Guatemala Eyeglass Mission Team 2608

 Sunday blessings to all! This morning we dressed in our Sunday clothes and headed to San Miguel Dueñas, where the church that we have our clinic is. Before the church service, we walked to the town square to view the Catholic Church processional celebrating their patron saint, Juan Santiago. There were mortars going off, and there were flower strewn on the streets for the processional.  The procession was a somber event with many people walking together holding candles and the priest being carried along with them. Afterward, we attended a church service at our host church and the ladies made us a wonderful lunch.  The team did a half day clinic today, as we had time after the service. Until this afternoon, the weather has been very mild and pleasant. Right after we started the clinic, there was a downpour that lasted over two hours, with lots of thunder and lightning.  We had a small crowd, but all were served! Tonight, we had Dominos at the guesthouse, and afterwar...

 It was a pretty relaxed day today. The weather was beautiful in the mid 70s. The sun was shining on us as we had breakfast and devotion time before we headed to the church. Speaking of the church, the name was never mentioned in the previous posts. It is named Iglesia Lutherana Redentor Del Mundo. In English, it means Redeemer of the World Lutheran Church. Pastor Rudy is with us to help minister to folks before they go through the clinic.  We had kind of a slow morning because the Catholics down the road were having their weekend festival honoring Patron St. James Santiago with a rodeo, bull riding and many food and craft stalls. We will take a quick walk through tomorrow before church.  Things picked up slightly in the pm, but we really only had 49 people for the day. Tomorrow after church we will host an afternoon clinic, so it will be busy! We returned to the guesthouse and Nury had a surprise for us. A piñata! Her family was celebrating the birthdays of her grandchil...

 Today we started our day with a breakfast that represented flavors of the region. Our host served us Huevos Rancheros, but with a mild spinach based sauce, and freshly pressed carrot juice. It has been such a blessing to have freshly prepared and locally sourced food! Good for the body and soul! To break our fast together is a treat as we spend time getting to know each other and communally encourage each other in strengthening our faith in Christ.  We had an awesome view of the towns and many coffee groves on the way to the church. We learned that because coffee is a valuable commodity, many plantations protect them from direct sunlight by planting trees, such as avocado, amongst the plants. They also protect this resource with dogs and they border the property with a plant called chichacaste, that has similar properties to poison ivy. And, inside of that plant is barbed wire!    Today, we served 88 people. The majority of the women in this region are tejadoras or ...

 Our team started the day with a fabulous breakfast made by our host.  There were even healthy shots set out for us!  We began with a devotion and prayer requests.  It is so peaceful having breakfast outdoors with all the vegetation. The guesthouse is beautiful. The ride to the church was filled with scenery that took our breath away.  Lush mountains that rival the Rockies in altitude, and architecture that has a distinct Spanish presence.  This is the church and school where we are having the eye clinic.   We served 104 people with the need for eyeglasses.  We had translators that helped, as well as a pastor, who was very friendly and guided people with spiritual counseling before they had their exams. We had five stations that the people went through before they left, and each person received a bottle to make saline eye drops and a pair of sunglasses, along with any prescription glasses that they tested for.   We had dinner on the road at a...