2008 Guatemala Team Updates

Goodbye Guatemala

2008-09-21T07:04:00.000-07:00

This will be my last post. I am not sure if I am excited or sad. It is a strange emotion. I'm leaving behind people that I have grown close to, a country that I feel comfortable in, beautiful weather, the list goes on. The Allisons arrived on Friday and are getting settled in. We had a little scare at the river yesterday, but everyone is ok.

Don is coming with us to San Andres today for clinic. I will probably be translating for him. Should be a good day. I can't believe that when I wake up tomorrow morning, I will have to say goodbye. I don't think I am ready for that but I guess it was/is inevitable. Well goodbye Guatemala, I hope to see you again.

God Bless,
Kurtis

Here comes monday... already

2008-09-18T07:42:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that I have been in this country for a month now. It doesn't seem real. I am excited to go home, see family and friends and start school, but I do not want to leave. Bittersweet. Clark, I think in someways I have had my fill, for now, of staying in Guatemala long term! I would like to be going to Africa and Guatemala again in the years to come, and maybe even that other country over Christmas break...

To both Clark and Dina,
Thank you for your encouragements. It makes my day when I check this blog and there is a note from one of you two. I hope you are doing well back home. How is the "lawn" holding up?

Well, I have two more days of work, and then two more clinic days before I fly back home on Monday. Pray for safety. Thank you,

God Bless,
Kurtis

Just Another Day

2008-09-11T19:25:00.000-07:00

The last to days have been normal days. I went to the airport with Aaron and David and worked on the airplane (not the one Dwayne has been flying), but the project plane.

I was driving the four wheeler behind Joseph today and he did a wheelie on his bike. He came down in some soft mud and it was launched backwards... right onto my white t-shirt and into my face! So fun. We had some good laughs about that.

Tomorrow is Aaron's 28th birthday, which means that Katie will give him a new movie for his birthday, which means that we will have a new movie to watch! Everyone is looking forward to that! On Saturday, we have clinic at the house and then volleyball at the beach. Sunday, we will have clinic in San Andreas and possibly church in San Andreas. Should be an exciting weekend.

And to everyone that is praying for me and following this blog, your words and prayers are great encouragements to me! I miss you all and am praying for you as well. And Malorie.. I miss beef cearrots. I want to hear how you are doing (kurtism_evans@yahoo.com). And tell Molly that she needs to email me too. I want to hear how she is doing! And Clark, let me know what is going on back home... AND.. I'm just kidding.

God Bless,
Kurtis

Internet Has Been Down

2008-09-09T07:18:00.000-07:00

Hey Everybody!

I'm sorry its been so long since my last post. It's partly because the internet has been down and partly because I didn't think anyone was checking the posts! Anyways, a lot has been happening since the last post. We went to Chijoj a couple times (the orphanage), once to look at the property and once to get the Ficker's horses. Joe and I rode the horses from Chijoj back to Canilla! That was a lot of fun. I'm still learning to feather my fall... you can ask if you want to know.

There has been a few situations where it would have been useful for me to drive, but I didn't know how to drive a stick... so, Arlen took me around town and I learned to drive a stick! In the hills of Guatemala! Lots of fun.

The initial "reason" why I stayed in Guatemala was to help out in the zona reina for a clinic. It turned out that I didn't go to that clinic at all! But I flew there the next day with Dwayne to pick up the medicine and it was beautiful.

Every Saturday, we go down to the river and play volleyball in the sand. Of course, I am in heaven on saturdays!

So I think I am mostly caught up on the big things that have happened over the past week, so I will talk about today. It is Sunday, so naturally we had clinic in San Andreas. Leslie let me do most, almost all, of the consulting (minus the diagnosis and choice of medicine to give for the most part!). I am really starting to speak and understand spanish. So much so that I was asking our translators today how to say phrases in Quiche in Spanish! Now I know how to say quite a few things in Quiche. There was a good number of laughs in the clinic among everyone who heard me speak.. not because I was bad but because it was strange to have a white person speak in Quiche!

Well, I hope that this will tide everyone over for my lapse on posting. I will post soon and more often. And thank you for the encouragement Clark and Dina, I hope you are doing well. And also to Stephanie, thank you so much for the $20.00 at the airport. It turned out that I couldn't use my credit card anywhere to convert money so the money you gave me is all I have.

God Bless,
Kurtis

Clinic Day

2008-08-30T11:16:00.000-07:00

Hey Everybody!

