-Lara Bergdolt
Even though we've been in the United States for over two weeks, memories of Guatemala are still fairly vivid. One of my favorite parts of the trip was getting to worship with everyone who attended the church service at Holy Cross Mission/Clinic on Sunday afternoon. Their liturgy had all the parts that we have in our Divine Service settings in the LCMS, so even though the entire service was in Spanish, it was not completely foreign! I especially enjoyed hearing them sing. Even though I couldn't understand most of what they were singing, I could tell they were joyfully worshiping their Savior! When I thought about it later, I realized how truly amazing it was that they sounded so joyful. According to our standards, they have hardly anything, but they have what they need: faith in the one true God, knowledge that he sent his Son to save them from their sins, and the promise of eternal life in heaven. May we also have this joy, no matter our day-to-day circumstances!
-Lara Bergdolt
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Can't believe how the time has flown! Today was a very busy day at another school up in the villages. We set up the clinic again and presented to 2 different sections of people. First we presented to the primary school kids at the Health Fair and some of their families came too. Later in the day, we were able to do our VBS skit to the secondary school children, sing songs with them, and then talk to each of them about our health topics. They did awesome in participating! It is unbelievable that today is our last day of presenting to the people and running the clinic. Tomorrow will be our last day in Guatemala, and we will visit a few other places throughout the day. Tonight we had a debriefing session and presented gifts to Dr. Elry's family for all of their hospitality. They have been working with us throughout the week. Well, sorry to be so short tonight, but it has been such a long day! We need prayers for the health of the people as well as our team. We have had a few illnesses in our team, but everyone is doing okay. We just finished singing some songs and are heading to bed. Thank you for checking in! Check out this video from playing with the children yesterday! Another day in Guatemala! This morning we woke up and had breakfast together and prepared for departure to a village roughly 30 minutes away. We entered a school (primary) and set up the clinic and pharmacy. While the clinic operated, we did a skit on “The Good Samaritan” and sang songs with the children in the courtyard of the school. We made bracelets with them with each color symbolizing God’s love for us in different ways. The children attended classes and then as soon as they were released for the day, they rushed to the health fair tables we had set up. We saw 200-300 kids in just a short amount of time! At one point while I was talking to them about dehydration, I realized that the table had gradually pinned me back against the wall! Many were very eager to learn about our topics and we distributed parasite medicine, soap, toothbrushes, and toothpaste.
The school actually surprised me as far as how they managed their resources. They used bottle caps to count in Math class, the facilities were clean, the teachers took pride in their work, and when I visited with the children, they all said that they LOVED to be at school! Other members of the team asked the children how they were and they would answer with “I am fine, thanks to the Lord!” It brought us so much joy! The children were such a blast to play games with between classes. After being at the school, we walked down through the village and took in another kind of lifestyle, different from what we saw yesterday outside of the mission. Unlike the area we are staying in at the mission, the villages manage land and livestock more. We were able to visit one home where a previous group built a stove for a family and were pleased to see that they took such good care of it and used it often. Making our way up into the mountains opened up a window of scenery for us to take in! Guatemala is really a beautiful place! Take a look at some of the group pictures we took and you will see what I mean. Tonight we are at the mission counting our supplies for tomorrow and making up bracelets for a different school we will visit in the morning. Keep praying for us! We have a lot of work yet to do here…God is working...We are beginning to see it! Hola mis hermanas de Cristo! WE MADE IT!:)) We flew in Friday afternoon and headed out from Guatemala City to Amatitlan where we are currently located. We are working at The Holy Cross mission where there is a medical clinic and church as well as a mission center. Dr. Elry is introducing us to the culture every minute. Today we were able to tour some homes just outside the front door of the mission and it became reality how much help these people really do need. We were able to do the health fair and clinic for two days now and have had many people and families come through eager to learn about the information as well as seek medical care from Dr. Matthais. The people are so relational and seek to love others. We are learning from them just as they are learning from us! They come through the health fair and then bring their friends and neighbors later. Kids Club was a blast! We sang songs with the children, did a scavenger hunt for beads to make bracelets with the bible message, and also played games for hours in the backyard. They have so much joy! The language has hardly been a barrier because the people are so welcoming. I know all our Spanish is improving as we go and the people are willing to listen even when it doesn't make complete sense. It gets easier and easier! Today was a first access to any internet connection, so I apologize for the delay in communication. We are all okay! Thank you for your continued prayers! Hello fellow followers of Christ! My name is Shelby Stolze and I am a junior at Concordia University pursuing a B.S. Biology and Pre-Nursing Degree. I plan to graduate in December and hopefully begin my graduate education in nursing school. I am involved in Track&Field, Acapella and Chamber Choir, and various on-campus clubs at CUNE. I have a passion to help people! I am so excited to begin our journey tomorrow to Guatemala and am overwhelmed at what God might have planned for our team! I have enjoyed working on the blog so far and can't wait to share updates and experiences with you in the upcoming days. Serve Him, Shelby Stolze Photo credit: Leah J. Eklof Shelby is the blog editor and music leader for this year's mission.
Rosa will be serving as a Translator and Student Leader on our mission. I’m Dr. Jen Janousek. I am the Program Director for the Masters of Public Health and teach undergraduate classes including Global Health. I have led 5 student trips to Guatemala and am looking forward to sharing my love of the culture and people of Guatemala and my public health expertise with the team.
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AuthorShelby Stolze. Blog editor and photographer for this year's work in Guatemala. Archives
March 2015
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