Pit and Peak of the Week

It’s crazy to think that I have already been in Guatemala for a week, but that is a truth I cannot deny. We have (as we do almost every trip) ‘hit the ground running’, from traveling hours to get to villages to all day medical clinics, we have been busy to say the least. Friday we started our first session for the pastor’s conference (it was an all-day event) but it was great to see a community of pastors together being encouraged in their shepherding of a church. The pastor’s conference was at a beautiful retreat center which made for the perfect setting to concentrate on the teachings during the different sessions. This week could also be known as the week of firsts, this might be my seventh trip to Guatemala but it was my first time to ever give my testimony. Saturday morning I was asked to give my testimony to the pastors in Spanish. I was nervous, but by God’s peace I was able to tearfully express what God has done in my life.

We started our first day of medical clinics on Monday; these clinics have been a whirlwind for most of us. Monday was a great day full of a ton of memories, laughs, and sassy comments between team members. I am in awe of our team. Everyone is so helpful and funny! It is truly a testament of Gods goodness, only He could unit twenty-one gringos ranging from age 18 to 65 together. Like I said this week was a week of firsts. Monday I ate my first sanpopo, for those who don’t know sanpopo’s are flying ants that are about a half an inch long and apparently in Guatemala they are a delicacy. People catch these flying bugs, and some cook them with salt while others cook them and then squeeze lime juice over them. Let me just say they tasted like popcorn, they were delicious! Monday was definitely the peak of this week so far.

Today, (Wednesday) I write this post with a heavy heart. Tuesday was the pit of my week. Tuesday was a very hard and difficult day of clinics. I had just gotten back from getting a soda at the tienda up the street from where our clinic was when Pastor David come walking up to me. He asked me to come into the vitals room because there was a very sick patient that he wanted me to take the vitals of. We hurried ff into the room. When we entered the room Rachel (one of the team members who is staying the entire 5 weeks as well, she is also a nursing major and is almost 19) was sitting there taking the vitals of one the patients. As I sat down David motioned for this sick patient to come in. The mother handed me the baby’s paper which had his name and age on it. As the mother untied her wrap there was a little boy laying in his mother’s arms. He was a year and a half old and weighed thirteen pounds. His eyes were huge and black with equally thick black hair. After taking his vitals Rachel and I took the mother to the doctors. So here sat this young mother with her 13lb year and half year old and next to her sat her sister-in-law holding this lady’s other son who was three years old and weighed 18.4 lbs. She was also 20 days away from delivering her third baby. Here are the facts: these boys had juvenile diabetes, their mother refuses to take them to the hospital because it cost too much even though she was wearing a very expensive Achi shirt which she could easily sell for a lot of money, she refused to give her boys any insulin because she said that injecting a child everyday was cruel. The three year old could not walk, eat, talk, and could barely breathe; essentially he was a vegetable. He had fungus growing on his tongue which made him grind his teeth, his kidneys were failing which in turn made his legs and feet swell as his body in a last ditch effort tried to conserve hydration. For the first time in my life I laid eyes on a child that was days away from dying. He had been and still is suffering in a way that I will never understand. As the gravity of the situation set in all I could do is cry. In the United States these boys would be taken from the mother and put in the hospital and the state would gain custody of these boys however, in Guatemala it is the parent’s responsibility to care for their children. As our two doctors explained the gravity of the situation to this young mother not an ounce of remorse, sorrow, or sadness came across her face. For the next two hours we pleaded with her to let us take them to the hospital, but she refused. We tearfully prayed for her children that they would no longer suffer as they have and that the pain that they feel but cannot express would diminish. Her boys will die a slow and painful death that could be avoided and the saddest part of the situation is that her heart is so closed off that she said she is just waiting for them to die. Our hearts broke as we watched this mother smiling and laughing with her friends as she held her dying son. The eldest son’s death is inevitable, even with the most advanced technologies; the effect of this disease is irreversible. However, there is still hope for the youngest of the boys. Although it would take a year for this boy to fully recover there is still hope for him. We pray that this mother’s heart will be opened, that she would value her children’s lives as a precious gift instead of a waste of money, and may our eyes be open to the world; may we see Guatemala for what it is. May we see this place of beautiful mountains, waterfalls, crops, rainforests, and tortillas , but may we also see these broken and lost people and may we be reminded that we too were once like them lost in our sin. May we cling to the cross and know that God is sovereign in light of this seemingly horrible situation.