Delivering wheelchairs!

Thanks to a generous donation from a hospital in Minnesota, 

we were able to distribute 4 wheelchairs to the elderly!

(Above) Giving a wheelchair to Josephina...

an 89 year-old widow who fell 2 years ago

and told me she cannot walk anymore.

She is probably suffering from a broken hip, 

but is unable to do anything about it 

due to lack of money and no health insurance. 

Back in May, a fellow Guatemalan and I came across this man on the street.

We both watched him, completely confused,

trying to figure out what the heck was going on! 

After watching the following video, you will understand our concern:

Turns out that this man is named Carlos....

He is in his 70's and used to work at the San Lucas Mission 

as a middle/high school teacher.

He has been out of work for about 10 years 

and is now unable to walk...thus unable to work...thus unable to eat.

When asked why he scoots about on the street, Carlos said he had no other option.

He said his legs just gave out one day

and the medical doctor in town cannot find a cause.

When asked if he would like a wheelchair, he humbly replied "yes,"

but was resigned to live like he was living had we not offered help.

(Above) Teaching Carlos how to use his new wheelchair

Delivering a wheelchair to Apolonia (the first blog post is about her situation).

Many thanks and blessings to all who made this possible-

Any small thing done for those in need is big in God's eyes!

2 Projects done within 4 hours!

We finished the remaining 2 projects in one day again!
It seems unexplainable to me how the group could rebuild this kitchen
in only one morning....

Project #3 was to rebuild Nicolasa's kitchen (pictured on the right).

Nicolasa is an 82-year old widow (now blind)

who lives with her 5 children, (who also have their own children)...

which makes a grand total of 32 grandchildren living with her!!!!

I'm not kidding!

Here's the timeline of how the rebuilding went...

Wednesday afternoon...it took the group

(working alongside Nicolasa's family)

30 minutes to demolish the old kitchen...

The remains...

Thursday 7:30 am: Moving and unloading the new materials to Nicolasa's house...

9 am: Building has begun...

12 pm: Nicolasa's kitchen is finished...in only 3 hours!

While one group was working on Nicolasa's kitchen,

another group was beginning the work on Rosa's new kitchen...

Rosa (pictured below on the right) is an 80 year old widow who lives with one of her sons.  

Rosa has so many aches and pains that she is unable to leave her house.

Since Rosa spends most of her time in her kitchen,

we wanted to leave it more dignified so that she can 

spend the rest of her days reminded of the love God has for her 

and for all those who may feel "poor" and abandoned.
We are not alone!

Thursday 9:30 am: Loading up Rosa's new kitchen materials...

10 am: Unloading the materials and beginning to demolish the old kitchen...

10:15 am:  Kitchen is demolished.

Again, I am not kidding!!!!  This group had incredible energy!

Rosa standing by watching the progress...excited and feeling blessed!

12:30 pm:  Rosa's kitchen making progress...

3:30 pm: Rosa's kitchen is finished!

Many, many thanks to the MN group that made this possible

with their generous donations and incredible energy!  

Also many thanks to the incredibly talented workers from San Lucas...

we all had a blast working together

and to me, it is such a joy not because we built material dwellings...

but because we really reached out to the "least" of the Lord's brothers...

and in that, we were touching and loving HIM!

And of course, what would be a summary of our second day's work

without adding the "random" moments that were hilarious?!

Volunteer Mary Clare and I were the gophers that had to run out 

and get anything that was lacking...

This included nails, screws, hinges, or chimneys (pictured above)...

... or 10 feet-long wooden planks (pictured above)

or 12 foot beams (pictured below).

As you can note, the random van from Wednesday was retired,

so the adventure had to continue with the "tuc tucs" (taxis) here in San Lucas. 

Fun times!

Thank you Lord for the opportunity to joyfully work together
for Your Kingdom and Glory!

2 Projects down and 2 to go!!!

So we had planned to do one room/kitchen per day...
but with a team of 9 Guatemalan experienced carpenters
and an eager, wonderful, and flexible group from the USA-
we kicked some construction butt!
(Sorry for the blunt expression, but there's no better way to put it!)

Here's how the day went:

7:30 am- Loading up the van with the construction materials 

for Francisca Pilar's new room...

8:00 am- Arriving & unloading at the construction site...

9:00 am- Corner posts up and bases in place!

12:30pm- Only the roof is left to put on!

4:00pm- Room is finished!  

Francisca Pilar had tears of thankfulness in her eyes throughout the whole day.

Although she is "alone", widowed, and at the age 

where her parents and other relatives are no longer with her, 

hopefully today she understood a deeper reality...

that God is always with us and will never forget us.

A deep and heartfelt thank you to all who helped

in reaching out to Francisca Pilar in her need!

Onto project number 2...

 

I am happy to introduce you to Dominga and Marcelo Guoz (ages 80 and 87).
Please don't tell me that this is not the cutest oldest couple you have ever seen??!

As you can see above in the photo on the right,
they were in need of a new kitchen.

So today at 9:30 am-
Another group was beginning to transport the materials
to Dominga and Marcelo's new kitchen construction site.

"Many hands make light work!"

Even the "smallest" and "simplest" of tasks were such a big help
to make the incredible progress we made today!!!

11:00 am- (Above right picture) Old kitchen demolished and new posts secured.

(Above left): Remains of the old kitchen charred from smoke.
Next project for this elderly couple will be putting in a stove with a chimney!

More pictures of the construction progress
of Dominga & Marcelo's new kitchen...

 

... and of course,
why not do a little painting lesson
with the grandkids hanging around as we work?!

4:15pm- Kitchen is finished!

To see the sparkle in Marcelo's eyes
and to hear Dominga say over and over "thank you" in the Mayan dialect
was enough for all the hard work and efforts.
I think all involved would agree that it was a blessed and very joy-filled day...
God is never outdone in generosity!

The following photos are of some of our "random" moments from today...
please don't ask about the van.
It was all I had in order to run errands
and get extra materials that we were lacking.

So how the heck are you supposed to fit 8 boards that are 10 feet long
into a van that is probably only 6 feet long?!

With a lot of joy, optimism, determination...
and by asking some random guys that you find walking by
to come and help you sit on the boards while you drive
so the boards don't fall out of the trunk which has the door open!

4:30pm- Quitin' time!!!

We are all little exhausted.... definitely nasty dirty and sweaty,

but our hearts are filled with joy to have truly given all we have-

working together for the good of others.

Thank you Jesus for such a great opportunity to serve You!

p.s. I really don't like to drive with the doors open and people hanging out of the car...

just for the record! :)