Wheelchairs and New Additions

The irony of having a blog and running this kind of ministry is that when there is not much happening, you don’t have a lot to write, but there is a lot of time to write it. However, when there is a lot happening there is a much to write but little time to write it. It seems like the last year has been filled with the latter, and the last 16 days have been no exception. So, here is a whirlwind view of the last two weeks…

I went down to Nueva Concepción to visit Rosario after her discharge from the hospital. She was released after a six day stay, still weak but free of infection. Her responsiveness was much better, as was her energy. However, she is still not eating very well and is anemic. So we made a trip to a local pharmacy to purchase liquid vitamins and Incaparina (a nutritional, high calorie drink) to help her gain weight. We had a very nice visit with her and her family. We praise God that, due to your generous response to the need for Yosselin’s surgery, we had sufficient funds left over to pay for Rosario’s hospital stay and medicines. Thank you!

My brother and sister-in-law, Rusty and Vanessa, came down and brought a team from their church. They spent a week serving alongside us, and what a blessing they were. Their church donated $2500 toward the purchase of a therapy hot tub. This, combined with another large gift from Millies Pearls gave us the funds we needed to make the purchase and prepare for the installation. Dale Beyer is overseeing the project, and I honestly don’t know what I would do without his experience, know-how and hard work. He and the team poured the concrete pad and a wheelchair-friendly sidewalk leading from the back door to the pad. Electrical work is continuing to get the needed power supply to the back of the house. When the tub is installed we will be able to use it to provide better and more pain-free stretches to those children with high-tone cerebral palsy.

In the midst of this project I received an incredible call. A gentleman contacted me and explained that he represented an anonymous Christian who wanted to invest in our wheelchair ministry. We spent time talking about our desires and goals for the ministry and I was told they would be in touch. Two days later I received a call notifying me that a check for $10,000 has been sent to Joni and Friends wheelchair ministry to provide wheelchairs for Ministerio de Esperanza! This means that we have between 40 and 60 wheelchairs provided, depending on the kind needed!

This gift could not come at a better time. We currently have seven people awaiting wheelchairs. Meanwhile, Dick Rutgers contacted me and explained that he needed seven wheelchairs for a community up near Huehuetenango. So we will be traveling together to make those deliveries once the funds clear and arrangements are made.

Over the last week we have added four new families to our rural village ministry. In addition, we have several families awaiting our visit for assessment. Yesterday we finally visited a family that had been waiting for almost a month, and this took us to a new village.

There is a cross on the side of a mountain that overlooks Antigua. It is a popular tourist destination, and I have been there many times with my family and with teams. But I have never continued up the mountain beyond, until yesterday as we drove about 15 minutes beyond it to the village of El Hato (the herd). And what a drive it was. Narrow roads, at times dropping sharply off the side down the mountain. A few times the road was so narrow my wheel was inches away from the edge with brush scraping the far side of my vehicle. We finally parked and began walking, first down, then up a narrow trail. Near the end it was so steep that we had difficulty walking and slid a fell on a few occasions.

But at the end was waiting a precious little guy named Brandon. He will turn five years old on Friday and has a smile that can light very dark places. He now suffers from cognitive delays and cerebral palsy, but it was not always that way. When he was two he could walk and talk and was progressing normally. But then he came down with pneumonia and his fever shot up. His parents took him to the national hospital, but they failed to treat his fever properly. When the hospital returned him three days later, he could no long walk or speak.

He also has a seizure disorder and seizes four or five times a day. They took him back to the national hospital where he was seen by a neurologist, but he gave them medicine that sedates him without treating the seizures. So today Manuel took him to our neurologist to get him on the proper medicine to control his seizures. They just returned and the doctor has prescribed medicine for his seizures while waiting for us to get an EEG and Cerebral TAC done. Please pray for him and his family. They are very poor and have seven beautiful children. The father works in the fields to provide for them, but it is not enough.

While I was in El Hato, our home was receiving a delivery. Little Rosalinda joined our home yesterday afternoon. I know…a while back I announced that we were full and would be saying a firm “No!” from that point forward. And we had, until I received a message on Friday from a friend. The Erickson family runs Redeemer House Ministries here in our area, but their ministry also works in the Department of Solola. And in the town of Concepción they had discovered a little girl who needed help.

