UCLA Medical Team

Hello from Hot Guatemala,

Well, Well, Well, first let me tell you about the well. We got a lot of rain which filled our cistern with water just in time for our team from UCLA. Thank the Lord for that huh? However, we have not had rain now for weeks and in the past when we have gone this long without rain my well has been totally dry. But last night about dusk I went out just to look in the well. I looked and rubbed my eyes and looked again and there was about 30 ft of water in the bottom of the well and it was bubbling like water was coming in! Folks this may not be a big deal to you but after washing our clothes in the lake now for 3 months and taking 1 minute showers, we really need water.

So, I began working on attaching a pump to a long hose and submersing it into the water to pump it out to see if it would refill over night. But it was getting dark and Riechelle was yelling from the house to come and eat. I said, "No, honey I am busy and have to get this done so I won't be eating dinner." She said, "I'll call the ambulance, and CBS, this needs to be on the News, Bryan Skips a meal!" (She thinks she is funny but I don't see the humor in it.)

Anyway, it was getting dark and as I was working on the pump at the top of the cement tubes I heard my phone ringing. I could have sworn it is coming from the well. I bent over and listened again and sure enough I swore it was coming from the well! But how could that be? There was water in the well. I realized that I had just finished with an intense week of medical work with the UCLA team and I had been up since 3:00 am and working in the hot sun all day and I had finally lost my mind.

It was just not adding up, until I felt my side where my cell phone is supposed to be and saw the case upside down and the top open. Yep the phone had slipped out and fallen down the outside of the tubes about 30 ft. along the space between the tubes and the dirt. So, this morning we are trying to run a vacuum hose down the side and get my phone.

News Update! Pedro just come in the office and handed me my phone! Whew, they got it!

We will pump out the well and see if I really have water. If I do, you will hear a big holler. If not we will trust the Lord for another way, because He always provides, not on my time table and not usually according to my specific guidelines, but He always provides, ALWAYS!

UCLA Team

Wow! OK Let me explain. My friend David Alvarez has been hosting a medical team from UCLA for years. But they have always stayed close to the city. But he asked them this time to come to Rio Dulce and they accepted. For weeks I have been driving to remote villages that have kids that need operations and medical care. They are so poor that they cannot even afford to buy bus tickets to the city, let alone pay to see a doctor. I have been talking with the village chief’s and elders to set this up.

We set up four strategic locations to go and see approximately 150 kids per day with six doctors. Four of the doctors were Pediatricians from UCLA medical center and two were from the National Institutes of Health in Washington DC, where President Bush and I go for our medical work. (I actually have not gone there yet but George has). We saw the kids who have been hidden in the back rooms of the stick homes because the parents are ashamed of them.

This is Karla. She is physically disabled, but don’t hold her for over a minute because she is funny and witty and will steal your heart before you know what hit you.

This little girl has Spinal Bifida and Hydrocephalic.

This is Virgil; he has been this way for almost two years now. I think we will need to remove his leg.

The doctor in the orange shirt is Dr. Kristen. She is awesome. She is in the research department of the Institutes of Health in Washington DC for Pediatric Oncology. This is one brilliant doctor. (The guy in the black shirt is nothing, a zero, a nobody, but he thinks he is a doctor because he looks like George Clooney).

This was a great opportunity for Gaby to work along side Dr. Kelly and learn as much as she can. She wants to be a doctor when she grows up. She translated from Quetchi to Spanish and Dr. Kelly knew fluent Spanish. It was an awesome experience for Gaby also. Gaby and Beto are at the top of their classes in school and the teachers told us yesterday they are not just good students they are excellent students. They obey and have great attitudes and appreciate the opportunity they have to actually go to a private Christian School.

Two nights ago while having our family devotions, I asked Gaby and Beto if they were ready and understood about accepting Jesus Christ in their hearts. They both said yes they wanted to accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior. As we prayed together Debora also chimed in and repeated the prayer. Then she asked me if I would rub her feet, so I think she is still a bit young to understand completely but she loves learning about the Lord. We held Gaby and Beto and we all cried tears of joy.

I have to give the credit to Riechelle for these kids. She has done a wonderful job teaching and raising them. She works all day in cement and tile like a man till her hands are literally bleeding. Then she makes the meals and helps the kids with their homework. You really cannot believe what all my wife Riechelle does behind the scenes, then throw in hosting 30 people for meals and cleaning and laundry etc, etc. She is the silent backbone of our ministry.

Now comes the hard part. David and I have to find the special doctors to do the surgeries these kids need. We will try and use a hospital here in Guatemala and find doctors willing to do the cases for lower charges. Please keep us in your prayers that God will send the funds we need to take care of these kids. I know He will, but when you're on your knees, put in a good word for us OK?

Junglemedic Missions
Rio Dulce, Izabal
Guatemala Central America

E-Mail: Bryan@JungleMedicMissions.org
Web Site: http://www.junglemedicmissions.org/