9...you need to do a lot of carrying over numbers....get the idea? No wonder my hair stands straight up!

We have a van!!!!

The Lord just keeps showing up everytime I turn my head. His non-stop provisions keep me amazed, on my knees, and humbled. If you've been following my email updates and/or blogs, you know that not only did we want a van, but we really needede a van. We've asked you to join us in prayer for this and God, of course, has come through again.

Shortly before I left for a visit back in Virginia, a visitor donated a large sum of money...enough to pay for a van! We wanted a good used van, but hadn't had much luck finding one. The day before I left, while riding in the back of the truck coming home from Buena Vista, we passed a couple of vans and I was able to quickly save the numbers into my cell. Apparently one thing led to another and while I was in Virginia we were able to able to purchase a far nicer van at a much better price then we ever imagined. Aint God good!

So, not only are we safer now (plus the windows are tinted), not breathing in so much pollution, and out of the rain (since it's now rainy season until Nov). But this 15 passager diesel van actually gets better gas mileage than the gas run Ford Ranger! How about that! Another nice thing is that we can actually speak and hear each other as we come and go from the communities we serve. This has led to an excellent time of informal English tutoring (for everyone except Manuel...the driver :) I purchased an amazingly good kid's Bible activity book back in Virginia (in a dollar store!) that doesn't have the same old used, tired activities. The original idea was that purhaps we could adapt the ideas into Spanish and use them with our kids. But then once I got here I got the idea to make copies of a few pages and hand them out when we have 1-2 hrs in the van each way. Our Guatemalan staff really seems to like the activity pages and it not only gets them to thinking toward similar creative ideas for our kids programs, but it has them learning some English words as they go. A rare win/win situation!

By the way, the van in the pics above is parked in front of a building which is also an answer to prayer. This is a community building attached to the main catholic church in the area in the communities we serve every Tues. We were needing an indoor space in rainy season and now we have permission to use this building! Yahoo! Thank you God for the way you keep showing up in our every day lives!

Tuesday June 1, 2009

Sonya is a virbrant, beautiful, slender 25 yr old that lives along a dirt road up a notable hillside in a tidy dirt floored home. Oh, one other thing...she's in a wheelchair.
Her bedrock faith was a testimony to me and all in the group. I wondered if I was in her shoes, would I too be able to proclaim the love and faithfulness of God Almighty?
4 months ago Sonya and her long time best friend ("closer than a sister") were in an accident. It killed her friend, seriously injured many of her internal organs, and left her with a spinal cord injury that the MDs said would leave her as a paraplegic for life. However.... (don't you love "howevers" in stories like this!)...what Satan designed for evil, the Lord has used for His good. Sonya admits to being angry and having many "whys" in the beginning (which was only 4 months ago...February?), but says that keeping her focus on the Lord and reading the Bible has kept her faith strong. She knows that the Lord was not surprised by this and is always in control. She knows He has a plan for her life....Jeremiah 29:11. She believes (and I do too) that the Lord is going to heal her. She has already surpassed her doctor's expectations. The doctors say it's a miracle that her internal organs have healed and that she is able to eat, drink, etc. Plus, Sonya is walking/shuffling a short distance in her house every day. And her family has set up a bicycle so that it stays stationary and she can practice riding it for leg exercise.
I feel so privileged to have met her. I can hardly wait to see her walking among her community, telling everyone about her God and Healer.

Bahudilio thinks he's about 85 yr old, wears a well worn cowboy hat, pants that are too big and help up by a rope, and long sleeve shirt that has seen many months. He doesn't know exactly when he was born, nor does he know how to spell his name (or read/write), but I was touched by his simplicity and kind face. He didn't want to bother me. However, one my Guatemalan co-workers brought his need to my attention. How easy it was to sit and talk with him, give him a few diarrhea pills, and bring him to The Healer in prayer. I'm so thankful that God brought him along our path. A few hours later he was feeling better.

Delfina waited for me to finish with the other patients before she approached me. I recognized her from before and there was something warm, easy, and inviting about her countenance. She'd been on high blood pressure (BP) pills quite a while back. In early May, I found her BP to be very high and begged her to see her MD. The MD said everything was fine and suggested her use Pepto Bismol. Today, her BP was alarmingly high. As a nurse, it's way outside my professional bounds to prescribe BP meds, however, I've had 2 recent experiences with the local public hospitals, and I know the care is less then desirable at best. So, I prayed with a Christian friend, and then went to the nearest pharmacy. The person in the pharmacy recommended a medicine that I know, so I purchased a weeks supply for her. I've prayed many times for her since then and I eagerly await my visit next week to so how the Lord is working in her life.

Yomira is a sweet, innocent 14 yr old with epilepsy. Her seizures are happening more often, and sometimes happen when she's in our weekly children's program. Today I learned that she went to the MD this week, and he wants her to have her medicine increased to twice a day. However, her mom will only allow her to have this once a day. Her mom works all day, therefore she's unable to come to our simultaneous adult service. It seems her dad isn't much in the picture....which is fairly common here. We don't know why the mom won't allow her the 2nd daily dose...perhaps the cost is too high...perhaps the med makes the child too sleepy to function in school...perhaps....? This has to be handled delicately, so we'll pray about this and maybe try to see if the mom is accessible for us to talk with her.

What a privilege it is to have the Lord bring these people into my life.