Jenna Haynes writes:
Sunday night I didn't sleep. Too many things were scrolling through my mind. We'd be waking up at the crack of dawn praying that Maria hadn't changed her mind. And how were we going to fit Henry and 5 others in our 4.5 person car with all the luggage? Did I have everything prepared for our interview with the Consejo Nacional de Adopciones (CNA) on Wednesday which would determine whether or not they saw us fit to be the directors of another children's home in Guatemala? And how were we going to fit it in to meet with the accountant before we left to get our passports back? Two volunteers arrived at 12:30a.m. in Coban on their motorcycles soaking wet...were they safe? Would they be able to find a hotel? Were we going to have time to meet them in the morning and show them the land before we had to leave? Two sleeping pills later, I still laid there wide awake.
Monday came quickly. We hurried to the accountant, got our stuff, hurried to our new volunteers, found them a place to stay and showed them to the land, hurried back to town, packed our stuff, made 7 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, drove to Maria's house and she wasn't there. It was 20 minutes after our scheduled departure time, and she was not there. Her sister Olga and her niece were going to go too. Olga's husband is an abusive alcoholic and the situation was very delicate. He did not want her to go, but Maria needed the support. After all, if they accepted Henry, Maria would be riding back to Coban alone right after giving up her only child. Olga couldn't go without her 14 year old daughter, and so it was. But where was Maria? Finally, she showed up and an hour and a half later, after Maria cleaned and dressed her son, we left. Every one of Maria's neighbors had come out of their rusted tin, wood, nylon shacks to watch what was going on.
Henry had no wheelchair, no shoes, no diaper, and a huge bag of stinky blankets. He had never ridden in a car. Maria put a plastic grocery bag on him for his diaper. We piled him in with everyone else, and off we went. 6 hours later we arrived in Antigua. We met with Daryl Fulp and his assistant Gerardo and we tried to get everyone checked in to Casa de Fe.
They allow 2 people only, the patient and one person. We had 4. The person must have a cedula to get in. Maria had a photocopy only. They accepted it. Then there were two more people. They said "no" and "no". Everyone in the room told us it was against the rules. We did not know what to do. Then something changed, someone gave in and said okay. (Gerardo and I stepped into the social work office and did some fast talking. Actually, Gerardo did the fast talking while I whispered talking points in his ear. He must have said the right things because she began writing out the tickets for admission.) Obstacle number 1 (besides all the obstacles overcome getting everyone down), overcome. We took them to Casa de Fe and Daryl carried Henry in and we immediately faced obstacle number 2, the people said only the patient and one caregiver could stay. They refused and refused even after we told them the other people said yes, and we pleaded. The people were very unfriendly and stern. (I am convinced that the lady who receives people is the witch from the Wizard of Oz. She apparently wasn’t crushed by that house after all.) We told the lady we came all the way from Coban, the mother is by herself and can not move Henry alone, the sister's abusive husband would not let her come without her daughter...and we begged. She finally said yes. Obstacle number 2, overcome.
Daryl ran and found some diapers for Henry. Maria and her son slept on the floor of the chapel. Geoffrey and I went to Hogar de Esperanza to meet Daryl's family.
They are amazing people. They are starting a home for 12 disabled children, orphans, and they already have 10 children, 7 of which live with them in Guatemala, 8 if you include Gerardo. (Actually, we have 9 living with us, but Teisha and Carissa’s trip to Uganda confused the situation.) One is adopted from China, one from Guatemala, and one from Korea. Two are foster children that they adopted from the US and the rest are their biological children. This family is great and live the great commission out every day. The Lord has provided a castle for them to live in with extremely crazy decor covering the entire 6000 sq feet. We couldn't believe our eyes. Getting to know them and hear their story was such a blessing and encouragement. If they can move to a 3rd world country with 10 children, start a home for 12 more, and have a huge multifaceted ministry and live and operate by faith....nobody, NOBODY, has any excuse for why they cannot or did not go to the mission field when they heard the Lord's command. (If you can’t tell by your reading to this point, Jenna is a very sweet girl who is easily impressed.) ;o)
5am, Tuesday, we are up and getting ready to head out to Hermano Pedro. Prayer warriors all over the world on our side pleading for Henry, pleading to the Lord that they would have a space available to accept him into the Home, pleading that Maria would truly give him up to them when the time came. 6:30, we are in line and waiting to get to see the first doctor. 8am, we are in and he says Henry qualifies. (This prompt appointment is credited to my friend, Xiomara, who works at HP and had a number waiting for us when we arrived. Otherwise we would likely not have seen the doctor until the afternoon.) Next, social work. Social work looks us dead in the eyes and says, "There is no space". They wouldn't budge. I am about to cry and I can not even look the woman in the eyes when I ask her, "You are telling me there is no space for this boy, after we came all this way?" She says, "No, I am sorry." So much more I want to say, but I can not because I was too overwhelmed. I just walked out. We came all this way...it wasn't going to end that quick.