I hope everyone arrived home safely and is well rested. I caught a little bug two nights ago but I am feeling much better already. The plane ride from Guatemala City to Canilla in the Cessna was amazing! The views of Guatemala were incredible. And the flight might have been half an hour, which should be a little frustrating for the team! Especially if you saw the road structure from overhead.
Anyways, I am eating well of course. Leslie is probably the best cook I have ever met (sorry mom). The Fickers are all doing well and are enjoying the Flip... at least Dwayne is! As you can imagine, some of the family would rather not be caught on camera. Clark, I am supposed to give you a nudge in the shoulder from Leslie when I get home.
Well, that is about all that has happened in the last few days. We might go down to the "beach" and play volleyball today! That would be fun.

God Bless,
Kurtis

Return Trip

2008-08-29T14:41:00.000-07:00

As of 9:50pm PST we landed at SeaTac Airport, home as most call it. It was hard to accept the trip was over, but most of the team was ready to return to the U.S. and their families. We were greeted by smiling, welcoming friends and family. It was so nice to see you all again and begin to share our stories. Despite a slow return of our bags, everyone headed home with a smile on their face.

One piece of news that not everyone may know yet. One of our team members, Kurtis Evans, did not return from Guatemala with us. After being invited to stay, Kurtis decided that he will remain in Guatemala with the Fickers until late September! This is an exciting opportunity for him to continue to learn more about medicine, all the while ministering to very needy people. Kurtis was very touched by this trip, and has many stories to tell. The Fickers have a big medical clinic day scheduled early next week. Kurtis wanted to to stay to assist them with that day. Please continue to pray for his health and for his safety. We are all proud of Kurtis and his decision to stay. I know in my heart I felt a small pang of jealousy leaving him behind.

Once again, we all look forward to sharing more of the stories that didn't make this blog. We would love to talk to each of you more, so give us a ring, text, email, or drop by. Thanks again for all your support.

Chiminisjuan

2008-08-26T17:51:00.000-07:00

Today we got up early and headed in a new direction. We have gone out from Canilla in several directions, but today we went in the direction that takes us just past the border into a little aldea called Chiminisjuan. Like the other aldeas we have visited it is filled with Mayan people. These particular Mayan people filled this aldea during the civil war. The area we went to is truly remote, the kind of place that still doesn't have a good road to get to. We had to walk almost 2 miles to get to the clinic. I was told that during rainy weather the walk is almost double! The town is at above 8500 ft in altitude, so the temperatures there tend to be lower. We have been blessed with amazing weather while we have been here.

It was a tremendous thing to be part of an outreach to such people. We were told that the only Bible they know is what they hear for the time they spend at the clinic. There are no churches and no Christians in this village. The rumors are that white people will steal your children, so the people are a little wary. However, we had several translators with us, one of them addressed this topic directly and helped the people to see how silly that was. It was amazing how the people opened up to us after he spoke. God really opened the door for us to play and touch those kids. Before we knew it they were laughing, playing, and interacting with us. We used our VBS to teach them about Jesus' love for them. We know they will not forget us soon. This is huge because the Fickers go there each week, and we have helped a bunch to give something to those people that they will not soon forget.

My highlights are the smiling faces we saw. I was very encouraged by how open the children were, and how beautiful they were. All of the team loved them. They seemed to love us back.

While the VBS was going on so was the clinic. During our time there we saw over 75 people. The biggest need in that aldea is nutrition. The first thing we gave them was rice with milk and vitamins for all the children. They were extremely grateful for the food. Afterwards we saw the 75 sick people with all kinds of medical needs. It is awesome that God has put the Fickers here to minister to such needy people. Those who ministered in the clinic will not soon forget all that they saw and learned. Compassion is such a powerful thing.

After the clinic and VBS the team headed over to 'God's Place For His Little Children.' That is the property that we own down in Guatemala. We wanted to walk the property and pray for a quick resolution within the courts. We also wanted to cast vision for the future of Real Missions.

Tonight we will deep clean the Ficker's dorm, and tomorrow we will head off for our rest day before returning to the U.S. I do not know if we will post again before our return. Know that you all are in our hearts, and we are very thankful for each and every one of you who support us.

Construction Day

2008-08-25T18:11:00.001-07:00

Today we invested greatly in continuing the construction project. We finished the framing of the house, put on the roof, and laid the last of the cement floor. It took almost all day, but once we were done we wiped the sweat off our brow and breathed a sigh of relief. The family can move in tomorrow, and they won't have to worry about their current home collapsing on them. We are not able to accomplish all we wish, but we are able to hugely bless that family. We will try to leave some money with Duane and Leslie so that they can continue the construction project when they can.

