The Lafleurs

Thank-you all very much for all of your prayers while I was away. Our team felt especially blessed on the trip as our travel and passing through customs, with 14 extra 50 pound suitcases, went super smoothly. A special thanks to everyone who helped out Ali and the girls with meals and visits as well.

Here is a slideshow of our trip from the Bethel Ministries site (the March 26th posting): http://www.bethelministriesinternational.com/blog/

Here’s a rundown of what God was up to during our week of service:

Day 1

Monday, we visited Antigua, the old capital of the country. It was nice to see many of the same kids we met last year, like my old friend Julio, at the Hermano Pedro Orphanage. Again, we took them out for lunch at Pollo Campero. This time, Henry and I got to hang out. He is just a little guy but he managed to pack away all of his chicken strips, fries, ice cream cone and some of my chicken burger as well. Afterwards we raced around the park, then played soccer in the courtyard back at the orphanage. I was amazed at how well Henry could kick the ball while in his chair. Also impressive was the learning these kids have been capable of. God has been working with Bethel Ministries to provide funds for tutors. You could sponsor one of these little guys for as little as $25 a month.

http://www.bethelministriesinternational.com/education-guatemala/

Henry

At the park

Julio and Constance

Day 2
Tuesday, for our first morning in Santa Lucia, (population approx.62,000) half of the team visited local families with food, clothing, shoes and water filters. They encountered some severely poor families and one particular family in a very rough situation. The three teenaged daughters were being raped and prostituted by their father. Sadly, the father couldn’t be convicted because the girls were scared to death to testify against him. Fortunately, Norma, who spearheaded our visit to her town, vowed to follow up on this situation with the help of the police. These are the three girls shown at the end of the slideshow who need education sponsorship.

Our team laid the foundation for a house for Bernadina, a 60 year old widow. She has a 29 year old son who works making about Q800.00 monthly. ($100) He is the only one who supports Mrs. Bernadina, but it is not enough for all the things that they need like food, clothes, etc. Sometimes Bernadina goes to work in houses or picks up firewood and she received money or food for her work.

Conditions of this family were very bad, where they lived was a small room with just a bed and nothing in
good condition. The house was made of nylon and tin roof, the stove was a metal piece with old dishes.

Day 3
On Wednesday, we gave out 56 wheelchairs to the people of Santa Lucia. Since this was the first distribution in this town, mostly seniors were the first to receive chairs. In teams of two or three we fitted several Guatemalans as they were called up to our station. Tanya, her son Markus and I were able to help Estella, a 77 year old blind lady, two ladies named Carmen aged 95 and 80, Raul who was 85 and Jésus who was 97! We had a very hard time fitting Jésus, who was with us for nearly an hour. We had a hard time making him comfortable, partly because of his severe back pain but mostly because of my ineptitude as a handiman. Nevertheless, he was mobile in his new chair and with the help of his daughter he was on his way.

Markus led Tanya and I in prayer before we fitted our first chair.

Dennis with one of the many people he helped.

The day was capped off by a bright light by the name of Jennifer, who stole our hearts with her smile and her new found joy being mobile in her walker. This little girl also received a specialty wheelchair but was much happier being able to chase us around in her walker.

Dick and Jennifer
http://blog.dickrutgers.com/

Jennifer using her new walker.

Day 4
On Thursday, we returned to Bernadina’s and built her new house. As usual, many of the kids from the area flocked to the building site looking for candies and really just for companionship, wanting to be part of the team. Some of them were able to help by holding up walls while we drilled in the attachments.

Jorge Luis was the main little guy who God put in my path during this trip. He lived next door to Bernadina and showed up two out of the three days that we were there. When we were just putting the finishing touches on the house, he approached me asking for 1 Quetzal (15 cents Canadian) and some candy. Although I wanted to give him a lot more than that, God prompted me to give him something worth a lot more than money or a lollypop. I had a Spanish Bible from the hotel with me, so we sat down and with my broken Spanish I explained to him the eternal value of this book. We then read some of Luke 5 together with the help of Blanca, a twelve year old girl who could read. The kids sat and listened nicely for about ten minutes and then we got back to finishing up the house.

Jorge Luis is the little guy on the right.

Day 5
Friday was our team’s turn to go and deliver supplies to families. First we visited Bernadina’s house and gave her some food, cooking supplies and a water filter. To our surprize and despite the downpour the night before, she hadn’t slept in her new house...she was too excited and wanted out team and her pastor to pray over new domain before she slept in it. And so, as is the custom, Chris prayed for her and her house to which she responded by getting on her knees and weepingly thanking her Heavenly Father and our team for this blessing.

We also heard the story of how for two years she struggled with severe arthritis to the point that she couldn’t raise the water from her well. Despite medication and a doctor’s help she could not be healed. She turned to God and after a short time of attending her local church and receiving prayer she was healed!

Next we visited the other house site and distributed shoes, clothes, backpacks, vitamins and a water filter.

This where we first set up to hand out the backpacks, clothes, vitamins and black shoes.
A huge thank-you to Linda at Little Critters in Cloverdale, who donated 75 pairs of black shoes!

This is José after getting his new shoes and backpack.

This is the family that all used to sleep in the 12' by 18' house shown in the background. One of the moms has leukemia.

Here they are in their new house with a bunkbed.

On the left, is a boy who is having trouble with his legs. They had just received their new backpacks and shoes.

We then visited four other families, all living in tough situations but many still joyful with their hope in the Lord. One girl, was raped by a neighbour at the age of 12 and is now 6 months pregnant at 13. She is looking forward to raising her little baby with the help of her single mother. Another lady of about 90 years old was bedridden and praying for a cold drink. In the bed beside her was a napping 3 year old boy being looked after by his young sister.

It seemed like around every corner in that town there was someone with needs beyond the malnutrition and poverty. It’s comforting to know that Chris and Donna from Bethel have formed a special bond with Norma, the lady who works for the mayor in Santa Lucia. Some of our team members are looking into sponsoring some of these kids. Also, our church will be prayerfully considering adopting this town and potentially be returning there. Will see where God calls us next year!

Thanks again to everyone who supported our team in prayer and donations of time, money, clothes and shoes! I love you and look forward to sharing more and seeing you soon.

In Christ,

Spencer