The initial message told us that she was malnourished with brain damage and heart problems, and her health problems sounded quite severe. So, after talking with Wanda and praying, we decided to say yes. At that point, we believed that her life was at stake, and we could not turn away and let her die.

So, late yesterday afternoon she was delivered to our door via ambulance. However, her health was better than we had anticipated. She was very malnourished, but she shows very little signs of brain damage, if any. Likewise, we were informed that she had a hole in her heart, but that is seems to have closed. So, in essence, we simply have a malnourished child who needs a chance to grow and gain weight. (Please note: The information we received regarding her health did not involve any type of deception by the Ericksons, Redeemer House or any of their workers. It was simply some miscommunication resulting from having numerous people in a chain of communication. All of the above are wonderful people doing wonderful work, and we are so grateful for them!)

Most of her hair has fallen out from the malnutrition. She also has some type of allergy that has caused a rash over a large part of her body. Our doctor will be coming this afternoon to examine her, and we will be making appointments with our neurologist and cardiologist. But developmentally she is not very delayed. Her lungs are very healthy, and she has demonstrated that with her loud cries and screams for much of the time since she has been with us.

When she was brought to our home she was accompanied by her parents who were distraught at having to give her up. They were very attached to her and she to them, so the last 24 hours have been difficult. She has been held a lot, apparently, and does not like to be put down, even for a moment. She displays lots of anger and fights almost everything we do. So, we have some challenging days ahead. She may very well turn out to be the most challenging adjustment in the history of our home.

However, her prognosis looks good, and we are grateful. Please keep her and us in your prayers in the days ahead.

While this is, by no means, a complete listing of the activities over the last two weeks, it at least hits the high points. Thanks for all you do to make this possible!

Blessings!

Daryl, Wanda and the Crew

BTW, here is a recent Fulp Family photo, taken by Kathlyn Beyer. Thanks, Kathlyn!

Urgent Prayer Needed for Rosario

I am seeking your intercession on behalf of a young lady named Rosario. She is currently hospitalized in Nueva Concepción and her life is hanging in the balance.

We currently have a team here from Dillsburg Brethen in Christ Church (Pennsylvania), and that group includes Wanda’s sister, Jaylene, and her brother-in-law, Ron. While most of the group stayed behind to work in our home today, Ron and another team member, Glenn, traveled with me to Nueva Concepción to visit a couple of families. This town is far off our beaten path, so we only go there every other month. But I pushed up my regular visit because we had received word that Jorge’s wheelchair was broken and needed repairs. So we loaded up and headed out.

We arrived in town and had a nice visit with Jorge and his family. Based upon what we had been told, I did my best to estimate what parts I would need to repair his chair. Praise God, we had exactly what we needed and the repairs went smoothly. The family blessed us with coconut drinks and we sat and visited for some time, including taking turns holding Jorge’s two month old niece.

We then left and headed over to Rosario’s house. I expected to make a quick stop to check on her wheelchair and visit for a few minutes, but our plans changed quickly. When her mother saw me, she quickly waved me inside where I found Rosario very sick on her bed. She was non responsive, with her eyes unfocused. I quickly grabbed my medical bag and listened to her lungs and heart. She had a fever of 102 and her throat and ears were infected. In addition, she showed signs of severe malnutrition and dehydration.

While I was examining her, her mother explained that she had gotten sick a month earlier and stopped eating. From there, her condition continued to deteriorate. She became weaker and gradually became unresponsive. With tears in her eyes, she told me that she knew her daughter was dying, but they did not have the money to take her to the doctor.

I explained that her daughter’s condition was very serious and the we needed to take her to a doctor immediately. They agreed, but reemphasized that they had no money. I explained that we would not take her to the national hospital (that would be a death sentence) but would pay for a private doctor and hospital. I carried her out to my truck and placed her in her grandfather’s lap, then the mother and the rest of us squeezed in and headed out.

