CBC 2011 Team

CBC 2011 Team
CBC 2011 Team: Cherri, Nick, Lana, Diana, Karie, Christy, Sherry, Rebecca, Steve

COUNTDOWN TO GUATEMALA

"Live a life worthy of the calling you have received." — Ephesians 4:1

International School Project

We are traveling as educators for the International School Project, a ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ.

We have been invited by the National and Local Guatemalan Ministry of Education to conduct a teacher-training seminar in Guatemala City.

The overall purpose for this trip is to:
1) give the public school teachers a curriculum that they will use to teach their students about Christ and Christian ethics. 2) The Leadership Development Conference allows the invited, previously trained teachers, to discuss & share together how the ISP curriculum is changing their students’ lives, how they might develop more lessons, and how they might grow spiritually at a personal level.

All of these elements in combination give the teachers the encouragement and tools they need to have greater impact for Christ in their classrooms and communities.

Education

The government runs a number of public elementary and secondary-level schools. These schools are free, though the cost of uniforms, books, supplies, and transportation makes them less accessible to the poorer segments of society and significant numbers of poor children do not attend school. Many middle and upper-class children go to private schools. Only 69.1% of the population aged 15 and over are literate, the lowest literacy rate in Central America.

Economy

According to the World Bank, Guatemala has one of the most unequal income distributions in the hemisphere. The wealthiest 20% of the population consumes 51% of Guatemala’s GDP. As a result, about 51% of the population lives on less than $2 a day and 15% on less than $1 a day. Guatemala's social development indicators, such as infant mortality, chronic child malnutrition, and illiteracy, are among the worst in the hemisphere.

USA--Guatemalan Relations

Most U.S. assistance to Guatemala is provided through the U.S. Agency for International Development's (USAID) offices for Guatemala. USAID/Guatemala's current program builds on the gains of the peace process that followed the signing of the peace accords in December 1996, as well as on the achievements of its 1997-2004 peace program. The current program works to advance U.S. foreign policy objectives by focusing on Guatemala's potential as Central America's largest economy and trading partner of the United States, but also recognizes the country's lagging social indicators and high rate of poverty. The three areas of focus for USAID/Guatemala's program are modeled after the Millennium Challenge Account areas--ruling justly, economic freedom, and investing in people, and are as follows:

More responsive, transparent governance, through:

  • Strengthened justice
  • Greater transparency and accountability of governments.

Open, diversified and expanding economies, through:

  • Laws, policies, and regulations that promote trade and investment;
  • More competitive, market-oriented private enterprises
  • Broader access to financial markets and services.

Healthier, better educated people, through:

  • Increased and improved quality of social sector (health and education) investments
  • Increased use of quality maternal-child and reproductive health services, particularly in rural areas.

