It has been a
busy year for the ministry thus far and we have much
news to share. The year began with a very large 28
member short term mission trip consisting of a group
of travelers from First Presbyterian Church in
Waunakee and various team members from other Madison
area churches. The team completed several valuable
projects including the construction of a church, a
mobile medical clinic serving 150 families with no
access to medical care, distribution of food,
clothing, toys, shoes and vitamins, the planting of
drought tolerant fruit trees and drip irrigation
gardens for several desperately needy families, and
the distribution of toys to children in area
hospitals.
We were
extremely blessed to have a news team from WKOW-27
with us on this trip. Channel 27 News Anchor, Diana
Henry, interviewed team members, sponsored families,
medical personal and staff. She, and camera man Mike
Kellogg, did a wonderful series of news stories as
well a half hour special highlighting the work of
the OWH. We were grateful for the opportunity to
share our work with the Madison community and
enjoyed the company of these new friends. As
always, team members came home feeling as blessed as
those we went to serve!
Early this
spring the ministry underwent a leadership change as
our long time Director, Elsa Victoria Xoy Martinez,
returned home to Parramos to be reunited with her
family. Elsa served God through the ministry for 5
years and we will always be grateful to her for her
hard work and dedication as she guided us through
the early years of establishing ourselves in
Guatemala and learning how to love and serve our
brothers and sisters in need there. Please keep Elsa
in your prayers as she transitions to the next
chapter in her life.
We are pleased
to announce the arrival of James and Joy Bentley, an
American missionary couple, who will be our new
Directors in Guatemala and will lead us into the
future as we continue God’s work. James graduated
from Wheaton College with double major in
Communications and Biblical Studies. Joy is a
registered Nurse and has dreamed of becoming a
missionary nurse since age five. James grew up in a
missionary family in Bolivia and therefore speaks
fluent Spanish. Joy is learning rapidly. We feel
that God has tailor made this couple for OWH and has
called them into His service in Guatemala. We ask
for your prayers for James and Joy as they begin
their new lives in Guatemala.
You may recall
the story of a young lady named Alma who traveled to
Madison two years ago in hopes of having her severe
and life threatening case of scoliosis corrected. At
that time it was determined through a preoperative
MRI that there was a large cyst on her spine which
made the surgery too risky. Surgery was performed at
the brain stem which surgeons hoped would cause the
cyst to drain. It did not. Alma returned to Madison
this spring and underwent an additional major
surgery to stabilize her skull and spine and to
shunt the cyst in order that the spine could be
straightened. A week later she underwent 14 hours of
surgery by which a team of surgeons took her twisted
spine apart and put it back together using hardware
donated by a Wisconsin orthotics company. All
surgery and hospital care was provided free of
charge, amounting to over $300,000.00 in services.
Carol Landstrom, a missionary from Colorado, and
many Spanish speaking volunteers from the Madison
community, spent days and nights with Alma as
support people during her long and painful recovery.
The surgeries were a great success and all involved
felt God’s love and support as they participated in
this miracle together. Please join us in prayers of
thanksgiving as you view the before and after photos
in the enclosed brochure. Special thanks go out to
Dr. Taryn Bragg, Br Benny Iskandar, Dr. Kenneth
Noonan, and Dave Guif of Biomet Inc. The hospital
wishes to remain unnamed.
Another large
team (28 people) from South Bend, Indiana has just
returned from a short term trip to Guatemala. The
activities completed were very similar to those of
the January team including the construction of
another church. An unexpected activity was added to
the team agenda as a heart breaking situation came
to our attention on our first day in Guatemala.
While en route to our work place in Jocotan we
passed a large garbage dump where we were horrified
to find that women and children were sifting through
rotting trash in search of food. We stood speechless
in the overwhelming stench as tears streamed down
our faces.
Further
investigation disclosed make shift plastic shanties
where babies sat alone while mothers competed with
vultures in search of food. A fellow missionary had
unexpectedly provided lunch for the entire team an
hour earlier so we distributed the food that had
been intended for the team lunch. We were amazed at
the polite gratitude of the “dump dwellers” as they
lined up to wait their turn for what little we had
to offer. We returned the next day to distribute
clothing, shoes, and toys.
As a ministry
working in Guatemala to help the poorest of the
poor, we cannot leave this situation unchanged. Our
Life Boat Program is intended to provide food and
medical care in emergency situations to starving
families while they await sponsors. Our Life Boat
is currently very full due to the economic downturn
in the U.S. which has caused many sponsors to
discontinue their support. When sending these
updates, we often offer several ways for supporters
to choose to bless the poor we serve. This summer we
are respectfully requesting sponsorships ($29 per
month) and general funding for the Life Boat Program
in order that we can reduce the Life Boat population
and care for these desperately needy families who
stay alive by sifting through rotting trash. Please
consider sharing what you can to enable us to
provide a healthier way of life for these women and
children.
As always, we
thank each of you for your prayers, support and
partnership. We could not do what we do without you
and consider all of you our brothers and sisters as
we serve Christ together through His ministry.
Love and
Blessings,
Kim and
Randy
