Category: Community Health

Black Water River Village School

Yesterday, we wrapped up our final week with a great trip to Black Water River Village School. It was an hour drive from San Cristobal to the dam and then a 25 minute ride by boat and a rigorous 20 minute climb to reach our destination. The planned inauguration for the water system was interrupted by a severe thunderstorm that blew in over the mountains. The weather may have altered our plans somewhat, but it certainly didn’t stop our volunteers from pressing on to get as much as possible done in what little time we had left! We started to paint the school. However, I believe there was more paint on the local stray dog than on the school!  We helped to install a chain link fence to protect the boundaries of the school property. Our water team instructed everyone on the function and maintenance of the water system we installed. Rudy shared the Gospel message of hope with this precious community of people who were nearly wiped out during the warfare that took place in the 1980’s. Entire families were murdered during the massacres. This tiny village of people has suffered great loss. They continue to try to rebuild their lives on the steep mountainside that slopes down to the river below. We were blessed to pray for them and sing worship songs with the children. As the thunder subsided, we loaded our boats and headed for the transport buses. The driving rain could not obscure the absolute beauty of God’s majestic mountains rising up out of the lake all around us as we huddled together on the boats to stay dry.

Great Day!

What a great day we had!! We had the WaterStep, water system inauguration at Paneste School today! The children have clean water for the first time to wash their hands and brush their teeth!  Then we headed to Casa Gloria Orphanage to visit with Jenna and all the children. They are doing an amazing job caring for these precious little ones that have come from traumatic living situations. We were able to visit Paster Raffa, the blind Pastor who walks 2 miles to a village church where he preaches faithfully! We were able to bless him with food and other things and give him a Davor audio Bible in Spanish to replace the one we gave him before that was stolen. We are always blessed beyond words by his love for Christ and his humble, servant’s heart!

Day 1 and 2

Our water team has been hard at work for the past 2 days teaching morning and afternoon sessions at the school! The parents and teachers had as much fun as the children learning all the songs, health and hygiene instruction and participating in all the activities. Tomorrow they are headed to our second water system site to begin installation and start the teaching program with the children. Please pray for them as they need to hike to a specific location to then take a 40 minute boat ride to reach the school.

We made it!

Clinic Team made it safely! We started our day with a sweet time of worship and devotions. Today the water team went to set up for their first day of installation for the water system at the Paneste Village School. The Clinic group loaded everything we will need for our first day of medical clinic tomorrow and set up at the hospital. We are so grateful the the wonderful team of volunteers we have serving with us! Please keep everyone in your prayers! Many of our patients are traveling from very far away and many on foot! The school we are installing the water system has ~400 children attending. We will be teaching them about “clean water” and heath and hygiene education. We will be teaching the children through interactive songs and skits.

Preparation Trip Day 2

We got up early and our team joined our ministry partners from Living To Serve and spent the day doing the inventory for our 2017 medical/surgical/dental and outreach mission trips.

STJI provides purified water, Jesus provides living water…

May 19th:
Thursday kicked off at 6:30 AM with an egg and sausage breakfast. Then at morning devotions we discussed the power of the Word of God. Scripture is so strong that the truth can hurt. It’s the blinding light turned on in a dark room; it hurts at first, but it allows us to see and it can reveal the mess that was kept hidden in the darkness.

This morning we all went to la Escuela Oficial Cantón Pampur for a special ceremony in the schoolyard. The children all sat on green pine needles spread across the concrete floor waiting for our arrival. Some children dressed in traditional garb danced, sang and presented the Guatemalan national anthem. Cesia and Kevin presented a puppet show encouraging good hygiene featuring Mr. Soap and Ms. Water. Lora, Cesia, Brooke and Sydney led the children in fun Christian songs with lots of hand motions, and Sam gave an object lesson showing how the living water that Christ provides washes out our spiritual filth.

Then we all gathered for the ribbon-cutting ceremony of the new water purification system. The school director filled up a large bucket of purified water and brought it out for the children. After that it was time for more pictures with all of our new friends.

We then went to lunch at a park alongside a large lake and enjoyed the cool of the shade. After lunch we traveled to Casa Gloria, a newly built orphanage by American missionaries Geoffrey and Jenna Haynes. The building is amazing and will provide quality apartment-style living for orphans. The orphans will be raised in small groups like families instead of like a large boarding school. I’m so excited about the work that the Lord will do here.