Part of our team helped to prepare the clinic with prepackaged nutritional packs, vitamins, and de-worming pills. We were able to prepackage enough that the clinic will be able to operate several months without need for packaging more. Needless to say, this was a great blessing to the Fickers.

Tomorrow we are heading to Chimisjuan. We will be helping with a medical outreach there, and doing our VBS again. It is about a mile hike into the village, so we are some of the few people who try to reach out to this village. Please pray our time is fruitful and the seeds we plant will last forever.

Tragedy in the Mountains of Guatemala

2008-08-25T09:12:00.000-07:00

Many may have heard about the tragedy that took place in the mountains of Guatemala yesterday. If you have not here is link to this very sad story. We want to express that we are all well and fine. We are currently serving with missionaries that do own and operate their own planes, but this accident was not connected to us in any way.

Duane Ficker (our local missionary) was very saddened by the news as he knew the organization and the pilot. Our hearts and prayers go out to the families of those lost, and we will continue to lift them up for some time.

Thank you also for you prayers and support for our safety and protection. We are not flying anywhere, but we always want to be conscience of our safety.

San Andreas

2008-08-25T08:59:00.001-07:00

Today was another very busy day for our team. We headed out in many different directions and each got to take part in something special. Sundays are the day when the Fickers hold their medical clinic in the small town of San Andreas. The clinic is very popular because people are able to come from all the surrounding areas to San Andreas. Today was especially busy and the clinic ran from 8:30am to 4:30pm. The clinic saw over 100 people. The needs ranged from basic pains to a woman who had a previous surgery that went poorly and her bladder was actually beginning to come through the cut the surgeons had made. These people are lucky to have such a loving and low cost clinic (less than $1). Those who have taken part in serving within the clinic have story after story of helping people. I love seeing their eyes light up as they tell of the people they served.

While some people were serving inside the clinic, others were serving the people who were waiting for their time. We were focused mainly on the children, but you could tell the appreciation the parents had for all that we did. We did our 'Ticklish Reuben' skit, juggling, puppet worship, flannel graph, crafts, and games. The children had a great time laughing and playing. I caught the parents laughing too! We explained to all who would listen that laughter is the best medicine for pain.

After lunch we left the clinic to head to an orphanage in San Andreas. Leslie introduced us and we got to interact and love on almost twenty orphans. We colored, juggled, played soccer, basketball, and chased around those children for a few hours. By the end of our time our team almost grew by six or seven individuals. However, when the time came we had to leave. One encounter that took place at the orphanage that was very influential happened only after 20 or so minutes. Brittnie was playing with a child there who is plagued with seizures. Even while the two were playing the little girl had another seizure. Brittnie was overwhelmed immediately with compassion. She got to pray for and comfort the girl for quite awhile that day. I am sure that another memory that will last forever was created for her.

After we tore ourselves away from the orphanage, we headed back to Canilla. We were scheduled to put on a children's service in Canilla with a pastor that Real Missions has worked with many times in the past. His name is Felipe, and he used to pastor a church in Carousel. Now he has started a new church in Canilla. We got to meet some of the young people who are attending his church. I was surprised, and encouraged, by the number of teenagers that came. We told the children that they were very special to the Lord and that they had pure hearts that He loves. We told them we had a message for them, and that we came to bring some fun, but also to plant in them the message of God's love for them. It was a great time!

We had a great bonding team meeting upon our return to the base camp. Most of us headed to bed excited, but also exhausted.

Clinical Outreach and More

2008-08-24T05:20:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a very full day for us. We went full steam with only a small break from 6:30am until 10:00pm. But every part was special in its own way.

Saturdays are clinic day at the Ficker's ranch. People line up as early as 4am to be seen. When we ate breakfast at 6:30am, you could see that the courtyard was filling with needy people. We headed out to meet these people and open the clinic shortly thereafter.

Here are some of the highlights from clinic:

"I got to give an ultrasound!"
"We helped pray for a lady who is a regular at the clinic, she has many health problems."
"I just loved meeting all these people, and helping the Fickers to minister to them."
"I had a great time playing with the kids while they waited to be seen, they are so much fun!"
"I can't get enough of these children."

We talked to, played with, shared crafts and dramas, and loved on all who attended the clinic young or old. On and off people from our team went to help with the building project. We put up new walls on the home and put in a window in their bedroom.