Someone goes back in, and they say we can be put on a waiting list, but we have to see the neurologist before we can even be put on the list. We head to the neurologist's secretary who tells us one, he won't be in until 1pm, two, he doesn't have any opening to see anyone until February of 2013. We asked what we could possibly do. She said come back at 1pm and if someone cancels, we could fill in. (Xiomara was also in the wings ready to intercede on our behalf if no appointments opened up. She is a life-saver!)
Meanwhile we leave and Daryl finds a ministry that gives wheelchairs to people in need for $200. (Hope Haven provides most of the wheelchairs we give out to families.) Just so happened that that day they were giving wheelchairs for free. (They have received a large sponsorship for 500 chairs so we will be taking full advantage of that in the days ahead) We spent about two hours there while Henry got fitted for this super nice $6,000 (if it were new in the States) wheelchair. It was incredible and we wheeled him away like a king. (His mother hugged me, crying, and told me that now she could take Henri out of their house. I later found out that this trip was the first time he had been outside in 10 years.)
Back to Hermano Pedro. Up to the neurologist...we wait. He won't see anyone until 2pm. We wait. About 4pm we got in. This doctor has to say yes or no. We sat outside and prayed and prayed. Five minutes later the door opens, and not only is he accepting Henry, but he is writing a referral to social work, and tells us if social work will not tell us there is space, we need to go directly to the priest. The priest of the whole hospital/home! Obstacle number 671, overcome.
It is 4:30pm and everyone starts leaving at 5pm. We hurried to social work and they said no. Firmly it was a no and there was just no space and nothing they could do. So Daryl and Gerardo brought the priest over. I am thinking wow, God is just making this work. The priest goes into social work, 2 minutes later he walks out lays his hand on Henry, and walks away. Daryl and Gerardo come out and the answer is "No". (Father Jose was very kind and did everything he could do to gain us admission. But right now they have 270 patients when they capacity is supposed to be 240.) There is no space and nothing they can do for him other than put him on the waiting list. Our fight was over, after spending the entire day overcoming obstacles, at the end of the day...Henry would be wheeled away from the home.
We took him to a hotel, put them up in a room, and early Wednesday morning we put the four of them on a bus back to Carcha.
What a wonderful relationship we've built with another incredible ministry here in Guatemala. We can not thank them enough for their love, sacrifice, and service they gave to us in the name of Jesus.
and thank them for with us by liking them on Facebook:
Our meeting with the CNA went well and we got back to Coban late last night and found out that our two awesome volunteers, the EnduroBros, had finished our fence for us. What a blessing.
Today we took Henry his wheelchair and modified their home and flattened their dirt floor in order to help Maria to be able to move the wheelchair about easily.
The Lord knows what He is doing and His time is never early and it is never late. We will praise the Lord.
Mision Vida Nueva
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One of the things I have learned here is that our role is not to win every battle. We are here to fight alongside others so they don’t have to fight alone. We had the privilege of fighting this battle at the side of Maria and Henri for one day, and will help again when there is a spot open in HP. Geoffrey and Jenna are fighting for them every day by providing assistance until that time comes. Please take time to visit their Web site above and pray for and support them and their wonderful ministry as God would lead. You can also read Jenna’s blog here.
That is all for now. Blessings from Guatemala!
Daryl