Intense rain fell while we were indoors. We had planned on going hiking prior to visiting the orphanage, but were fortunate to not get caught out in the rain. We then took an hour drive past Coban and up a gravel mountain road to look for Romeo’s house. There are no signs, addresses, no concept of getting mail around here so we had to rely on Rudy and Sam’s memory on how to wind through the mountainside farm land to find this hut. We were running out of daylight and had to move quickly. Eventually we came across the huts to find little Romeo, a once malnourished baby who had been days away from death, looking healthier and happy. It’s almost completely dark in Romeo’s home, save for the light cast by the small TV. Next to the TV is a shrine with multiple photos of Jesus Christ. Romeo’s grandmother holds him until his mother returns. Rudy tells us the story of how he found them originally and helped them get formula. Romeo, who was born with a cleft lip and palate, is scheduled for his first surgery next week.

A couple more children ran about the home. We gave them crackers and beanie babies, which they really enjoyed. We prayed with Romeo’s family. They don’t speak Spanish (I think they speak Pocochi), but they prayed along with Rudy in a very powerful, tearful moment.

With daylight waning, we couldn’t stay long. We hiked back out and just as we got back to our vehicles, the sky burst open with a powerful thunderstorm. Rain and hail pelted our vehicles and the dirt and gravel path flooded. I’ve ridden in the back of the pickup truck on pretty much every trip, but was glad to be inside this time.

Tired and sweaty, we made the trip back to the hotel. We listened to praise and worship music. I was struck by the song “It is well.” It’s easy for me to sing “Whatever my lot … It is well” when I have a very good job, good health, loving family, and all the comforts of my American life. But could I sing that if I were in Romeo’s family’s condition? Could I praise God if I lived in a wooden hut making only a few dollars a day struggling to feed my family?

God, please give me a new found appreciation for your provision, for your mercy, and for your grace. Please give me the faith and the strength to trust you in whatever situation I’m in.
Brandon

Answered Prayer!

We have been praying for quite some time about building a medical/dental/worship center in Guatemala. Recently, it became very clear to us that we should begin with a dental and worship center to meet the needs of the people we serve in Guatemala. As we discussed how to proceed, we asked God to clearly show us if this was His will for STJI. The VERY NEXT MORNING, we received a call from a local doctor stating that he was retiring and heard about our organization and wanted to donate his entire practice of dental equipment! That’s amazing! As I’m writing this, the equipment is being packaged for shipping to Guatemala in the near future. We are so grateful for this great blessing that will help so many people! Please join us in praying for STJI and all that God has planned for us and the people we serve.

February 2014 Mission Teams

Our Community Health Program provided clean water, health and hygiene education, as well as dental and medical care services to the residents of many surrounding villages. We worked side-by-side with residents of these communities, local medical & dental care providers, and local non-profit organizations.

Our Water System Team installed a water purification system that will purify up to 10,000 gallons of water daily. This will make a great impact in treating the cause of much of the community’s malnutrition – diarrhea from water-borne pathogens.

Our Construction Team and Auxiliary Volunteers refurbished the hospital’s malnutrition unit to provide running water and a sink for better health and hygiene services, a feeding room with a table and chairs that can be easily cleaned and disinfected after use. They also painted the unit and made curtains to help brighten a place that has more than it’s share of sadness as seen in the eyes of the malnourished children.

These projects are part of Sharing The Journey International’s comprehensive approach to health education and healthcare services. We were greatly blessed to visit the village schools where we previously installed water purification systems to find that the systems were being well maintained and used to provide pure water for the school children, their families and the community. One village school was so proactive, they began to reach out to other villages and teach them about the health benefits of pure water! We would like to thank Living To Serve and In His Steps International Missions for serving side-by-side with us to reach the poorest of the poor. We thank you for your dedication to the call.

Building Healthy Communities Through Drinking Water Technology

In February 2013, in Coban, Guatemala we came alongside a local church that had a heart to serve their local community. We placed a water purification system in a homeless shelter that provided meals and shelter to those in need. Clean water is now available to the entire community!