To God Be The Glory

Hey Guys,

1 Peter 4:10 - Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms.

Today I just want to share some thoughts I have about our purpose here. No I don't mean Riechelle and I, but all of us. Sometimes I get e-mails from people saying they are so tired of their life in the United States. For some it seems just another meaningless day in the rat race of life, getting ready for work, driving to work and then doing the same job over and over for a paycheck. Then home to have dinner and watch TV and then do it all over again the next day. Of course not everyone, but at least that is the way it used to be for me. But as I was working yesterday, I had to prioritize the children that need the surgery here in my area.

You may remember about a month ago, David and I had a medical team here from UCLA. We saw a lot of children who were sick. But we also saw some children who were dying or in great need of surgery. Yesterday I had to try and decide which one of these kids will get the surgery they need.

Will it be Virgil? You see Virgil lives in a very remote poor village in an area known as the Peten. Apparently he got an infection of some kind in his leg about two years ago and it has never been treated properly. Obviously he cannot walk, and his parents have to constantly take care of his needs. He needs skin grafts, orthopedic surgery and plastic surgery. He is only missing one thing….the funds to have the surgery.

Or, do I try and work on getting Kimberly surgery to fix her birth defects so she can live a normal life and maybe marry and have children like the rest of her friends here in her village? You see Kimberly’s mother has to hide her in the house all the time. When the other children see her they call her a monster. She cannot help it and she did not cause it, but she lives with this burden every day of her life.

Or Do I instead take what little money we have and use it to get surgery for Maria? I think David and I can get surgery for one of these children with the money we have now, but who? Which one? Who needs it the most? And what about the 78 kids on my priority list for medical care? The ones with seizures every day of their life, or the ones with cleft palate? Or Eye problems? Or missing an ear or club feet and cannot walk?

So I lay down at night with all of these kids faces in my mind and say, "Dear God in heaven, What do I do?" Then I roll over and say I will just block them out of my mind and not think about it. I think, I'll take a sleeping pill and just forget about it. But I can't because as soon as I do there is someone at my ER door pleading for help and I have to be able to think of what to do in seconds to save this person's life and I can't if I am groggy from SleepEZ. So I pray and ask God for help.

I have been thinking and praying about what can be done. Short term: I just plain need to raise money for these kids surgery. Now hold on, before you hit delete and say there he goes again, that slime ball is asking for money, I knew it! Hold the phone. I am not asking you for money. But here is what I am asking. Remember in the beginning of this letter I said, I get letters from people telling me they feel tired of just living in the rat race? These people pray and ask God, "Use me!" But then they think, how can He use me?

Well here is a way God can use you more than you ever imagined. God gives each and every person special gifts and special talents. For example, I love to help people in emergency situations. The more chaos the better, that is when I click. However, let me try and build a cabinet out of wood or fix a computer problem and buddy I am all thumbs. My point is, that each person has been given skills and talents and gifts.

You may have the ability to encourage others. You may be a super people person with a personality that everyone who knows you loves you. You may be a tremendous organizer. You may have the gift of sales and can sell a dairy farmer a milking machine and take his cows in on trade. I don't know, but God does.

OK, OK, I'll get to the point. I can't come to the States right now. I have too many projects and obligations here and we have three children that we cannot just up and leave. We can't bring them with us because we still do not have the adoption papers, so they can't leave Guatemala. We need to go raise money for these kids and say thank you to people and churches who faithfully support us, but we can't leave right now.

But what if YOU had a DVD with pictures of what we do along with the needs of the children here in Guatemala? Could you find a few spare minutes to show this DVD to some folks, like a Bible Study, or a Church or Civic Group? What if one of those people who saw the needs here said, hey I spend more money for tickets to the Super Bowl every year than it would take for all those kids to get surgeries. Here you go David or Don or Diane, here is $5,000 for Bryan to get these kids the care they so desperately need.

Well that would let us take care of these kids short term. I know most of you are swamped with kids and work and school and life, but all I can do is ask. (And it never hurts to ask? Right?) But here is where it gets crazy. I have a dream.

What if I could build a small hospital that had two operating rooms, with a recovery ward, and pharmacy? What if we had an apartment unit attached to the hospital so the parents of kids had a place to sleep while their child received surgery and follow up care? Folks, I know I can get doctors and surgeons to come and donate a week of their time to use their skills to serve the Lord and help the helpless. So if we have a team come one time every three months, we could take care of these children and even adults who need surgery but have absolutely no way to get it or pay for it. Folks, I'm not talking about lazy people on welfare who demand their rights. I'm talking about a man who gets up at 4:30 am and walks an hour to the field and swings a machete all day long in this intense heat and drinks dirty water out of an old bleach bottle. Then at the end of the day makes $4.50 a day. How can he even feed his family let alone get medical care? If his son is Virgil, he doesn’t have a chance.

So. I am not asking you personally for money. But there are people in the States that God has blessed with money, some because they are wise in business, some because they invested wisely which is Biblical. I just have to believe that there will be someone who God has blessed and will place on their heart to help us with getting these children the surgery and medical care they need. (I personally don't need the money, I am fat, dumb, and happy and I can prove it!)

If you are interested in using what ever gifts God has given you to share about the work here in the remote areas of Guatemala. Just let me know. Send me an e-mail and say "Hey Bryan, send me one of your DVD's and I’ll be happy to show it to whom ever God asks me to."

Then do this for me. Don't try and make it happen, don't put any pressure on any body or even on yourself but just let God guide you. I'm telling you, it is a thousand times better to let God open the one right door than to bang your head a hundred times on the wrong door. (Believe me I have the scars to prove it) He will open doors and bring people into your life that you could never have even thought of.

Prov 3:5-6 says: Trust in the Lord with all of your heart and lean not on your own understanding, In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths.

Please let me take one more minute of your time and say "Thank You". Thank You to the man who goes out every day and fights traffic and works all day and then fights it again after work only to pay his mortgage and insurance and feed and clothe his family, then when no one is looking digs down in his pocket and sends me the $50.00 he needed to get tires for his car. Thank You for the single woman who lives on a fixed income and faithfully sends me $25.00 every single month even when she needs fuel oil to heat her home. Thank you to my wife who lived for years without bathrooms, electricity, and a kitchen, while her son's served in the US Military and had to send her youngest son off to war in Iraq, so we could have the freedom to do what we do. I am so humbled by the people God has put in my life. Thank You for the privilege to share what we do with you from my heart in these long winded News Letters. I may not be able to come and hug you and thank you personally right now. But Lord willing, when we are in heaven, I will be the one behind you some day with a long line of little brown kids, who were deformed and hurting. They will hug your neck for me and say, Thank You for changing my life when I had no one else to care for me. I'll be the one behind you carrying your crowns that you forgot about, until Jesus says to you:

Please let me know if you would like to help in this way and I'll send you a DVD.

P.S. As I was sitting here writing this newsletter, I received a telephone call. It was from a Christian Pastor in Guatemala City who is also an Optometrist. He said, "I will take care of all of the children with eye problems for free." (It is very hard typing right now as my keyboard is very wet.) He said, if any one has any old glasses they don't use, send then here and he can get the right ones to the right people. Whew, got to go, can't take any more. To God be the Glory!

Junglemedic Missions
Rio Dulce, Izabal
Guatemala Central America

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