Clinic ended once everyone who came had been seen. We had a short break and a meal then headed to Pastor Armondo's church in Chijoi. At that church we praised and worshiped with the congregation. They are a people full of love for God and joy in Him. It was very special to be there. After praise and worship we performed our drama 'Lifegiver.' We offered to teach it to them so that they could use the drama to reach the lost in the local area. I look forward to seeing how many come to learn the drama on Monday. After the drama we prayed for their congregation individually. Many of the team remarked that they were very blessed to pray for the congregation, some even said that prayingh for them was the highlight of their trip thusfar.

After the service at Armondo's church we took a short drive over to Pastor Renee's church (also in Chijoi). We have worked with Renee for many years, and it was good to see him and his church. There were many familiar faces there including Nayo and Alma. At Renee's church, Brittnie and Carrie gave their testimonies and we performed 'Lifegiver.' We gave that church the same invitation to learn the drama on Monday.

That was our Saturday, as you can tell it was very full. It was very satisfying as well. Most of us have never served God so hard and long. It's good for all of us.

Sunday, today, we share in the medical clinic in San Andreas, and we have a time to minister in a children's service near there as well. Please pray that people are healed and that the children feel the love of God.

Tonolajic and more

2008-08-23T05:03:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we visited a small aldea called Tonolajic. It is in an area that was devastated by the civil war, and has only begun to recuperate over the last five years or so. The people there are very shy, and of the indigenous Mayan descent. They have been told stories about white people; that we are dangerous, that we will steal their children and eat them. Outrageous stories, but the kind that plants fear deep in their hearts.

The pastor who started the church there says the area is very hard to reach. The people are polytheistic and have been unreceptive to the gospel. He said he thought that we would have about 10 children to work with when we got there. He was right. The pastor, Leslie, and I consulted about the best way to approach this village. We decided to do the VBS in a cow pasture near the church where the rest of the village would be able to see, even if they were afraid to come and participate. This was a great idea! By the end of our time playing with the kids we had closer to 20 children that had come over. By the time we ended our skits, we were told by the pastor that their were a number of children hiding in the corn fields watching. It is hard to know exactly how many children were impacted, but we know that many of the children in that aldea saw some of the VBS. We stressed that God loves the children, and wants them to be near Him.

On another note, this is my first Blog entry regarding the building that we are working on. We have a building project that we involved in right next door to the Ficker's property. There is an older couple there whose current home is falling down. They build their homes much like the Africans do in NaNa's village. So after many years of rain and wind those houses collapse. Right now the house is partially collapsed, and the couple fears the rest will collapse soon.

We have the honor to be able to help that family by building them a new home. We are building a two room building for the two of them. So far a 10 X 8' bedroom has walls and a room. Today we layed a concrete floor for them. That will be extra special for them because they are used to a dirt floor. Many of the team got covered in sand and dust while they helped to mix and pour concrete. All had a good time.

Some of team also participated in preparing for the clinic days that the Fickers hold on their property and in San Andreas (a nearby larger town). They have been bagging dried milk, oatmeal, and vitamins in individual porportions for the clinic patients to receive when needed. Leslie anticipates the need to be higher this year because of the larger amount of rainfall the valley has seen. The rain has destroyed some of the crops, so people will be going hungry this year.

The team is doing great. I see more smiles every day, and am very blessed to have such a great group of young people with me. When they see a need, they meet it with excitement and love. I'm sure you will hear many more stories when we return.

Until our next opportunity to blog.

Tsusanjup

2008-08-22T05:23:00.000-07:00

On Thursday we visited another small Mayan aldea called Tsusanjup. This aldea was not too far from Canilla where we are staying. However, the road to this aldea is pretty new, so we had to take the Ficker's 4WD vehicle and leave behind our rentals. We crossed a rocky river bed, and climbed over several deep trenches. It ended up being a good thing we had a 4WD, we would never have made it otherwise. It was a beautiful sunny day (albeit hot and humid) for the short hike we took across the river and over to the church. The church members met us along the path and helped us carry the equipment we had brought. They were very excited to have us come.

Once we got to the church we went through our VBS schedule: skits, dramas, crafts, games, altar call in whichever order made sense at the time. The people really enjoyed our skits and dramas. You could see some standing on chairs, and most pressed very close together in the front so they could get a good view. Plenty of laughter during Ticklish Rueben and Dr. Bob.

I would like to say that the young people accompanying us on this trip have been amazing! They are troopers, no matter what comes their way they keep a smile on their face and let the love of Jesus come through. I'm am proud to bring a team like this to the Ficker's home and work with them to share the gospel to these Mayan people.