When we arrived at the hospital a nurse saw me carrying Rosario and recognized how serious her condition was. She waved us straight into the exam room and a doctor arrived a moment later. When he saw her condition he ordered an IV to rehydrate her and blood tests to determine the infections she was fighting. He told me that she needed to be hospitalized and asked if we wanted to take her to the public hospital or if we wanted her admitted there. I told him she needed to stay with them, so he asked if we would pay. Yep.

I went out to the secretary’s desk and paid a down payment and made arrangements to return upon her discharge to pay the rest. When I returned to the room 20 minutes later, Rosario turned toward me, saw my face, and smiled! So already the IV was rehydrating her and her condition was improving.

The doctor pulled me aside and explained that she was in serious condition and he did not know if she would live. He did, however, explain that if the infections and dehydration were the only issues, he believes she will recover. His big concern is renal failure due to prolonged dehydration. Could you please pray for healing in this young lady? The doctor told me that he would call me tomorrow with an update on her status.

At one point I was speaking with Rosario’s grandfather. He spoke with tears in his eyes as he told me of numerous people in their town had died recently. In each case, they needed medical treatment but did not have the money to pay for it. He explained that they knew Rosario was dying, but they couldn’t afford to take her to a doctor. He told me that they had wanted to take her to the national hospital but they did not even have the Q.20 needed to take her via chicken bus. (They had lost my number and didn’t know how to reach us for help.)

Provided the treatments are successful and there is no kidney damage, she should be hospitalized for four or five days. Please pray that she responds quickly to the antibiotics and that there is no further damage to her weak body. Pray she begins eating and can gain weight and strength. And pray that Jesus will be glorified in her and her family.

Thanks! Blessings from Guate!

Daryl, Wanda and the Crew

Christmas…Wrapped Up!

Life has been full and crazy, and I have not been able to update my blog recently. It is still full and crazy, so I am giving you a picture update instead of my normally long-winded (long-keyboarded?) posting.

In spite of a stomach flu that invaded our home two days before Christmas, we were able to have a good celebration together. All the puking had passed by that point, so we were able to open presents and have a nice meal together. Here are a few photos of the big day:

(We want to give special thanks to Valley Fellowship Church and Christian Academy for their donation to help us purchase Christmas gifts for the children in the home! You helped to make it a great day for all of us!)

From our family and ministry to all of you…Happy New Year! May the coming year be a year in which you grow, are challenged and are used for the glory of the Kingdom!

Daryl, Wanda and the Crew

When Women Fight and God Laughs

(This is a long blog, but please stick it out. It gets pretty entertaining, if I do say so myself)

I would like to take a moment to share my day yesterday with you. But in order to do so I need to give you some background information.

As you know, Yosselin had her surgery on Tuesday and it was a tremendous success. We saw almost immediate results in her alertness and the size of her head reduced considerably once the pressure was relieved. So that afternoon we went into standby mode. We were committed to drive Yosselin and her parents home because we did not want her on a long, crowded chicken bus ride so soon after surgery. But we did not know when the doctor would release them. So we waited and made contingency plans.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday evening, I received a call from my daughter, Brittney, in San Pablo La Laguna (Yosselin’s town). She told me that Juana and Michael (a single mother and a child with special needs with whom we have been working) had been thrown out of their home by Juana’s mother and had no place to go. So we immediately went into prayer mode for what we could do to help. Meanwhile, arrangements were made for her to stay with a pastor from the town for a night or two.

Then, on Wednesday evening, I received another call from Brittney. She had found out that Billy (a young man with cognitive delays and seizures with whom we have been working) was also homeless. His family had kicked him out. What was shocking was that he had apparently been homeless for the last five months.

Each month we visit families and deliver medicine, food, diapers, formula, diapers or money for therapy. And each visit we take a photo of the sponsored child. But around five months ago we were told that Billy was living with another part of his family but they would take the medicine to him. I don’t like that arrangement, but I knew he needed his meds and I had no other means of getting them to him, so I agreed. We now know that they had kicked him out and that most of the medicines we were bringing did not make it to him. I confess that I was angry when I found this out.