Friday, March 12, 2010

Nancy's story of her trip to the hospital in Zacapa

While in Guatemala, Nancy had a trip to the hospital in Zacapa. Following is her story about what happened during that time:
"How many bug bites does it take to get your attention? In my case., about 100! There have been times I've wondered why the Lord doesn't just heal me from my disease of 31 years, Multiple Sclerosis? But, He keeps using it to bring me together with someone who needs His encouragement in times of crisis. Little did I know that when I came to Guatemala this year that I was part of a plan even bigger then the convocation where I was teaching.
After the first night of our stay in Zacapa, I awoke with two legs full of bug bites. Pulling back the sheets, I discovered many fleas, dead from being so engorged with my blood. My friends said the blood must of been too "sweet", like me...hah. Well, what followed could hardly be described as sweet by any measure.
After the third day of teaching the afternoon workshop, I could barely walk and my bites had festered into very painful, red, raised welts with a redness under the skin of both legs, warm to the touch. It became apparent that my attempts at treating the bites over the past few days had failed and infection had set in. Little did I know how timely it all was.
Driving to the hospital late Thursday night was probably more dangerous then the infection with all the crazy drivers on the road, but we made it safe to a very "modern" hospital in the middle of nowhere...opened just 3 months ago and built with "private funds"...if you know what I mean. The parking lot was dark and empty and the hospital lights darkened as well...the ER had one lonely nurse manning the posts, they had to call the doctor at home, and it just looked plain deserted. Turns out there were only 2 patients in the whole hospital at the time and I was one of them! Creepy...
Placed in my own beautiful room, they installed the TV right then at 11:30 pm, sort of a "finish" the room as needed situation. There were two nurses on the floor and they got me hooked up on my IV's right away. That night I didn't sleep a wink...legs elevated, on my back, with two IV's in my hand and having to stay still to ensure the medicine dripped in properly. My friend Ingrid stayed with me.. She didn't sleep much either. Yet, God was so good to give me just the right place to go...a clean hospital, my own room, and a great doctor who really knew his stuff.
In the morning they gave me another type of antibiotic straight into my arm. I cried....the pain was so intense that I thought I was going to hit the ceiling...all my "child birthing ‘hehe’ breathing" barely got me through...so I went to my praise music and found comfort in that special place with Jesus that can be found while in the middle of pain.
I spoke to many nurses about the Lord and spent the day with a special friend, Adriana (from Columbia) sharing life and spending time laughing and encouraging one another. In the evening I mentioned to my doctor that I felt there was a reason beyond the bites as to why I was in the hospital. He told me that a woman had just been brought into intensive care and was in the room right next to me in grave condition and her family was right outside my door. He said, "I think you have your reason".
Taking the Spanish Bible I'd just “happened” to bring in my hand, wheeling my IV's on the apparatus tubes dangling into my hand and my friend with a wheelchair behind me, I opened the door and the Lord began working big time...I was just an available vessel...bug bites and all.
Eliana and her family and about 18 friends were in such pain and grief and they allowed me in to bring comfort from the Word. What a poignant moment..to bring God's Word to a family who needed His truth and love to hang on to in their moment of distress. We read Psalm 91 and then I began to quote scripture, words of comfort and peace...all in a Spanish that I knew wasn't my own. The words just flowed out like a balm for a wounded heart...I could see Eliana's heart comforted...not from my words but from the Lord's. I realized the truth of Jeremiah 1:9 where God told Jeremiah that He would put His words into his mouth and not to worry but that God would speak through Him...and this was my experience...I prayed with the group in words that were definitely Spirit filled and powerful and the Lord was praised by all present…it was amazing...when God says in the Bible not to worry, that the Holy Spirit will give remembrance it's a promise that is true. I just experienced it...the gift of language just at the right time for the purpose of making Christ known.
We prayed for Nena and the next day I awoke to find out that she had stabilized in the evening and the prognosis was looking better. The family was so encouraged that they hugged and kissed me and gave God great thanks...in their time of great need, the Lord sent a messenger to bring comfort and His Word from the most unexpected place... A woman from California, bitten by bugs, infected and in pain who loves Jesus more then anything.
So, why hasn't God healed me from this disease that is slowly progressing downward??? Well He still needs me to walk in surrender to His power. His power is perfected in my weakness...the “disease” still has a purpose...I was the one who needed to get bit...my immune system is suppressed because of the medication I take for my MS...thus making it easier for me to suffer infections quickly and end up in the hospital just in time to be there for a family who needed the Lord to cling to in their time of need...and the Lord did just that! Praise His name. I'd go through the pain all over again for the joy of experiencing the closeness of His presence, the privilege of seeing Him work and the reality of His bringing comfort to us all...
"And in everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus". 1 Thess 5:18
"We are more then conquerors through Christ who loves us…” Romans 8:37
To God be the Glory great things He has done....thank you to all who prayed…"
~Nancy
Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

Natural Disasters

Guatemala's location between the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean makes it a target for hurricanes, such as Hurricane Mitch in 1998 and Hurricane Stan in October 2005, which killed more than 1,500 people. The damage was not wind related, but rather due to significant flooding and resulting mudslides.

A town along the Pan-American Highway and in close proximity to a volcanic crater

Guatemala's highlands lie along the Motagua Fault, part of the boundary between the Caribbean and North American tectonic plates. This fault has been responsible for several major earthquakes in historic times, including a 7.5 magnitude tremor on February 4, 1976 which killed more than 25,000 people. In addition, the Middle America Trench, a major subduction zone lies off the Pacific coast. Here, the Cocos Plate is sinking beneath the Caribbean Plate, producing volcanic activity inland of the coast. Guatemala has 37 volcanoes, four of them are active:Pacaya, Santiaguito, Fuego and Tacaná. Fuego and Pacaya erupted in 2010.

Natural disasters have a long history in this geologically active part of the world. For example, two of the three moves of the capital of Guatemala have been due to volcanic mudflows in 1541 and earthquakes in 1773.

Volcano Pacaya

On Thursday May 27, 2010 (05-27-2010) the Pacaya volcano started erupting lava and rocks on Thursday afternoon, blanketing Guatemala City with black sand (and forcing the closure of the international airport). It was declared a "state of calamity." The Pacaya volcano left about 8 Centimeters of ash and sand through all of Guatemala City. Cleaning works are in progress.