Some of my favorite quotes from today:

"I just love their outfits, they are beautiful, these people are beautiful!"
"I hope you all understand the importance of what you are doing with these children. They never get to play like this, and this is a huge blessing to these children. Your sharing love with them is something they will never forget."
"I could spend all day here with these children, I'm not tired can we stay longer?"
"I was amazed that the adults wanted to be involved too. I gave them paper and they colored right there in front of me."

By the way: We will be taking deposits for next year's trip upon our return. $100 deposit is due by Oct. 15th, so start praying about getting involved next year.

Chicoxop

2008-08-21T05:42:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday we visited a Mayan village (aldea) called Chicoxop. In the village they speak a dialect that is a remanant of Mayan with a little Spanish mixed in called Quiche. This means that we had to communicate everything through actions and expressions.

We performed Ticklish Rueben, Lifegiver, Dr. Bob as dramas and skits. All three went over well, we learned some new ways to use Lifegiver to minister to the Mayan people. The children laughed and laughed through Ticklish and Dr. Bob.

We played with the children, I saw soccer, juggling, ball tossing, some tag, and a lot of smiles.

We had a craft time where we let the children color. That was both very rewarding and a challenge. To communicate to them that they could only have two crayons at a time was a little difficult. However, many children finished their pictures and walked around to show all of us. It was very cute.

After our outreach we traveled back to Canilla to the base we are staying at. We took some time to praise and worship with Craig and the Fickers. Afterwards we met up and had our first brag rally. Those of you who have been on our trips know exactly what that means. For the rest of you, it is an opportunity to share encouragement and praise your team members for things you saw that day. A lot of praise was given for hard work, joy, attitudes, and perserverance.

Today we travel to another Mayan aldea. We can take what we learned yesterday and make our VBS even more easily communicated. We are all excited and filled with expectation for what is to come today.

As always we covet your prayers and look forward to sharing the answers to those prayers in our next blog entry.

Canilla is so beatiful

2008-08-20T06:51:00.000-07:00

We had a great drive through the Guatemala countryside yesterday. Our vehicles don't have the greatest shocks, but that is relatively minor. We were slowed a bit by some construction, but that was more of blessing than anything. The roads were in the best condition that I have ever seen them. Ruts and pot holes still abound, but not nearly the plethora that we are used to.

We arrived at the Ficker residence around 5pm. Duane and Leslie have such an incredible place for us. We are staying in accommodations that are so nice it is hard to believe we are on the mission field. (I got a little scalded in the shower this morning, and I went last!). We are all in great health and getting ready today to dive into our work load. After talking over our schedule with the Fickers it looks like this is going to be a sweet trip. Not only are we going to get to do outreach ministry, but we are going to have the chance to build an elderly couple in the area a new home. Their current home is falling apart, literally! They have a 200yr old adobe home that is starting to fall apart in the rain. We are all excited about the opportunity we have been given.

Tonight we will introduce the Fickers to the team, and have a time of corporate worship. Tomorrow morning we will begin construction on the new home, and head out to our first ministry opportunity. All things are looking great!

We'll keep you updated as we can on all that happens. We covet your prayers and thoughts.

Landed Safely in Guatemala

2008-08-18T21:06:00.000-07:00

Well, we have arrived safe and sound. We checked into our hotel here in Guatemala, and took some time to visit the Royal Palace and the largest Catholic church here in Guatemala. We took in a lot of the culture that helped us to get a picture of the history of the Guatemalan people we are here to minister to.

We also had our first miracle, and we had only been in Guatemala for a few hours! When we left Seatac we had to pay an extra $275 for baggage, that we had not accounted for. Once we got to Guatemala, we managed to secure a different vehicle rental that got us the same exact vehicles for $279 less than our reservations. That just goes to show that sometimes when we think God is not answering our prayers, He shows up in an unexpected way.

We look forward to the next leg of our trip out to Canilla tomorrow. Please pray for our safe travel through Guatemala countryside to Canilla. We are also very excited about meeting the Fickers together.

Thank you all for taking part in this mission trip, each in your own way. We'll send you more the next chance we get.

We are in Houston

2008-08-18T06:19:00.000-07:00

So far so good. We had a great flight to Houston and are now enjoying an one hour layover before we board our flight to Guatemala. We are excited and looking forward to getting up to the orphanage sometime early tomorrow evening. I will not be posting until we arrive so that is when you can look for the next post.

This blog is where we will be posting updates

2008-07-16T19:47:00.000-07:00

Everyone that is staying home wishing they could be on the trip with us, will be able to read our updates and adventures here. Please feel free to leave comments as we will read them to the team at our nightly meetings and everyone loves to get a note from home!