Brittney and Michel (our ministry partner that works with us in San Pablo) found Billy. It turns out that he had been staying most nights with his Aunt and her family, but they did not have room in their house for him. (Their home is an 8’x8’ house made of corn stalks and sheet metal.) So he had been sleeping outside on the ground next to their pila (a sink for washing laundry and dishes).  He would use a cardboard box and some old clothes and rags as a mattress, but when it rained water would flow through his bed. So he would drain the holding compartment of the pila and curl up in it to sleep, a very tight fit. His aunt’s family would give him whatever food they could spare each day. This broke my heart.

We immediately began to pray and think about ways we could help. It is dry season now, so rain is seldom an issue. Michele told me that he thought the most important things he needed was a bed, food and clothing (he had only the clothes on his back). I had posted the situation on Facebook and several people committed to send money to help. So we began to plan and pray.

I had no sooner hung up from that call when the phone rang again. It was Gerardo telling me that the doctor was releasing Yosselin the next morning between 8 and 9 am. Gerardo was scheduled to go to Guastatoya with Dale, so we decided that Manuel and I would pick them up the next morning and take them back to San Pablo.

And that brings us to yesterday. I got up early to drive to the hospital in Guatemala City. As I was getting ready I received a text message from Manuel saying that he was sick and needed to get some medicine for the stomach pain he was experiencing. He made arrangements to meet me in Chimaltenango on my way back through after picking up the family. However, I received another message while driving telling me that he was being held in the hospital. (He was released last night and is doing much better.) So, I called home and we made arrangements for Taryn to meet me and ride along and bring some supplies we needed.

I arrived at the hospital and found Yosselin and her family excited and ready to go home. We just had to wait for the doctor to provide discharge order. So we waited…and waited…and waited and… (You get the idea.) Finally we left the hospital at around 12:30 pm, and I was dreading the long drive ahead combined with our late start.

In the midst of all this, Wanda and I finally made a decision regarding what to do about Juana and Michael. We had been considering hiring another nanny to help in the home, so we decided to give her a chance. Brittney spoke with her and asked if she would be interested in working for us in return for a place to live, food, medical treatment and a small amount of cash for personal expenses. She readily and joyfully agreed. So, we made plans to bring her and Michael back with us.

I met up with Taryn in Chimaltenango. We stopped for lunch, and I bought the medicines Yosselin needed and a folding bed and mattress for Billy. Our drive up took longer than usual due to stops to care for Yosselin, but we still pulled into San Pablo at around 5:00 pm. We picked up Brittney so she could visit the families with us, and it was decided that Juana and Michael would stay at her house while we did so. At this point I wanted to just get in and out quickly. There is a series of sharp cutbacks going up the mountain that we call “the lower intestines” because that is what it looks like on the GPS display. These are hard to negotiate during the day, but that difficulty is multiplies after dark. So I wanted to get out of town before the sun set. Alas, it was not to be.

We delivered Yosselin and her parents to their home and gave them final instructions regarding care of her incisions and medicines. Then we immediately went to find Michel and have him help with the delivery to Billy.

We found Billy with the family that has been helping him. We gave him his bed and gave the entire family a basket of food. Since they were sharing what little they had with Billy it was only right to give them all food to share. I gave Michel some money to help him buy clothes and we made arrangements with the family to build a small, sheltered area for his bed with us providing the funds to do so. It was a wonderful visit and we all prayed together. When I took Billy’s photo, he laughed. It was the first time I had ever seen him laugh and was a sharp contrast to his tears the day before.

(From this point further, I do not have photos. My hands were too full to handle a camera.)

When we left his home things began to get interesting. Some of the neighbors told us that the municipal police has been walking around my truck asking questions about us. They were gone by this point, but Michel was concerned. He called the mayor who knew of no problems. Then one of Brittney’s neighbors approached us and told us that the police had been at her house talking to Juana. We raced back and found the police gone. The door was closed, and the lights were out, but Juana and Michael were inside and Juana was cowering and sobbing. I approached her and she grabbed me and started talking frantically through her tears. It took me a while to determine what she was saying because of her crying and rapid speech, but I then realized she was saying, “Please take us with you! Don’t leave us here! I don’t want to stay! Please let’s go right now!”

It turns out that her family found out about our plans to hire her and take them to live with us. They approached the police who came and told her that if she wanted to leave she could, but she could not take Michael. Her family accused her of neglecting Michael. Once again, Michael made some calls and confirmed that the police had no authority to say or do this, so they were free to leave. We quickly loaded their possessions (a small bag and small box), and I escorted them out to the truck.

And here things get even more exciting. I had opened the door and told Juana and Michael to get in when I saw a blur out of the corner of my eye. I later found out it was Juana’s sister who ran up and tried to snatch Michael out of his mother’s arms. And at that moment Juana (about 4’11” and 90 pounds) delivered a right cross to her sister’s jaw that jarred MY teeth. Her sister shook her head to clear it, looked at Juana and “it was on like Donkey Kong!”

When the altercation started, I was semi-between Juana and her sister, so I immediately stepped more in the middle and tried to break it up, absorbing a few blows and scratches in the process. There was yelling and a crowd quickly gathered. The arguing and yelling were all in T´zutujil, so I don’t know what all was being said, but I suspect that much of it was not church language.

So, here I was trying to break up the fight with people yelling around me, and I suddenly saw myself from a new angle. It was as if I was looking down on the whole situation from above. And, in that moment, I silently asked God, “What am I doing here? I am a pastor for crying out loud! What am I doing in this little community surrounded by a fight and hearing a very obscure language being shouted in my ears? What am I doing here, God?!?”

And then something happened…

I felt God laugh.

You know what I mean? That tickle that begins in your heart and bubbles up through your throat that doesn’t come from you, but from Someone Else. And I heard God’s voice:

Daryl, remember when you were a teenage and thought that following me would be boring? What do you think now?

And something happened. I smiled. I was trying to break up a fight and absorbing blows and trying to calm the situation…and I grinned. Fortunately everyone was focused on the two ladies trying to claw each other’s eyes out, so no one saw it. But I smiled and God laughed. And it was good.

We eventually calmed everyone down. Her sister made accusations of neglect again, so I explained that they would be living with us and we would make sure that Michael was well cared for, including doctors and therapists. She finally stomped off muttering more of what I assume was non-church words, which left us with the crowd that had gathered. And at this point I had no idea on which side they were. My concerns were quickly settled, though, as they gathered around to tell Juana and Michael goodbye and to thank us for giving Juana and Michael this opportunity.

We were leaving Brittney behind at her house, so my primary concern was for her. Would Juana’s family retaliate against her? But Michel, his wife Maria, and all the gathered neighbors assured us that they would look out for her and not to worry. So I hugged her goodbye and we drove away.

Michel rode with us to the checkpoint at the exit of the town to make sure the town police were not waiting for us. (They were not.) So we continued up through “the lower intestines” on a very dark night.

About an hour later I called Brittney to make sure everything was okay. She had been sitting out on the street with several neighbors visiting and everything was calm. She also told me that Michel and Billy had come by to show her the clothes they had bought for him. She said Billy had a huge smile as he modeled his new clothes.

By the way, yesterday was Juana’s 21st birthday. So when we pulled into our home at 9:00 last night Wanda had a plate of cookies with “Feliz Cumpleaños Juana” written on the cookies along with a gift. We sang to her and she blew out her candles and we ate together with the newest members of our family.

Please pray for Juana and Michael. Our town is an entirely new world for them, and our home is still another world. Juana’s primary language is T´zutujil and her Spanish is almost as broken as mine. This will be a challenging adjustment, even though they are excited now. In addition, Michael is not well-behaved. Juana was only 15 when she had him and she has much to learn about parenting. She has also fallen victim to the notion that, since he has special needs, he cannot learn better behavior. So we will be teaching and helping her in the coming days.

Juana carries a lot of anger and hurt from her past. But God has shown me more than anything she is just a little girl who really needs a family. Pray that we can be that family to her.

And, finally, please pray for our home and family as we add two more to the mix during the Christmas season.

So, now you know about yesterday…and how God sometimes laughs in the middle of a fight so that we can smile.

Blessings!

Daryl, Wanda and the Crew